Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways
acknowledge him,and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Just a Fun Day

It was just a fun day.  That's all there was to it.  It began with a quick stop at David's Bridal for Sissy's dress fitting, followed by a trip to Lowe's (looking for something to build a homemade desk area with), to a yummy lunch at Howard's BBQ.  We had to taste-test the food as an option for Sissy's wedding.  It was quite doable I believe.  We left there and Caleb had the grand idea of spending some time at the aquarium.  After a bit of begging we decided we would go.  We have a family membership afterall with entrance and parking fee's being paid.  How can you say no?  Besides, in home school we had recently studied turtle for the letter "T" and octopus (and otter) for the letter "O" so what better place to reinforce that than the Texas State Aquarium? 

Caleb likes to go through TSA in a rush.  So, usually we're done after about an hour or so.  This trip was no different regarding the rushing.  But, we did stay a little longer than usual.  Maybe since he's bigger he's taking in more on the trip.  I don't know but we sure enjoyed ourselves.

Every trip involves a measurement at the Bird Exhibit.  They have a board you stand next to and spread out your arms.  It then tells you the wing span you have and what bird you would be based on that length.  It's fun to see how much he's grown from the first trip til now.  It would involve a research of our pictures to find out our starting point....Maybe another day.  Here's today's measurements though.  At this time he has approximately a 3.5 foot wing span placing him right between a red tailed hawk and a great horned owl.




With our recent study of turtles it seemed befitting to take a picture in front of this cool turtle statue.  The real turtles were huge and beautiful to look at but they really didn't stay in one place long enough to acquire a decent picture.  This one turned out awesome and I'm pleased with it.

We met a neat family while in front of this turtle statue.  If my memory serves me correctly they were visiting from Nebraska. (Or maybe it was Arkansas...oh well, that's my memory for ya.)  They were farmers and when they left home it was 15 degrees outside.  I'm sure they were enjoying the warm South Texas day.  They offered to take our picture if we would take their's.  They wanted the Lexington in the background.  They were a rather big family and it was nice to meet them, if only for a few minutes in passing.

We always stop to look at the sting ray pool.  It is set up in a way that you can reach in and pet them if you'd like.  I've never really felt the need to stick my hand in the water and try to pet them.  Am I a chicken?  Not really.  At least I don't think so.  I just don't like the stinky smell of the water.  And, until today, neither had Caleb. I have to say having daddy along for the ride helped Caleb be more adventurous.  He touched them.  Not once, but several times and was pretty excited about it too.   My pictures are poor though.  My simple camera cannot catch those movement shots very well.  But, you get the idea anyway.
I have to say our favorite part of THIS trip to the TSA had to be the otters.  Well, it was only one otter really.  Not sure where the other's were as the TSA has 3 of them.  But, only one was out to spend time with visitors today.  Now, we've been to the aquarium so many times I cannot even count anymore.  Memberships are wonderful and save you so much money.  We definitely take advantage of our membership.  But, the point is, in all the times we've been to the TSA, I've never witnessed such friendly otters.  One side of the tank is a glass wall and you can watch the otter swimming under water, back and forth.  There is a decorative ledge about a foot wide or so.  Well, Caleb decided to run back and forth along that ledge.  He was just being a little boy at first, but we noticed the otter was swimming back and forth with him.  I have to admit, at first glance I really just thought it was coincidence.  But, after a couple of trips, I realized the otter was indeed "playing" with Caleb.   I truly wish I'd thought to turn the video on on my phone.  Hindsight and all that jazz I guess.  It was precious though.  Caleb would run back and forth.  If he stopped, the otter stopped also.  But, he didn't just stop, he would paw at the glass and swim up and down vertically trying to get Caleb to run again.  Then Caleb would run and the otter would take off after him.  Every time Caleb stopped, the otter would entice him to continue playing.  It was so funny and within minutes a crowd developed around us and you could hear people making comments like, "look Susie, the otter is playing with that little boy."  This by far has to be one of my most favorite TSA memories.  Regretfully, no great pictures to share, but this is a water spotted picture of the otter.



Everyone knows what this guy is.  A shark.  I must admit I've never been this close to the glass when one of them swum by.  Isn't he the ugliest thing?  I am so glad there was glass between us.  The picture does not do it justice, but the teeth. Ugh!  So many and snarly.  Ick!

And if a few hours at the TSA were not "punishment" enough.  Johnny asked if there were any movies playing.  We were passing through the small town of Portland on our way home and they have a decent theater to view movies.  So, we detoured to check out what was playing.  We saw "Yogi Bear" on the list and chose to give that a try. 

Now, I must tell you, I don't go to a lot of movies, but I try to catch all the kid appropriate one's with Caleb.  It was child friendly, but I have to admit it was a little bit on the cheesy side.  Yogi Bear lovers, my apologies.  The whole storyline was a stretch.  BUT, if you can just put that aside and revert back to your childhood and remember watching all the silly cartoons you'll be fine.  "Hey Ranger!"  It definitely brought back memories.  And was a silly end to a very fun, family day. 

Definitely a blessing to have been able to spend the time with two of my guys.

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