The day was getting on just fine until the dinosaurs showed up and started turning over cars.Want to have a dinosaurs vs cars matchup in your own home? Well, just head over to our shop and pick up some wood dinosaurs and toy cars.
The bulk of my dinosaur education (outside of Dinosaur Train on PBS) came in the 1980s. I learned the five primary dinosaurs: Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Terodactyl (which is correctly spelled Pterodactyl with a silent P). There were other dinosaurs, I guess, but none that stuck with me.
Recently in the 2000s (the time-period formerly known as the future) I’ve come to understand there are hundreds of dinosaurs. Furthermore, the brontosaurus isn’t real. You know, the brontosaurus (aka The Thunder Lizard) that plodding giant of yore.
The bronto, it turns out, was a paleontological bone matching mix-up – back in the late 1800s the Western US saw a race to dig up new dino fossils. It was really tense. Explosive even. In scientific haste, fossils from different dinos were falsely paired together. The mistake stuck for a long time.
Even longer for some like me. It was tough, in my mid-thirties, hearing that the brontosaurus wasn’t real. A child told me this none-the-less. I quickly stopped him before he shattered any of my remaining youthful innocence
Given some time, though, I’ve come to embrace this dinosaur making-up of names and such. Pretty much stick a couple syllables before “oSaurus” and you have a name. Let’s give a whirl:
LongNeckSaurus
StrechoSaurus
LongReachoSaurus
The real fun though is in the Sideshow, carnival barking, stroll down the Midway, also known as names. Like Thunder Lizard (our fictional bronto friend) or Tyrant Lizard (t-rex), even Roof Lizard (stegosaurus). Sure, roof lizard is a bit lame, but you get the idea. Just stick a word or two before Lizard and you’re in business:
Car-Crushing Lizard
Major-Ouch-Inflicting Lizard
Crazy-Backed-Lizard
Can’t you just hear the showman put his lips to the megaphone, calling out to the cotton-candy eating townies:
“Here it is folks, the show you’ve heard so much about. The show your neighbors talk about, the show your relatives write you about. It’s all here and it’s free folks. Free for the wee ones, free for the tall ones, and free for all those in between.
“Step up close now and get a view of the real excitement. We have the Thunder Lizard, car-crushing, earth rumbling, fear inducing beast from the dawn of time.
“Children, Parents, and Grand Folks. Friends and strangers. Come close, gather round here. Take a look at the Tyrant Lizard! King of the ancient lords. With jaws of steel, bones of iron, and they say folks . . . they say,” as his voice drops to a whisper, “he can even breathe fire.
“Inside this very tent. Right here today only see these terrible beasts of old. Thunder Lizard! Emperor Lizard! The Three Horned Brute! Scaled Monsters! Starting in just minutes. Buy your tickets now folks.”
Okay. I have a hankering for funnel cake and popcorn. Click here to take home a wooden dinosaur toy as a souvenir from our shop today.
New wood cars are being designed and constructed here at the Bungalow. These prototypes are taped together, unfinished, and in need of sanding – but this hasn’t dulled a certain household member’s excitement. Finally we have made a fire truck! Fire truck! Fire truck! Along with a semi-truck, taxi, dragster, fuel truck, mini-car, and bus we’ve amassed enough vehicles to put together a Car of the Month Club.
We’re envisioning this Car of the Month Club to be something like a jelly of the month club, except much lower in sugar and much higher in fiber*. As rated by the Kids, the favorite new vehicle is (hands down) the fire truck. The semi-truck is a close second though. We’ll be working on a few interchangeable trailers soon.
While these trucks aren’t yet available for purchase we have some other great wooden cars in our shop.
* Our toys are not really edible
