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Posted on Tue, Jan 29, 2013 : 7:04 p.m.

Ann Arbor snow day begets snow dinosaur

By Cindy Heflin

Dwight_Dinosaur1.jpg

Jesse Bratton climbs on Dwight the Dinosaur.

Photo courtesy of Heidi Bratton

Dwight the Dinosaur was destined to have a short life. But during it, he was an impressive sight lounging in the front yard of John and Heidi Bratton in Superior Township.

Dwight_Dinosaur2.jpg

Dwight the snow dinosaur with John Bratton, left, Ben Bratton and Lucy Bratton.

Photo courtesy of Heidi Bratton

Some might have called Dwight’s disposition icy, but it didn’t bother 5-year-old Jesse Bratton, who thought he made a fine jungle gym and slide.

Dwight was born on Monday, at first just a vague idea in the minds of John and three of his children enjoying a day off from school. He began to materialize as any snow figure would, from a few balls of rolled-up snow in the Brattons' front yard on Fox Hollow Court.

Then his body began taking shape, and then a long neck and curvy tail. Soon he had a small head and had sprouted pointed stegosaurus “plates” along his back. And there he was, a creature John Bratton said was something of a cross between dinosaurs, stegosaurus and apatosaurus.

A mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain had closed area schools Monday, so Bratton and his children, Ben and Lucy Bratton, both students at Gabriel Richard High School, and 5-year-old Jesse Bratton, decided to do something with the snow in their yard before it melted away.

Bratton said they fashioned Dwight freehand with no model to work from.

“We rolled up a bunch of balls like you would a snowman and went from there,” he said. “There was some debate as to whether we should get a picture to work off of, but we were too wet and slushy to go back inside.”

When they were finished, Dwight stood 12 feet tall and measured about 14 feet from head to tail.

He did have some trouble keeping his head. He was on head No. 3 by the time Bratton left for work Tuesday at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he is the deputy director.

But that did little to diminish Dwight’s glow Monday night as he proudly wore a garland of Christmas lights on his first (and probably last) night on Earth.

Comments

CharlotteM

Sun, Mar 31, 2013 : 11:45 p.m.

extend kids' fascination with dinosaurs into useful life skills (money + time management, entrepreneurship, etc.) in a fun game, see the writeup from USA Today, "Best new dino-themed iPad apps for kids": http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/gudmundsen/2013/03/17/dinosaur-kids-apps/1983073/

Elaine F. Owsley

Wed, Jan 30, 2013 : 1:30 p.m.

Isn't there an old saying? When life gives you snow, make a dinosaur.

Andy T

Wed, Jan 30, 2013 : 6:10 a.m.

Totally cool! It's a very zen exercise...all things are impermanent! 8-)

A2M3

Wed, Jan 30, 2013 : 5 a.m.

UM Dept of Natural Resources has dispatched a team to study this anomaly and has received a grant to determine its origin and impact on global warming.

brian

Wed, Jan 30, 2013 : 3:33 a.m.

OMG, Nessy is alive. Nice story. Keep the good stories coming please.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Jan 30, 2013 : 1:59 a.m.

Just a reminder to all our readers out there, if you have a shot to share be it breaking news or a fun photo like this one above from the Bratton family send it our way using our photo submission form found here: http://annarbor.com/up/

CharlotteM

Sun, Mar 31, 2013 : 11:48 p.m.

extend kids' fascination with dinosaurs into useful life skills (money + time management, entrepreneurship, etc.) in a fun game, see the writeup from USA Today, "Best new dino-themed iPad apps for kids": http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/gudmundsen/2013/03/17/dinosaur-kids-apps/1983073/

Krupper1

Wed, Jan 30, 2013 : 1:58 a.m.

Applause!

Ross

Wed, Jan 30, 2013 : 1:08 a.m.

Too bad dwight wasn't born from the snow around Christmas, then he could have lived for more than one day. Pretty awesome though!

Cindy Heflin

Wed, Jan 30, 2013 : 2:02 a.m.

Does anyone remember? Was that snow good for making snow creatures?

Julie Baker

Wed, Jan 30, 2013 : 12:34 a.m.

What a great way to spend a snow day! Dwight makes a pretty impressive sight.

Indymama

Wed, Jan 30, 2013 : 12:22 a.m.

Love this story!! Wish we could have more Good News stories to go along with the "bad/sad" ones!

CharlotteM

Sun, Mar 31, 2013 : 11:47 p.m.

The good news came on 3/17, per USA Today....extend kids' fascination with dinosaurs into useful life skills (money + time management, entrepreneurship, etc.) in a fun game, see the writeup from USA Today, "Best new dino-themed iPad apps for kids": http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/gudmundsen/2013/03/17/dinosaur-kids-apps/1983073/