A Room with a Veiw

For Malachi's 4th birthday we took him to "Sleeping with the Sharks" at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It. Was. Awesome. The group was small, with just a few other families, and because it was a SHE event we were very comfortable with the folks staying with us. It was so neat to be there after they locked the doors to all the crowds and have the whole place to ourselves to explore. There was a late-night scavenger hunt that took us through all the exhibits and lots of the animals seemed more lively at night and were that much more fun to interact with. Then they fed us homemade pizza from the cafe'.

PS - I included the above pictures from Oregon Coast Aquarium's website because, although I got some pretty neat shots, my little camera couldn't do justice to the beauty of the tanks.

Say "Crab!"

Solomon hanging out at the tide pool table.

The birthday boy!


Mommy & Solly

The guys look' at some sardines.
Whoa. Spider Lobsters. Creepy.

One of the best perks was the one-on-one with the curators and keepers. They followed us around answering questions and telling funny stories about the critters. Like the Kindergarten class who came on a field trip to the touch tank only to watch in horror as Mr. Crab (usually very sedate and shy) snapped Mrs. Crab's head off with his pincher. Then proceed to eat it. Fabulous.


"Baaaad Squishy!"


Kai loved the tide pool touch tank.
All bedded down and ready to sleep. The shimmery specs are anchovies. When the lights are dimmed they sparkle and shine! It's difficult to make out with the flash on the camera, but sharks, skates and rays were all around us. It was just beautiful.

Tired boys...


"Whoa! "

In the morning after breakfast we got to go behind the scenes with the sea lions, otters and the oceanic aviary.

Then it was time to pack up our bedding and packs and stash it all in the car. What a good time we had!

The End

PS - Thanks to everyone who offered encouragement and well wishes upon the death of our little dog. We are now remembering with smiles instead of tears. We're also teaching Lexx to bark on command, continuing the legacy left to him by Jadis. In our house, Stupid will always say "Woof".