Sunday, May 26, 2013

National Aquarium

We've had absolutely no reason to go to Baltimore, MD for the entire two years we've lived here, even though it's only 1.5 hours away.  So, we finally decided to make a special trip just to see the National Aquarium last Friday.

It's not the world's greatest aquarium and, after being spoiled with the free museums in DC, I thought the $35 price tag was a bit high, but it was a really great place to take Alison, who has always loved a big tank full of fish.

The major attractions are the location (right on the Inner Harbor of Baltimore - Baltimore itself reminded me a lot of Milwaukee, but the Inner Harbor seems like it might be a fun place to hang out), the dolphin exhibit/show, a jellyfish area, an Australia exhibit (which reminded me more of an aviary with fish rather than an aquarium), and what Alison calls the "Daddy Shark" exhibit.  Instead of having a big, bright cage for the sharks with corals, other fish, turtles, etc, the "Daddy Shark" exhibit was at the very bottom of a long ramp.  It was dark and the big, circular cage had nothing except some ugly rocks and a bunch of large sharks.  It's almost like they were trying to scare you as you descended into the depths of the ocean.  I was surprised that this became Alison's favorite place.  I guess there's something about human nature that makes you simultaneously scared and reverent of large sharks.  I know now that's probably just part of our DNA.

Jellyfish Exhibit Decorations

Puppet Show in the Kid's Activity Area

Dolphin Show

Australia Exhibit
Alison got an umbrella as a souvenir and decided to use it even though it wasn't raining.

I'm glad we went, especially since at age three children go from being free to paying $22.  It was a fun girl's trip and probably the last time Alison and I will travel, just the two of us, for quite some time.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

A Few Big Events in April and May

Aside from our trip to Delaware, we had a couple other noteworthy events.

First, Grandpa King came to visit with his girlfriend, Kathy, at the end of April.  We all had a good time touring DC and eating delicious foods.  Alison enjoyed hanging out with Grandpa, Kathy, and Uncle Justin for that stretch of five days.

Grandpa & Alison - Old Town Alexandria Waterfront
Nathan finished painting and adding a closet in the new baby's room, so we moved the crib and got Alison to use her new "Big Girl Bed".  She was not very happy about being forced out of her crib.

Big Girl Bed
On the 19th, Alison and I went strawberry-picking at Shlagel Farms.  Last year, she ate strawberries constantly (both ripe and white ones - it didn't matter) and the outing ended in this strawberry coma:

2012 Strawberry Coma
This year, Alison was an excellent strawberry-picking machine!  She knew exactly which ones to grab and only ate a few....until the ride home where she mostly finished her small batch of about 20 that she had picked.  We also got to feed the chickens, play on the playground and dig in the sand before it started to downpour on us.  Alison asked if we could go strawberry-picking again the next day.

Great Harvest
Chicken Attack!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Delaware & Horseshoe Crabs

Last weekend we went on a mini-trip to the Delaware and Maryland beaches.  It's not prime beach time or weather, but I was interested in seeing the area and, in particular, a phenomenon that we can't see anywhere else: the annual horseshoe crab spawn.  Every year in May and June, the horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay come to shore during full and new moons to spawn.  The full moon would have been better, but it is taking place over Memorial Day this year and Nathan explained to me that he couldn't take off of work because, "Memorial Day at the Memorials is kind of a big deal".  So, we went for the new moon instead.

We have my friend, Maureen, to thank for routing us toward Cape Henlopen State Park.  They have a nice campground right on a 3.2-mile bike loop that hits all of the park's major attractions (Fort Miles, an old WWII and Cold War fort, an observation tower, some scenic points and, best of all, the beach).  The beach in the park was lovely and not very crowded.  I had attempted to convince Nathan that we should drag our tent along and camp but, being almost eight months pregnant, I'm now glad he talked me out of that. We rented this cute cabin for two nights instead and enjoyed all that the park had to offer, but got to end our days in a real bed.

Our Cute Little Two-Room Cabin
Enjoying the Top Bunk
Beach Wind


Loving the Sand & Waves
Cape Henlopen
Learning to Use the Spotting Scope
Beach Ghost

We had scoped out the above as prime horseshoe-crab-viewing real estate: a quiet beach in the park next to a section roped off to protect some endangered birds.  However, the park apparently closes that section off at night and we were forced to go to a public beach in nearby Lewes to try to find crabs.  We saw nothing and that's when I knew I needed some professional help.  After talking to the gift shop lady the next day (ok maybe she's not a professional, but she knew more than I did!), I found out that the best spot in the park is near a huge fishing pier at around 9:45pm that night.  The first horseshoe crab I saw was a real thrill.  I sat there and watched it until my flashlight scared it back into the ocean.  As I walked down the beach, farther and farther away from the lights of the fishing pier, the crabs became easier to spot.  The higher the tide, the closer they came to the edge and I got to see many, many pairs spawning and a bunch of loser crabs still looking for a date.  Mission accomplished!

Spawning!
Lone Horseshoe Crab
At the end of our trip, we ventured into the town of Rehoboth Beach, which is a crowded little area with tourists galore, a nice boardwalk, and Funland, which was a little carnival ride area that costs about 25 cents to ride the average ride.  Most of the rides were Alison-sized and she had a blast blowing right through naptime.


This was Alison's favorite ride because it went FAST!


We ended our trip with a visit to Assateague Island National Seashore.  Alison's favorite thing to do the entire trip was to take off her shoes and let the waves get her feet wet.  We did that a lot.  At this beach, there were a couple random horseshoe crabs that were tossed ashore by the waves.  Nathan saved one that came in on its back and so becomes the only one of us to touch a horseshoe crab in its natural habitat.  Lucky guy!