While children everywhere are captivated by the amazing size of the extinct dinosaurs, only adults can truly appreciate the sight of one eating Newman. Entertain and edu-ma-cate the whole family with today's deal, which scores you a Triceratops ticket package to DinoQuest: A Tropical Trek Through Time, hosted by the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House. Two ticket types are available:

• $6 for one child Triceratops ticket (a $10 value)
• $9 for one adult Triceratops ticket (a $15 value)

The tri-pronged value of the Triceratops tickets guarantees daytime admission—rain or shine or airborne toxic event—to the DinoQuest exhibit in the Missouri Botanical Garden's Climatron, a half-acre geodesic dome filled with pools and waterfalls, along with tropical rainforest florae and faunae. You'll also enjoy admission to the Doris I. Schnuck Children's Garden, as well as the coordinated Jurassic Bugs exhibit at the Butterfly House. The Climatron and Children's Garden must be visited on the same day; when you redeem your Groupon at the Botanical Garden and Children’s Garden, you will receive a pass to the Butterfly House, which may be redeemed on a separate date from the first two exhibits.

DinoQuest gives garden-strolling kids and adults the chance to encounter models of several dinosaur species while experiencing the bygone sauropods' representative tropical microenvironments—and even see real, living examples of dinosaur-age plants such as the beautiful, last-of-its-kind prehistoric dawn redwood and the tooth-covered, yet puny-branched Tree Rex. Dinos on display range from the tiny Compsognathus to the duck-billed Parasaurolophus to the one everyone wants to be eaten by, the Tyrannosaurus Rex. If your kids start to roar uncontrollably, grow razor-sharp toe claws, or slowly evolve into birds, wear down some of their built-up dino-energy at the adventure and play area in the nearly two-acre Children's Garden, where they can romp through the educational exhibits, climb on the ground, and swing on the rocks.

Once you've seen all of the Climatron's reptilian sights, head over to the Butterfly House, a separate division of the Botanical Garden located about 20 miles west in Chesterfield. There, curious sightseers can get acquainted with Jurassic Bugs, a showcase of prehistoric insects rarely seen outside of seldom-cleaned bachelor pads, including models of 30-inch dragonflies, footlong cockroaches, meter-long land scorpions, and the terrifyingly gigantic 10-foot-long sea scorpion, the largest known arthropod ever. Also on display are a few authentic eons-old bugs, such as termites preserved in amber and Hugh Hefner.

It isn't often that the benefits of education can be combined with the wonder and majesty of massive, terrifying arthropods and colossal, carnivorous lizards, so take advantage of a Triceratops ticket and give the whole family a creepy, crawly, dino-packed experience to remember at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

This Groupon is valid for daytime use only through September 30, 2010. Not valid for Jurassic Dark evenings or during special admission rates. Blackout dates of September 4, 5, and 6 apply.

Reviews

The Missouri Botanical Garden is a Frommer's Recommended Destination, and a Parents Connect 2008 Parents' Pick for best eco-friendly place for families. TripAdvisors and lilaguide reviewers give the gardens an average of 4.5 stars, and Yahoo! Travelers and more than 50 Yelpers give it nearly unanimous five-star averages:

• : a 79-acre delight featuring the nation's largest Japanese strolling garden, a Chinese garden, the world's first geodesic-domed greenhouse, a scented garden for the visually impaired, a hedge maze, a home-gardening resource center, and themed gardens ranging from a Turkish Ottoman garden to an English woodland garden. – Frommer's
• I was never really into gardens in the past and the visit to the Missouri Botanical Garden has forever changed me. This place was gorgeous, peaceful and so educational. – BOGator11, TripAdvisor
• The newly added children's play area is a great place for the kids to go to get all that pent-up kid energy used up before they do the leisurely stroll through the gardens. It makes the experience pleasurable for them as well. The botanical gardens are an excellent place for kids to absorb and learn about the diversity and multitude of designs in nature – Don V., Yelp