Fossil Hunting (Bedtime Story)

Our "excavation exploration" in the Honeybee Neighborhood desert uncovers a buried surprise—a colossal triceratops fossil that hasn't seen daylight in millions of years. As we piece together its ancient bones, the fossil starts to twitch back to life, turning a simple dig into a thrilling race to befriend a newly awakened dinosaur. With a living, breathing triceratops now in our backyard, our summer just got a whole lot wilder and more prehistoric! - Love, Mrs. Honeybee

Featuring: Mr. Honeybee, Melodybee, Roger Robot, and Harold

Transcript

Bedtime with Mrs.

Honeybee.

Today,

In the Honeybee neighborhood,

We'll be going fossil hunting.

An excavation exploration.

Does every adventure have to rhyme?

Can't we just go fossil hunting this time?

Ah,

My dear,

Even that rhymed.

You know the answer to your question.

Yes,

Of course every adventure we go on has to rhyme.

Excavation exploration,

Here we come.

All you have to do is close your eyes,

Get cozy,

And listen to the sound of my voice.

Mrs.

Honeybee will be your guide.

Let's begin.

You are here,

Walking up to our brightly colored door,

Extra excited to knock today.

Before you can,

Melody Bee flings open the door as if she was waiting for you on the other side,

Dressed head to toe in beige safari gear.

I was waiting for your footsteps on the other side of the door.

Aren't you excited for today?

We're going on the.

.

.

We know where we're going.

We do not have to say it each time,

Melody Bee.

Hello,

My little Honeybee.

Here's your hat and your vest.

Come inside.

We're just about ready to leave.

Harold finally wakes up from his nap and groggily runs over to greet you with puppy kisses.

He shows off his brand new collar and saddlebags that he can carry all on his own.

Since we strapped them on like a backpack,

He has refused to take them off.

Harold,

Can you please hold our sunscreen?

We're going to need plenty out in the desert.

Oh,

Mrs.

Honeybee,

Are you ready for the.

.

.

The thing we're doing today that does not have to rhyme.

Yes,

I'm coming.

I'll be right there.

My little Honeybee,

You're here.

Is it time for the excavation exploration?

So funny you ask,

Because yes,

It is the excavation exploration.

I guess there's no avoiding it.

If you can't beat them,

Join them.

That's right.

What will you be joining us for,

Though,

Mr.

Honeybee?

On the excavation exploration.

We pack all of our supplies and excitement into the car.

There's so much of both that it can hardly fit.

But once we puzzle it all in,

We begin the long journey out to the Honeybee neighborhood desert.

An ancient site with deeply buried historical significance.

During a recent construction project,

An ancient sundial was discovered there.

The construction project stalled indefinitely,

And the desert location has been somewhat abandoned ever since.

Because of that,

Even more recently,

Harold stumbled.

Or rather,

Sniffed upon something much bigger,

Much,

Much bigger than anyone could have anticipated.

There wasn't just human history buried out there.

Oh,

No.

The more-than-human world also keeps their long-buried secrets out there.

All for us to find,

To excavate,

And bring back to life.

I've never actually been up here.

This is my first desert trip too,

Little Honeybee.

It's so pretty.

It's worth the long drive.

But don't worry.

I came prepared with all our favorite songs.

I created a special playlist.

Mr.

Honeybee,

You were giving Melody Bee so much trouble about the rhyming adventure name.

And look.

Look what you named the playlist.

Weird.

Melody Bee must have named it or something.

Hey,

No I didn't.

What did he name it,

Mrs.

Honeybee?

Let me see.

Look.

Excavation,

Exploration.

Afternoon tunes.

Color me impressed,

Mr.

Honeybee.

I didn't know you were a poet.

So strange how it got named that.

What a weird technical glitch.

Mr.

Honeybee lulls us all to sleep,

Denying the charges,

Long after we've stopped listening to him deny it.

The road trip playlist itself is wonderful,

No matter what it's named.

And you smile to yourself in the backseat,

Looking out the window,

Watching the landscape change.

Oak trees turn to cacti as the desert takes over.

Harold scratches at the sides of his carrier for you to take him out and hold him on your lap.

With Harold on your lap,

We enjoy the rest of our peaceful road trip out to the desert.

He yawns a big yawn that invites you to lay your head down too and close your eyes.

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Allow your mind to be as wide open as this desert,

Just as expansive and peaceful.

Then,

Slowly,

Breathe all the way out through your mouth and fall asleep to the quiet sounds of Harold snoring on your lap for what feels like the blink of an eye.

We're here.

Harold bursts out of the door as soon as you open it and crash lands in the sand.

Without missing a beat,

He rolls the landing and races out into the desert.

Here,

My little honeybee,

Be sure to put enough sunscreen on.

Don't forget the tip of your nose.

The sun is extra sunny out here.

As soon as you step out of the car,

You can feel the difference in the landscape.

It's dry out in the desert,

And that makes the sun feel even warmer on your skin.

Luckily,

You came prepared with a big brown floppy hat to shade your face and plenty of layers to protect you from the hot sun.

You fill your pockets and your satchel with all your tools.

A small brush that looks like a paintbrush,

But is for brushing clean our findings.

Your camera to record what you find,

Your notebook,

Measuring tape,

And a little guidebook on unearthing fossils.

You are ready for this excavation exploration.

Harold knows exactly where to go.

We'll just follow him.

Oh yeah,

I forgot to tell you,

My little honeybee.

Harold has been doing some volunteer work as a search and rescue pup.

He and his pals came out here to rescue a lost hiker.

They found him no problem,

But their noses also track down other interesting scents.

He's been asking to come out here all week.

Harold knows something good is buried in this ancient ground,

And I believe him when he knows.

Me too.

Have you ever tried playing hide and seek with that dog?

Woof.

It's barely even a game.

He finds me so fast.

It looks like he stopped up there.

Did you find something,

Boy?

Harold is trained to sit down on scents that are interesting,

And that is how we know where to dig.

He can barely contain his excitement.

Not only is his tail wagging,

But the rest of him can't help but wiggle until we join him on his selected spot.

Should we start digging here,

Boy?

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Feel the coolness of the air coming in through your nose,

Finding its way to your lungs,

And expanding out your chest.

Then,

Slowly,

Breathe all the way out through your mouth and sit down on the sandy ground to begin digging beside Harold.

While you use your new hand shovel,

Harold digs right in with his paws.

His tail wagging and his bottom up high in the air,

He quickly creates a large hole before any of us can get through the dry,

Cracked ground.

Instead,

We follow Harold's lead once again and help him dig an even deeper hole.

We dig and dig until… Was that something?

It looks like it might be.

Let me climb down in there with you,

Mr.

Honeybee.

Can you grab my hand?

Of course,

My dear.

Jump down.

There's plenty of room beside our little honeybee.

Maybe it's a rock?

Let's try digging a bit more around it.

It's stuck in there pretty good.

Harold digs the rest of the way around the finding,

And you follow behind his paws with a brush to slightly sweep away any debris so we can get a better look at what this is.

It's pale brown,

An ivory color,

Like a… Bone!

This is a bone!

And a huge one at that.

Look,

It keeps going and going and going.

Harold busily unearths the top of an 80-foot-long bone.

Not just any bone,

Though.

It's a dinosaur bone.

Dibby,

This is a dinosaur bone if I've ever seen one.

But I've never seen one,

So I can't be sure.

Let me do some research really quick.

While Harold continues to dig,

You take pictures of the findings,

And Mr.

Honeybee uploads it to a database for help to identify it.

It looks like this is definitely a dinosaur.

At this size,

It could have been a whale bone,

But… How can a whale be in the desert?

This wasn't always a desert,

Melody Bee.

Long,

Long ago,

There was much more water on the surface of the earth.

And water has moved around,

So sometimes you can find whale bones in forests and everything.

But this isn't a whale bone.

This looks like a… What?

What is it?

Please,

Please,

Please be a triceratops.

A triceratops?

Today is your lucky day,

Melody Bee.

Wow!

It looked like when this dino was romping around.

It's hard to imagine a dinosaur in the Honeybee neighborhood,

But they were here all over the place.

And now one is back.

Let's finish digging it up and putting it back together.

Oh,

It's like a… By now,

Harold has unearthed the whole triceratops fossil.

It sparkles in the light of day for the first time in what could be millennia.

Working along the same path as Harold,

We follow behind his expert digging with our tools to excavate and investigate the miraculous findings.

As we unearth piece by piece,

Mr.

Honeybee consults a 3D rendering of a triceratops that could be put back together.

Jigsawing the biggest,

Most important puzzle we've ever done,

We build out a triceratops dinosaur from the gargantuan feet up.

It stands at about 10 feet tall and over 30 feet long,

Including a tail.

Its three horns stand up prominently on its flounce.

According to this,

Triceratops have three horns on their flounce,

Also called a frill,

That was used as a sort of body armor.

It helped them protect their neck from predators.

Whoa!

Does it have a beak?

It looks like it.

Yes,

Actually it does.

Despite how huge triceratops are,

They are herbivores and only eat plants,

Mainly shrubs.

Here's another part of its beak.

Oh yes,

That goes right here.

It looks like we've almost put this whole dinosaur back together.

Can you believe it?

We just have this one last toe bone,

My little Honeybee.

Do you want to do the honors of completing the Honeybee Neighborhood's first ever dinosaur fossil?

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through your nose.

Feel the sensation of your heart beating once,

Twice,

Three times to connect with the friendly creature who you're about to fully rebuild.

Then,

Slowly,

Breathe all the way out through your mouth and nestle the toe bone into the humongous foot.

We stand back to admire the fossil in all of its elephant-like size and the history this incredible creature represents.

Harold disrupts the silence with concern.

What is it,

Boy?

That's when we realize that the toe bone you just puzzled back together has moved as if it's stretching.

Harold jumps out in front of us to make sure we're protected.

And we cautiously watch as the foot bones rattle and the tail bone begins to sway in the slight desert breeze.

Is that just the wind moving the triceratops?

Please say that's just the wind.

I wish I could say that,

Mr.

Honeybee,

But I don't think it is.

As if waking up from a million-year nap,

The triceratops fossil we just reconstructed continues to rattle and move each of its newly replaced bones.

You know what?

Maybe this can wait.

Mr.

Honeybee plucks a toe out of the rattling skeleton,

And it once again resumes perfect stillness.

We can't bring this dinosaur friend back to life and just leave back home.

Like,

Hey,

Good morning.

You've been sleeping for eons.

Enjoy the desert.

Alone.

Melody Bee's right.

We can't just leave it out here.

I know,

I know.

I agree.

We can't drive back home with a dinosaur in the back seat,

Though.

What if we take it apart,

Go back home,

And build it a nice little,

I mean,

Huge terrarium?

It can go right next to the unicorn stable.

They'll have so much fun together.

Eventually.

I hope.

Oh,

No.

I'm sure they'll be great friends once they get to know each other.

And the dinosaur will have all it needs until then.

Let's pack it back up,

Team.

We gently disassemble the triceratops until we can have a proper introduction once we're home.

The bones are too long to fit in the car.

So you and Mr.

Honey Bee carefully pack them up and strap them to the top of the car.

It will be a much slower drive home so we don't lose any of the bones on the highway.

Once we get home,

Mr.

Honey Bee gets right to work building a terrarium for the dinosaur.

It's big enough for a triceratops to romp around freely and have access to all it needs,

Which we will need to figure out over time.

With the terrarium built out in the backyard,

Between the garden and the unicorn stable,

We painstakingly put our new friend back together piece by piece,

Bone by bone.

Again,

We arrive at the very last toe bone,

Which rests in your hand.

You feel an enormous sense of honor and pride putting this fossil back together,

And you do not take the task lightly.

Take your slowest,

Deepest breath in through your nose.

Strengthen each and every one of your muscles to reconnect with your own strength that you hold deep inside.

Then,

Slowly,

Breathe all the way out through your mouth and replace the toe bone as you allow your own bones to be jelly.

We stand back,

Wondering if it will happen again,

And it does.

This time,

Our triceratops fossil is more awake,

Still very groggy and disoriented,

But awake nonetheless.

We officially have a dinosaur to take care of now,

My little honey bee.

We couldn't have such success on our excavation exploration without you.

Like the bestest friend,

You and Melody Bee set out plenty of fresh veggies for our herbivore friend and allow it to wake up from its sleep slowly,

Without too much disturbance.

Once it wakes up,

We can get to know the triceratops more.

But for now,

We watch and wonder.

Always remember,

Mrs.

Honey Bee believes in you.

You are special,

And you are loved.

I can't wait to see you again.

Reviews

So so so so so amazing you keep making new ones. I’m so happy with the recent uploads. There’s always a new one to do. This one was very good. I love Dino.s