Newport Aquarium with the niece

I take each one of my siblings' children out for their birthday. I don't know who looks forward to it more, me or them. I pretty much let them decide where we go and what we do. A lot of them choose the Aquarium. You would think it would be the same every time but it's not. Now this is in no way an endorsement, bu I have to hand it to the Newport Aquarium. They keep it interesting for kids; even I can stand there and watch some of those larger tanks for a while. And usually when I have even one child with me, I don't get to move at my own pace. As they get older, I'm finding that changes. More and more they take the time to look, listen, and learn about some of the things that are there. I'm not certain but I'm beginning to think there is some research that goes into their decision. This trip with Olivia was all about petting the sharks. The Aquarium is more than just a bunch of fishbowls. You start at the rivers of the world and soon after you pass the pirhanas, you get to the ocean where you have an octopus, lobsters, sea horses, and lots of colorful fish, and then you get to the frog playground (They call it the Frog Bog). There are lots of tiny terrariums with lots of crazy looking frogs. But they are outnumbered by all the screaming kids that think they are at a playground because there's a playhouse that every single kid needs to run through several times over. Oh, and did I mention there's a lifesize frogger game where you have to hop on the directional buttons to move your frog.

Oh Yeah, and they have these giant frogs for you to sit on and get a picture.

It's dumb, but the kids love it. I don't get the playhouse thing. They also have an otter exhibit and a place where you can feed the birds nectar like they have at the Cincinnat Zoo. It's a great place to get shit on by a bird. Thankfully, my niece wanted to pet a shark.


Well, to get to the Shark petting, you have to go through the shark tank and before you get to the shark tank, you got this jellyfish exhibit which is pretty cool as long as you're not a jellyfish. And chances are, since they are jellyfish, they probably don't know any better anyway.










And finally there is the shark tank with shark rays, and giant loggerhead sea turtles, and lots of fish including sharks. It's like walking in a tunnel that's under the water . . . oh wait a minute it is a tunnel that's underwater . . . anyway, it's pretty cool. And Olivia enjoyed it.

The photo at the beginning was inside the Shark tank, so is the one to the left, obviously. I got some decent shots. It's tough to do; they don't want you to use a flash. Finally we left the tank and once we got through the restaurant without dipping into the contents of my wallet, it was time to pet some sharks. This was where I was most proud of Olivia. She was determined to pet a shark and instead of just shoving her hand in the water like the other kids (and I) were doing, she did what the shark woman talking over the microphone said to do. Hold your hands on the counter and wait for the shark to pass by you then touch it. It takes a certain amount of patience to do this. The sharks need to pass by a few times before they'll be near the top of the water. Olivia planted herself at the edge of the pool and waited patiently. I think she got one on her first try. After Olivia pet a shark, the other kids started to keep their hands back, too. And every body was shark petting. It was rather exciting. Even I pet one. I never had before. I don't think I have ever spent that much time at the shark petting pool. And I don't think I've ever seen anyone have that much success petting the sharks. She did it at several different areas and touched several different kinds.

It's actually kind of gross if you think about it so try not to. That wasn't the end of the day. We finished with a trip to the candy store, bought a present, then finished at Outback Steak House. I love it when they pick those restaurants.

Colorado: Hanging out on Crystal Mountain

Rainbow Over Colorado

Photo above: My cousin's house on Crystal Mountain in Colorado.

I am lucky to have cousins in Colorado. I feel like I have a second home there. And each time I visit, I think about being out there a little more often. My cousin Erin and her family live in Boulder. My cousin Mara just moved to Denver with her husband. They are both great, fun, lovely people and so are their husbands. But my cousin Paul is who I spend the most time with, for better or worse. Usually better, rarely worse. He lives west of Ft. Collins with his wife and their two dogs. They are all siblings, well my cousins are, not the spouses or the dogs. They are from Ohio (my cousins, not the dogs though they visited and I think they liked it ok). Their house is near the Horsetooth Reservoir, right near the Poudre Valley, and I would argue that the area from La Porte west through the North Park basin along the Cache La Poudre is the best part of CO. Paul has great neighbors and great friends throughout Colorado. I can always count on being treated well and having a good time when I'm out there. An added bonus this past summer was spending some time up at his getaway on Crystal Mountain. We were at about 8500' elevation. Storms would form around us in the afternoon. The rainbow in the picture appeared between two of these storms. Mother Nature put on a show the whole time we were there. It was warm, cold, wet, dry but no matter what the weather was doing, it was peaceful . . . even when we were drinking . . . sort of, I suppose that might depend on your definition of peace but I thought it was peaceful (it probably helped being sheltered from some of those impressive thunderstorms). The pictures below give some of the great views found on the property.

Flowers were abundant all over the meadow and in the wooded areas.

Here is a view of his "cabin" from the Northeast. You can see two earlier structures on the left. Crystal Mountain is in the background.

Paul getting ready to hit the Tequila with me (actually I think we already were). This photo is posted without permission.

Here are two shots with Horsetooth Mountain in the distance. Ft. Collins is the white peak in the distance. Ft. Collins would be to the right of Horsetooth Mt.