aquarium

We decided to go non-traditional this Valentine's day and spend the day together as a family at the aquarium in eastern Connecticut. It was so cool we bought a membership, so we'll be making the trip back there to spend more time with the beluga whales,

sea lions






rays




octopus




leopard sharks





and penguins.




Juma wants to be a marine biologist when he grows up.

Or a paleontologist.

Or a marine paleontologist.

Or a professional Star Wars Legos video game player.

new pet and new house

I discovered that my phone, the phone-computer connection cord, my computer, and I were all in the same room and the same time, so I finally downloaded some pictures. See how lazy I am?

So here's Juma's new pet habitat:



and his new pet, Leo the Gecko:




Also, I snapped a couple pictures of our new place, but just outside and the main stairwell, since taking any pictures inside our apartment requires me to clean up a bit first. Again: lazy.

I know there aren't great pictures, but they give you a small idea of what the building is like.

the changing of the pets

Juma's pet snake, Sam the garter snake, died a few days ago. He was a good, quiet, non-stinky pet (until he died--pee-yuuu!). We "returned him to the earth" on Friday. Goodbye, Sam the Snake. We'll miss watching you eating rosy red minnows bigger than your head.



And as per our tradition, we got a another pet immediately. Now we have a house gecko named Leo. He lives in the same tank as Sam did, but fancied-up to fit a tropical lizard. (I told Juma that Leo means lion, but that only made him think the name was more appropriate for a lizard. Who can fathom the mind of a six-year-old?)

I'm obviously really good at promising to post pictures and then not getting around to it, so maybe I won't even promise this time. I did at least take a picture of the new lizard. I'm just too lazy to get the picture off my phone right now...