We hit the Virginia Aquarium again. We had planned to go to the Norfolk Zoo but it was 40 degrees and pouring down rain. Luckily, the major Restless Planet renovations at the aquarium have been completed so this visit we got to see some new animals like the Komodo dragon!
Cute freshwater turtle
Contemplating the water
Kaleidoscope Hallway
Sea Turtles
Visiting the Komodo Dragon
Neat feature
Tropical Tunnel
At the gift shop
Doing his best to avoid Santa
While in Cleveland last month, we visited the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center. It’s a cute place, not very big, but free and fun for the kids!
A trip to the Life & Science Museum to find somewhere fun for Henry to play. Henry received several compliments on his Dharma jumpsuit.
On Christmas Eve we went to the Virginia Aquarium. When I was in college, it was called the Virginia Marine Science Museum and I worked there every summer as part of my Bonner Scholar work requirements.
I loved being there. I love the fishes and the wildlife. And I was nearly brought to tears in a fit of sentimentality when I saw Henry gazing with wonder into the tanks. I really hope to pass on my love of science and fishes to the little guy.
Here he is getting eaten by a shark. Doesn’t he look surprised?
These egrets, along with a host of other interesting birds, were in the aviary.
At the Norfolk Canyon tank, taking in the sharks.
Watching the giant sea turtles with Daddy. I think we could have sat there all day.
Walking to the South Building.
In the Marsh Pavilion we found this fun stuffed otter. The real ones were all asleep in a pile, so they weren’t that much fun to look at.
After a hard day of sitting in his stroller and being carried, Henry needed a breather. The kids play area was perfect!
Our best find of the day, however, was a stuffed “turkey buzzard,” which is what his Granma Jo calls him all the time. Must get photo!
While in Destin, we stumbled upon a spider. Not unusual, considering Amy was with us, but our encounter did have an interesting twist. This spider was huge, which is what caught our attention. Like, it seemed large enough that we were compelled to take photos of it.
Our interest caught the attention of the rednecks in the bar who wanted to squish it, so I attempted to escort the spider to safety by flicking it away. That’s when we discovered that it wasn’t a huge spider. It was a mother wolf spider and her hundred babies. OMG.
As a mother to another mother, I was so horrified when I realized that I had dislodged all the momma spider’s spider babies. I felt awful.
On the other hand, it was amazing to see this miracle of nature. Amy and Ali assured me that the babies were ready to be on their own and I wasn’t killing a hundred spider babies.
I have no pictures of the spiderbabies scattered around the sidewalk. We left after that, not sure what the rednecks would do and not wanting to stick around to find out. I’m sure momma spider gathered up her babies and went on her way, and the rednecks went back to karaoke in the bar.
A few days ago, Cayce started stalking the freezer. Very weird behavior but he’s a little weirdo so I was like, *shrug*, whatever dude. Then Billy started stalking the freezer, too. Then they alternated between stalking the freezer and the pantry. We’ve had our problems with mice in the garage, so it’s not too far fetched to think we might have a mouse in the house, especially with how cold it’s been recently.
On Wednesday when I left for work, Cayce was pawing at the pantry door so I thought I’d placate him and I left the pantry door open.
When Dave got home from work, he found some of the contents of the pantry shelves scattered about on the floor. After a bit of poking around (and having Cayce help) Dave found a mouse in the pantry!! He managed to trap him under a tupperware until I got home.
We put him in the same bucket we’ve used before and he jumped right over the side and freed himself! We had to chase him around most of the first floor before recapturing him and getting him back in the bucket, more securely this time. His athleticism and determination is what earned him his 12 oz. mouse title.
This weekend, we’re tearing apart the pantry and see who else we can find in there. Cayce was pawing at the door again this morning. *Sigh*
Three more overnight. Ally, I’ll have to not set the trap out again until this weekend or we might just get rid of them all before you get here! I can hope, anyway.
I took them to the same place to release them.
It turns out, unless you release the mice quite far away from your domicile, they might find their way back! This according to my boss, who is wise in the way of such things. So I started marking the mice with paint to see if I was just re-catching the same mice. I have recaught one, which tells me that I’m not dropping them off quite far enough away from the house.
This morning there were two mice in the bucket, one which had a paint mark. See it on the bottom mouse? 
So I took them with me on the way to work. It was about a 12 mile drive, though probably half that as the crow flies. I released them into the woods. Run, little dudes, run!
I used Will’s great idea for a humane mousetrap after finding a mouse in our garage recently. They love the bird seed so I put an inch of birdseed at the bottom of a straight-sided bucket and left it out for them, buffet style.
It worked!
This little guy was quite active and very close to jumping over the sides, but couldn’t quite make it. I took the bucket up the street and let him go in a natural area away from the houses. I am so happy with this solution!
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