Dino in Philly

Our dino bones are now in Philly, finally, after years of wrangling with the Argentinian government. This is my professor in the shipping container at the Port of Philadelphia. There will be a press conference tomorrow and we'll move the bones to Drexel on Monday. It doesn't look like much, but there are a lot of enormous bones in there.

My Exhibit

And now, a bit of shameless self-promotion . . .

This was in Saturday's Philly Inquirer (the main newspaper here - not a tabloid):
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20090425__quot_Rising_Tide_quot__exhibit_at_New_Jersey_State_Museum.html
The guy took tons of pictures - I don't know why they would post the one of me where I look like I'm going to kill the next person that walks by.

This was on New Jersey Network 2 Fridays ago (push play on the video screen):
http://njn.net/newspublicaffairs/science/


So far, only positive comments about the exhibit.

April (so far)

Here's a summary of what's been going on this month. It's been a busy month for trying new foods.

Trying Cheerios (4/4/09)

Drinking Like a Big Boy

Trying Pears (4/5/09)

The weather this month has been georgeous - another beautiful spring in PA.

Sleeping with his Stegasaurus.

Trying Oatmeal (4/11/09)

Sarah already posted the best one of these videos, but there are several good ones. This went on for quite a while.

Jackson (8 months old)

He still loves to wear hats!!!!!

He loves to stand up and hold on to his excersaucer...like a BIG Boy!!

Hey there Lincoln.....back off...this is my toy!!!

(March) Jackson starting to crawl (7 1/2 months old)

Jackson Feeding Lincoln...

Dinosaur Arriving and My Exhibit

Well, after years of wrangling and bureaucratic red tape, our dinosaur is finally on its way from Argentina. Honestly, I had given up much hope that it would ever come, but it will be here soon - as early as this this weekend. It is scheduled to arrive in the Port of Philadelphia aboard the Captain San Lorenzo on Sunday. Finally! The only bad news is that since we have years of work ahead of us just to prepare this one specimen, and since the government has made it nearly impossible for anyone to take a fossil out of Argentina, we almost certainly won't be going back there next year and possibly for a while. We're not giving up on our field work there - we'll just probably avoid enormous dinosaurs and set up our own prep lab down there. The good news is that there's talk of an expedition to Egypt sometime in the next year or 2.

The other good news is that the exhibit I've been working on so hard the last 7 - 8 months is finally nearly finished and opened this past Friday. I heard nothing but very positives responses. I haven't decided if I'll post portions of it continuously on this blog for everyone to see, but I'm sure I'll post something. For starters, here's our logo.

More Catching Up To Do . . .

The Rest of March

March 2nd was the day so many people got snow - even in Alabama. We only got about 6-7 inches here, but there was much more in surrounding areas. It was very cold (low 20's), but with a howling wind, which put the windchill in the low single digits and made snow drifts at least a foot deep in places. It was a wonderful day. The biggest snow I've seen since I've been here, but Sarah had one 13" the 1st winter when I was in Argentina.

Jackson preparing to go out in the snow.

We went driving around Valley Forge National Park. It was absolutely beautiful, and we were practically the only ones there.

I tried to do some sledding, but the snow was so dry and powdery you couldn't go anywhere. It didn't really matter - it was so beautiful and I just loved being out in it. If it didn't mean leaving Sarah and Jackson in the truck all day, I would like to have just sat there watching the snow and listening to the wind howling through the trees.

After the Valley Forge Trip we tried to take Jackson on his 1st sledding trip (other than the cookie sheet incident of a few weeks prior). Again, the snow was too powdery. Plus, it was so freakin freezing. You can hear the wind howling as Jackson and I go down the hill. That blew snow in his face, making the event even colder, which he wasn't crazy about.

Trying Squash . . .

A very long day of fun in the snow and trying new food. A long day for everyone.

3/3/09

Sarah and Jackson being silly.

3/6/09

Just chillin' in the crib.

3/7/09

Jackson and his friend Chloe.

Here's Jackson playing in his exersaucer. I finally got his silly laugh on camera. That's not him chocking - that's his funny laugh.

3/8/09

He often sleeps like this hugging his Stegosaurus . . .

. . . but he sleeps like this sometimes too. Butt in the air and feet crossed. I remember when Jon David slept with his butt in the air.

3/11/09

3/14/09

He still likes hats . . .

3/15/09

His 1st time sitting like a big boy in the grocery cart . . .

3/21/09

Big day in a man's life - 1st trip to Cabela's!!! There will be many more!

I'd been saving up gift cards for months and wasn't sure what I'd use them on, but I ended up getting a good fullfly fishing rig with a little money on the gift card to spare.

3/22/09

1st ride on the dinosaur rocking horse.

Fun with Auntie Jeanette after another fancy mean at Cracker Barrel . . .

3/25/09

Finally! Something he doesn't like!

What kind of kid doesn't like applesauce?

March Pictures

3/1/09

Aparently we did a lot on March 1. I don't know how, but we did. Here's a sampling . . .

Driving around searching for houses . . .

His 1st time in a high chair - in a bbq joint, of course!

This was when I still had my sweet beard - never shaved between Thanksgiving and middle of March. Next year I'm going the whole winter.

Showing off for the ladies.

"51 . . . 52 . . . 53 . . ."

Trying new food . . .

Despite the faces, he did end up liking it.

More of Jackson in February

Sporty Jackson ready for a jog.

Jackson the Jailbird

Movie