"Jurassic Park"

Well maybe not technically Jurassic Park, but the Nago Dino Park definitely exceeded my expectations :) We decided to head up on a gloomy Saturday morning because we had heard about it from a few people, but I still wasn't sure exactly what to expect. As we pulled up, this huge triceratops greeted us in the parking lot. One thing I will definitely miss about Okinawa is the fact that it's not a litigious untrusting place. You are allowed to touch things, go near edges, etc. Sure, there are do not touch signs here and there, but for the most part they trust people to be respectful. We also love that we parked right next to this and didn't have to fight any crowds for pictures, etc.

 The obligatory face in the hole picture. There was a little sweets factory connected to the dino park, so these were the purple sweet potato girls...(and now boys :)

 Before even entering the park was this dinosaur that Rowan assured us was "just a robot". He was a little hesitant but actually was a little less scared than I anticipated. He is growling at it in this pic, not freaking out like it looks like ;) The dino did make noise and open and close his mouth.

"Don't climb over the fence!"

 Family photo with the famous northern Okinawa birds...I still haven't seen a real one (they are endangered so that might be part of the reason).

And then we walked into "Jurassic Park"

 The natural vegetation here made it so easy for it to feel like you could actually run into a real dinosaur. The ferns and bushes, etc were the perfect backdrop for the dinos. Boden liked looking at them from a ways away but was pretty freaked out if you got too close.

 And here is T-Rex, with a cage full of live goats next to it...kind of weird ;)

 This guy spit water...

 Petting the baby triceratops.

 As I said, Boden was pretty scared of several of the dinosaurs, but when it came to climbing into this giant dino mouth he was totally game and excited to do it!

 On the way to the park we had been asking Rowan what he was going to be when he grew up. He said he was going to be a shark dentist "fix shark teeth", but after this adventure, I think he might be a dino dentist too :)

 An awesome flower we encountered

 At the end of the walking part was a little area to play with this slide and dinosaurs that you could ride on that super slowly walked around.

 Rowan was super excited to ride the triceratops!

But about 30 seconds before his ride was over, it started to rain...so this cute man brought out an umbrella to cover him so he could finish the rest of his ride. I love Okinawan people for things like this :)

 "Mom, come hatch with me!"

 Escaping the T-Rex!

We had such a fun morning, and then proceeded to McDonalds for lunch where Rowan got a dinosaur happy meal toy. It was perfect! It's funny how McDonalds here is like a fun treat for us but would never be even on my list of places to go in the states. We're excited to be back in the land of plentiful food options!