I walked into the brand new Colossal Fossils Museum today, and I have to admit I felt just a tiny morsel of that excitement that the site of a dinosaur museum used to bring out in me as a kid. Just a little dollop.

Colossal Fossils started out as a mobile museum that made stops to schools and old folks homes to generate interest in dinosaurs. Which, as you can imagine, doesn’t take much. A kid only needs a quick glance at the giant tooth of a T.Rex and they’re transfixed.

The museum’s director, David Daniels, always dreamed of a permanent location and today that’s become a reality. Colossal Fossils opened up in the Wausau Center mall, in a storefront that once housed a Pac Sun. Now it’s replete with dinosaur skeletons, including Ivan the T.Rex and a giant wooly mammoth skull and tusks.

Yeah, it’s freaking cool. Do I see if differently now? Of course — I’m now thinking about how cool those dino bones and fossils will look through the lens of my camera. I’m thinking about lighting, about getting the right angle, what will look good blurred out in the background.

But damn if I didn’t walk out of there with a slight spring in my step.