Margie and I take Kalib and Jobe for five days, part 4: We walk with dinosaurs
Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 3:00AM 
Very early in the summer, or maybe it was even late Spring, Jacob bought a bunch of tickets to "Walking With Dinosaurs - The Arena Spectacular" and made me promise that, no matter what kind of project I had going on, I would be home on August 23 so that I could go to the show with my grandson. Like most little kids, Kalib has always loved dinosaurs - even as he has feared them.
So, not quite an hour before showtime, Caleb, Lisa and I headed to the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage to see the dinosaurs. Once we passed through the gate, Kalib suddenly feared the dinosaurs more than he loved them and he did not want to enter the arena - which was quite dark and there were huge teeth at one end of the floor.
Yet, with encouragement from his Uncle Caleb, Kalib did enter.
We took our seats, right in the middle on the very front row.
As you can see, Kalib was still a bit apprehensive, but curious, too.
I was a little worried, because I remembered how the roar of the jets at the Arctic Thunder air show at Elemendorf had frightened him at first and I knew the dinosaurs would be big, loud and they would be charging about, flashing and snapping their teeth. Yet, the show was designed with kids in mind and Caleb told me he had heard that it started out kind of fun and gentle, so as to put the little kids at ease.
Just before it started, the MC told us to turn off our cellphones. He said they wouldn't do us any good, anyway, as we were in the age of dinosaurs and there would be no cell phone reception for 165 millions years to come.
I thought about the dinosaurs running around 165 million years ago, right in the middle of their time, in what was the present. It has been the present ever since and soon another 165 million years will have passed and it will still be the present.
Anyway, Caleb was right. The show started out in the Triassic Period, 245 to 208 million years ago, with the focus on a nest filled with eggs and soon two, very cute, baby dinosaurs popped their heads out from the those eggs. This scene was almost entirely blocked from our sight, but because no one would have a clear view of everything that would happen it was also being shown live on large video screens hanging above the arena.
So it started out cute, and all the nervous children were set at ease. All the children loved those baby dinosaurs.
Suddenly, the carnivorous and vicious Liliensternus charged into the scene, ran around the mountains set up in the center of the arena, grabbed one of the baby dinosaurs by the head and devoured it.
All throughout the arena, little children began to scream.
Actually, I made that part up, for dramatic effect. I didn't hear any children scream, but it's possible that some did, but a scream would have been drowned out by the roar and voracious chomping of the ravenous Lilensternus.
This is the mother, Plateosaurus, at 29 feet the largest dinosaur of her time. She was very upset to discover what had happened to her baby. She had one left and was determined to protect it.
Although Kalib had a very expensive seat of his own, he would observe the entire show from the lap of his Uncle Caleb.
And then we were in the Jurassic Period, 208 to 144 million years ago, and there was Stegosaurus...
...and Allosaurus, who wanted to eat Stegosaurus, if only he could get past the deadly spikes on his swinging tail!
Kalib was very brave.
And then along came 72-foot long Brachiosaurus, who stood nearly four stories tall and liked to graze from the tops of trees.
Long though it sounds, the time of the dinosaurs zipped by quickly. Suddenly, we found ourselves in the Cretaceous Period, where Ornithocheirus roared onto the scene...
...a mean, nasty, trio of Ornothocheirus. We in the audience all loved them.
Kalib observes.
The Ornithpcherious gang would have liked to eat this guy, Torosaurus, but that was easier desired than devoured. Although we didn't get to see them, Torosaurus had a harem.
But another Torosaurus wanted the harem for himself. So they fought and the old guy lost. I felt kind of badly for him. Although I am descended from some of the original Mormon polygamists, I never got to have a harem. If I had have, though, it just wouldn't have seemed right to have some young tough guy come and take them away from me.
This is the vegetarian Ankylosaurus, built with armor like a tank - no cannon, but a huge club on his swinging tail.
Who could possibly eat him?
We're looking the gal who could...
It's Tyrannosaurus Rex! T-Rex could eat anybody... one bite and she could swallow 150 pounds of flesh, just like that.
T-Rex was frightening.
And there was a big battle, T-Rex going after poor Anky, who was also pursued by her baby, even as Anky tries to club baby to death.
Action was taking place on both ends of the arena at once.
The final fate of Anky was a bit unclear. Did he get eaten, or did he escape? Whatever, once the fight was over, Momma T-Rex and baby T-Rex did some cuddling.
I wonder about this. It is hard to imagine T-Rex's cuddling. But there it was, happening right in front of me.
After, the MC and baby T-Rex took a bow. They really did bow, too, but, sadly, I had set my shutter speed down to 1/10th of a second for a Kalib shot and forgot to to set it back up to the 1/60th I was using for the action and I recorded the bow as a hopeless blur.
That's my excuse, for not showing you the bow.
When we stepped outside afterward, we damn near went blind. I had never seen such a bright day in all my life. It was almost like we stepped out onto the surface of the sun. Meanwhile, behind us, dark rain clouds prepared to burst.
In time, though, our eyes would adjust.
Reader Comments (9)
wow how cool...my boys would have loved this and Kalib was very brave !!
I come over here for entertainment and instead you put on a scary monster show!
Good Show!
Kalib is brave!
i've seen photos of polar bears cuddling so it could happen with t rex too!
I feel your pain about blurry photos. I made a shutter speed mistake ( in auto settings even) with my new S90 recently that cost me some very memorable pictures. Feeling less bad knowing a real professional photographer can do the same thing.
From my earliest memories I've always been terrified of dinosaurs! Kalib is very brave indeed!
What an excellent post. #1 dinosaur fan Kalib with his cute shirt too.
I missed Walking With Dinosaurs when it came to Denver but at least I got to see your slide show.
Kalib was brave...awesome shirt to.
Great blog!
Dad~ Great Post, we really missed being with Kalib on this day. I know he had a fantastic time, we have looked at the book that came with the show in great detail since, he loves pointing at the pictures. While I suspect you have already thought of this, I think an improvement to the blog would be to include "Additional" photos in the slide show, that aren't in the blog story but would certainly add to it. I'm thinking this only because I would like to see more photos of my little man. See you Later.
~J
look at those expressions on kalib's face! and the dinosaurs look sooo real. wish i could've been there. wonder if they're coming to willow grove, pa. lemme look out the window.