Can You Color Better Than A Monkey?

What do monkeys and children have in common?  Well in addition to being loud and making messes they both also like to color.  Crystal the Monkey ( aka Dexter ) from the Night at the Museum movies loves to color!  Check out Crystal coloring this Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb coloring sheet.

Think you can color better than a monkey?  Prove it! Color the same page as Crystal has and send it in to A GEEK DADDY blog.  We'll randomly select one entry to receive a free blu-ray/dvd Night at the Museum 3 prize pack.  You can have a child in your life do the coloring but entries must be submitted by a US or Canadian resident over 18 years old to participate in this movie giveaway.

UPDATE: Congrats to John from Washington DC who won the movie prize pack.

Submit one or all of the following entry methods to earn up to 10 entries prior to 11:59 pm EST on Saturday April 4, 2015:

BASIC ENTRY (1 ENTRY) - Email thegeekdaddy [at] yahoo [dot] com with your name, mailing address with subject line CRYSTAL MONKEY.

COLORING CONTEST (6 ENTRIES ) - Color the poster above and attach it to your email entry. Coloring Entries will NOT be judged - randomly selecting winner.

FACEBOOK  ( 3 ENTRIES) - Visit this Facebook post and leave a comment sharing your favorite character from Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and why.

So what do you think? Can you color better than a monkey?

 About the Movie - Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment brings back to life your favorite museum heroes in NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB  now available on Blu-ray^™ , DVD, and  via Digital HD Download.  Families around the globe have come out to see the hysterical third and final installment in the franchise, which has grossed more than a billion dollars. Now, parents and kids can not only enjoy the best ‘Night’ ever, but also get their hands on a bonus Digital HD movie: their choice of either Night at the Museum or Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian when they purchase Night at the Museum 3.

If it’s laughter you’re after, get ready for the most hilarious night ever! Ben Stiller leads an all-star comedy cast, including Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Rebel Wilson and Ricky Gervais, for one final, fun-filled Night at the Museum. This time, Larry Daley (Stiller) and his heroic friends embark on their greatest adventure yet as they travel to London in order to save the magic that brings the museum exhibits to life!

The Blu-ray™ comes with tons of special features that will have the whole family laughing! You can check out how Stiller got into character for his alter ego Laaa, get a behind the scenes look at The British Museum and learn how the film’s iconic fight scene inside an M.C. Escher painting came to light. Best of all, every Blu-ray™ comes with a bonus Digital HD movie – not only do you get a Digital HD version of NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB, but you also get a Bonus digital movie – your choice of one of the other movies in the franchise.

DISCLAIMER:   Each entry will be assigned a number based upon the order in which it is received and one random number will be generated to select a winner. A Geek Daddy Blog will be responsible for selecting the winner of this contest, but Fox Home Entertainment is responsible for fulfillment and delivery of the prize.  By participating in this contest you waive any liability towards A Geek Daddy Blog or its publisher that may arise from your involvement with this promotion.  If you win this prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win again.  Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Prize will be delivered by UPS or FedEx so no P.O. Boxes are allowed as mailing addresses. A Geek Daddy Blog did not receive any financial compensation but did receive a review DVD for the blog and the prize that is being awarded to one of our readers for this contest.  A Geek Daddy Blog is hosting this contest as a benefit to our readers. Any opinions in this post are my own.  By submitting a coloring entry you grant permission for it to be shared on this blog and through our social media outlets.  Winner will be selected on approximately Monday, April  6, 2015.

 #Night3MovieNight #NATM3Insiders #TrackDexter

FIELD MUSEUM DINOSAURS

The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois is a great place to discover dinosaurs while exploring the place. It is home to Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the original skeleton of the world's largest and most complete fossilized T-Rex, and Maximo the Titanosaur,  a cast of the biggest dinosaur skeleton ever discovered, which are both on display here. You can find Maximo in the grand hall that serves as the museum's entrance and Sue has her own gallery space on the second floor.

While Maximo is exhibited on the first floor, it is so large the best way to get a good luck at this dinosaur is from the balconies above the grand hall overlooking the Titanosaur. Take a selfie standing besides Maximo's head then go over to see Sue's nearby second floor exhibit. Plus there are more than a dozen other prehistoric creatures to examine situated in the museum's Genius Hall of Dinosaurs that is adjacent to Sue's gallery.

MAXIMO THE TITANOSAUR

Maximo's skeleton stretches 122 feet across the Stanley Field Hall on the museum's first floor. At the top of its head, the dinosaur reaches a height of 28 feet tall. This skeleton is a model crafted from fossil bones excavated in Argentina. Titanosaur's scientific name is Patagotitan mayorum and this species of dinosaur which weighed about 70 tons while alive was larger than a blue whale currently giving it the title of biggest animal to have lived on our planet. That is the size of 10 full-grown African elephants!

Maximo was put on display at the Field Museum in 2018 replacing Sue the T-Rex being displayed in the grand hall. Sue was then given her own display space on the second floor of the museum in 2019. So now the Field Museum has two of the world's most famous dinosaurs exhibited for people to see. What is nice about Maximo being a cast of the skeleton is that it allows people to get in close proximity to the dinosaur and touch the model. This really allows you to get a grasp of just how huge this dinosaur was when it was alive.

SUE THE TYRANNOSAURUS REX

Sue is the world's most complete and best preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex fossilized skeleton. It was nicknamed after Susan Hendrickson who discovered the fossils on August 12, 1990 at the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Sue has been one of the most popular attractions at the Field Museum since she was put on display in the grand hall near the first floor entrance of the building in 2000.

Sue was taken off exhibit in 2018 so that she could be provided her own display area near the dinosaur gallery on the museum's second floor.  This 5,100 square foot exhibit space includes animated high-definition videos of what Sue would have looked like alive on nine-foot tall panels behind the T-Rex's skeleton. The videos show scenes of Sue drinking from a stream, hunting Edmontosaurus and battling a Triceratops.

A laser-light enhanced audio/video presentation takes place periodically throughout the day in the gallery. As details about portions of the dinosaur's skeleton are shared with the audience, specific fossil segments become illuminated. Facts are also projected upon the wall behind Sue's skeleton.

Because Sue's skull is often examined by scientists from around the world, the original is situated in a glass case a few yards away from her skeleton. The rest of the original skeleton though is showcased in the gallery with a cast model of the skull included with the rest of the dinosaur's body. All together the whole original skeleton can be seen within Sue's gallery.

It really is an exception experience visiting Sue at Chicago's Field Museum. It is a very impressive presentation which my daughter told me was her favorite thing we saw during our visit to the Field Museum.

GENIUS HALL OF DINOSAURS

From the carnivorous cousin of the T-Rex, the Daspletosaurus, to the plant-eating Stegosaurus with extruding shields protecting its spine from predators attacks, the Genius Hall of Dinosaurs has one of the United State's best collections of dinosaur fossils. Walk amongst soaring sauropods, duck-billed dinos and horned triceratops while making your way through this exhibit space. Watch out for the velociraptors!



For anyone who is fascinated by dinosaurs, a visit to the Field Museum is a must-do experience. The museum is located 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago Illinois 60605. It is located within the city's cultural district that includes Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, Grant Park, and Soldier Field along the Lake Michigan shoreline. For more information about planning a visit, go to fieldmuseum.org.

DINOSAUR ROAD TRIP

Dinosaurs are always a surefire way to capture my son's attention and get him excited.  So when we decided to go on a dinosaur themed father - son road trip, to say he was enthusiastic about our adventure was an understatement. So we headed off on a weekend getaway to Pittsburgh for our dinosaur expedition.

CARNEGIE SCIENCE CENTER

First stop was the Carnegie Science Center in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  This four floor museum is full of interactive exhibits meant to ignite people's imagination and interest regarding science.  We went though to see a Tyrannosaurus rex made out of LEGO bricks.

On temporary exhibit at the science center from June 16, 2018 through January 7, 2019 is "The Art of the Brick." Described as the world's largest exhibition of LEGO art, the sculptures by artist Nathan Sawaya on display are made exclusively from one of the most recognizable toys in the world: the LEGO brick. In addition to an amazing T-Rex dinosaur, "The Art of the Brick" also includes re-imagined versions of  some of the world’s most famous art masterpieces, including Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, as well as other original artwork crafted by Sawaya. Anyone who has ever unleashed their imagination playing with LEGO toys will find themselves spellbound looking around this art collection.

Later during our weekend in Pittsburgh we returned to see JURASSIC WORLD 2: FALLEN KINGDOM on a giant movie screen.  The Rangos Giant Cinema is 70 feet wide by 38 feet tall so the dinosaurs on the screen definitely looked big.  Plus they popped out at us in crisp 3D thanks to the theater's 4K Christie Laser Projectors.  And with more than 45 speakers providing surround sound it really is an immersive movie watching experience.

Though our hotel, CAMBRiA Hotel Pittsburgh, was located across town from the science center it was really easy and convenient to get between the two thanks to the city's nice mass transit system. A subway station was just a 10 minute walk from our hotel and the train ride dropped us off literally at the front door of Carnegie Science Center. Plus riding the subway is always FREE with no fares to pay when traveling between its downtown stations! The cars and stations felt safe, were very clean, it was easy to get to where we needed to be, and you can't beat riding for free.

CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF PITTSBURGH

We dropped by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh as we continued our search for dinosaurs.  This museum aspires to inspire joy, creativity and curiosity through educational and entertaining activities and exhibits.  My son had a fun time making a miniature dinosaur habitat in the museum's MAKESHOP arts and crafts area.  He took a lot of pride in his completed project!

CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

If you are looking to see dinosaur fossils, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History is one of the top places to go within the United States.  It has the world's largest collection of dinosaur fossils from the Jurassic period of the Mesozoic Era of our planet's history. The museum also has the third largest display of mounted dinosaur skeletons within the country behind Washington DC's Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and New York City's American Museum of Natural History.

Several of the dinosaurs you will see on display at this museum—including the iconic Apatosaurus louisae, Diplodocus carnegii, and Tyrannosaurus rex —are holotypes, which means they are original skeletons that were the first to be discovered and put together to define a species.  This really is an impressive and prestigious display that anyone who has an enthusiasm for learning about dinosaurs should absolutely make an effort to visit sometime.

So we found our dinosaurs! My son was so excited as he wandered through the exhibit galleries taking everything in. I could tell he wanted to reach out and touch them but of course that is off limits. After all these fossils are millions of years old. A docent though unlocked a cabinet for us and pulled out an authentic fossil of a dinosaur bone that we could hold and touch. Wow! What a wonderful experience!

In addition to its dinosaur displays, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History continues to study fossils for insight into the creatures and habitats from prehistoric times. A portion of their labs are windowed so visitors can watch them at work. We spent some time watching a paleontologist examining a fossil under a microscope.  It was neat that what he was seeing under the microscope was also projected onto a television screen so we could see as well.

Before leaving the museum, we popped into the gift shop to look at their souvenirs.  Standing guard over the store was a T-Rex.  One last dinosaur to see on the way out.

PITTSBURGH ZOO

Our dinosaur expedition wrapped up with a visit to the Pittsburgh Zoo to see a special summer exhibition.  We took a dinosaur trek walking along a path that had a number of life-like animatronic versions of these prehistoric creatures along it.  These robotic dinosaurs move and bellow to provide the impression you've walked back in time to the Jurassic period. My son ran up and down the trail excited to see what we would come up next along the path.

Hey! We just saw this guy's skeleton at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History! Actually they had quite a few fossil skeletons of many of these same dinosaurs on display.  It was really interesting to view those fossils then turn around and see these reproductions of what they would have looked like while alive.

Adding some STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) to Dinosaurs at the Zoo, there is a Deinonychus whose interior mechanics have been exposed with a control box so that people can direct the robot's motions. We may have spent more time enjoying this interactive display than we did walking through the rest of the exhibit … and we spent a lot of time walking with the dinosaurs! You have to admit combining robots with dinosaurs is an AWESOME duet.

When thinking of dinosaurs, Pittsburgh may not be the first place that comes to mind but I have to say it was the perfect destination for our themed road trip. My son and I had an incredible time!  With so many family-friendly places to go and things to do no wonder they are calling the place Kidsburgh. This city has earned A Geek Daddy nod of approval as being a great place to vacation with kids. Whether just for a weekend getaway or spending an entire week there, I guarantee you will have an enjoyable stay with lots of fun stuff to do.

For more information about planning your own trip to Pittsburgh, head over to visitpittsburgh.com, the website for the official tourism promotion agency of Alleghany County. Thanks Visit Pittsburgh for sponsoring our visit. While this was a hosted trip please note that the views and opinions expressed are honest and my own.

FREE KIDS WEEKENDS AT THE HENRY FORD MUSEUM OF AMERICAN INNOVATION

Planes, trains and automobiles! The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan is filled with mechanical creations and historical relics that showcase the social and technological evolution of the United States. Sitting in the actual bus where Rosa Parks took a stand for civil rights by refusing to give up her seat to a white man; walking amongst giant locomotives from a time when the railroads were the arteries of the nation's transportation system; pretending to be a barnstorming biplane wing walking acrobat; and making an MTV music video are just a few examples of the memorable moments families can have during a visit to The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. We've had some wonderful family outings to this museum ourselves and you are really missing out if a visit to The Henry Ford isn't on your to do list whether you live in or are visiting the Detroit area.

KIDS GET IN FREE

To encourage families to come out and explore the museum, kids get in FREE on the weekends from mid-January through March. Until March 31, 2019 use code KIDSFREE19 for a free youth admission with purchase of an adult admission. Take advantage of this promotion for your own family field trip to The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. Head over to thehenryford.org to find out more about the museum, plan your visit and purchase tickets online.

WEEKEND HOURS + SPECIAL ACTIVITIES

The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation hours on Saturdays and Sundays are 9:30 am to 5 pm. Macy's is hosting MAKE SOMETHING SATURDAYS very Saturday from the beginning of the year to May 25th providing an extra incentive for a weekend visit.  From 10 am - 3pm on these Saturdays, kids can engage in hands-on activities that let them tinker like an inventor. Each month will feature a different theme with activities for kid between the ages of 8 to 12 years old that are included at no additional charge with museum admission:

January 26 – "Stay Curious" starts off MAKE SOMETHNG SATURDAYS. What makes machines move? Choose from a variety of materials to create your own jittering machine. Recommended for ages 7+.

February – kids will explore the innovative work of African American artist, Aminah Robinson. Rather than simply writing her stories on paper, Aminah shared stories that combined her written words with traditional art materials, found objects, and everyday materials such as beads, buttons, cloth, leather, twigs, and shells to illustrate her work. Children will create paper beads and other objects as they write and illustrate their own one-of-a-kind story board.

March – Celebrate Women’s History Month by learning about amazing women innovators & inventors and what they accomplished through collaboration. Kids create puzzles that piece together a vision for the future.

April – To “Learn from Failure” may seem frustrating but it is a Habit of an Innovator that Thomas Edison embraced as necessary to success. He famously said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work." Kids learn from other’s famous failures, and their perseverance, and then join our quest to build the longest bridge together.

May – "Take Risks" is an important Habit of an Innovator. The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise took risks as they explored the galaxy on Star Trek. To celebrate the opening of the Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds exhibition, we will look at the props and futuristic devices used in the original TV series, its spinoffs and the films and create some space-age props of our own.

A GEEK DADDY ADVENTURES

This gear head car geek always enjoys checking out the incredible car collection on display at the museum. Vehicles on exhibit include the 1896 Quadricycle which was the first car built by Henry Ford, the 1902 Ford 999 which is one of the first drag racers, the 1965 Lotus-Ford Race Car that won the Indy 500 that year, and the Ford GT40 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four consecutive times, from 1966 to 1969. The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation is home to one of the most prestigious automobile collections in the world.

My son always enjoys climbing into the cab of the combine on display and pretending to harvest a farm's crops. The iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile is one of his favorite exhibits too. My daughter loves to look over the museum's collection of antique doll houses and exploring the 1980s era bedroom that shows what life was like when her mom and dad where kids.

Read all about one of our family adventures to The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in this past ageekdaddy.com post.  

Our family outing to The Henry Ford

During Michigan winters you can easily go stir crazy by not getting out of the house to do some sort of activity, especially when you have two rambunctious seven year old children to contend with.  We recently spent one cold January day exploring the huge indoor museum at The Henry Ford.  This educational institution's complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan consists of the outdoor Greenfield Village that is made up of original and replica structures from days gone by (which is closed for the winter) and the indoor Henry Ford Museum which preserves items relevant to American history and its industrial heritage.  The museum was founded with automobile manufacturer Henry Ford's personal collection of Americana and has continued to expand ever since it opened in 1933 serving as an archive that preserves elements of our nation's past and works to inspire future generations in building the future.  It is a huge building to explore that provides an educational and entertaining experience for both children and adults.  Whether you are visiting from out of town or a lifelong resident of the area, you'd be negligent not to check out the Henry Ford Museum if you are looking for something to do on a chilly winter day in Southeastern Michigan.

Hey the building is so big it can house an Allegheny locomotive! Designed for pulling huge coal trains over the Allegheny mountains of West Virginia this locomotive on display was built in 1941 and weighed 600 tons making it one of the largest steam-powered locomotives ever built.  Climb up in the cab of the locomotive and imagine you are the engineer driving this behemoth down the tracks.

They also have a display of planes showcasing the accomplishments of pioneering aviators.  Check out a replica of the Wright Flyer, sit in the passenger seats of an early commercial airplane, or participate in a simulation of being an acrobatic bi-plane wing walker.

This museum also pays tribute to the industrial heritage of the country including the mechanization of agriculture, gigantic multi-story examples of early steam engines that were used for mines, mills, factories and power plants, and a reproduction of Ford Motor Company's first automotive assembly line.  The Henry Ford has even partnered with Ford Motor Company to provide a tour experience of the car manufacturer's Rouge Assembly Plant where today's F-150 trucks are built busing participants from the museum to this off-site facility.  My kids had fun pretending to drive a combine in the agricultural tools section.

Of course with a museum named after Henry Ford you know they have to have some cars on display.  They have a huge display of early vehicles plus advertising and other items that tell the story of how automobiles have shaped American culture.  I love neon lights - this working McDonald's drive-in sign exhibited at the Henry Ford Museum is amazing!

I'm a fan of NHRA Drag racing so seeing some of the earliest cars designed for racing, including the "Rocket" was very interesting for me.

They even have one of the original the Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles!

Combining automotive and political history, the museum has on display several presidential limousines.  These include the horse-drawn Brougham carriage used by Theodore Roosevelt, the "Bubbletop" limo used by Presidents Truman and Eisenhower, Franklin Roosevelt's "Sunshine Special" and the vehicle President Reagan was rushed to the hospital in after being shot in an assassination attempt.  The Reagan limousine is the last presidential vehicle allowed to be preserved and displayed.  All limousines since that time period are destroyed by the Secret Service for security reasons when they are removed from use within the presidential motorcade.  On a somber note the actual presidential limousine that John F. Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated is also on display at The Henry Ford.

Other historic artifacts on display at the museum include an original Thomas Paine "Common Sense" Revolutionary War era propaganda pamphlet, one of the few surviving copies of the Declaration of Independence, the cot George Washington slept in while traveling with the Continental Army, and the actual chair Abraham Lincoln was shot in when he was assassinated at Ford Theater (no relationship to the Ford automobile family).

My daughter even had the chance to sit in the very seat that Rosa Parks refused to give up to a white man in civil disobedience of Southern segregation laws.  A nice lesson that no one should be bullied or prejudiced against because of things like race, sexuality, or religious affiliation.  That Montgomery, Alabama bus that Rosa Parks was riding on December 1, 1955 when she was arrested for refusing to be discriminated against has been restored and is on permanent exhibit.

Understanding that the attention span of children may wane as they wander through the museum, The Henry Ford has taken incorporated a few activities to cater to its younger visitors.  Kids visiting on a family outing will be amused by spinning a wheel as fast as they can to see how many lights they can power at once with their kinetic energy, build whatever creations they can imagine out of LEGO DUPLO toys in a designated building zone, viewing a huge model train exhibit that is at their eye level, and using a green screen to include themselves in classic 1980's MTV music videos, among other things.

I've referred to just a few of the discoveries you can make while exploring The Henry Ford's indoor museum.  To really appreciate the Henry Ford Museum though you can't just read about the place on an online post but rather need to pay it a visit where you can stroll through this repository of Americana to take it all in.

For more information including hours the museum is open to the public and directions to get there, visit thehenryford.org