Field Trip: October

Sponges grow in the ocean.  That just kills me.  

I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be if that didn't happen.

~ Stephen Wright

I'm trying to do something with "Ana's kids" once a month.  (They aren't really hers - they are just the children that were part of her life while she lived here.  And now they appear to be part of my life...)  

October's event was a field trip to the Florida Aquarium.  

I rented a huge passenger van for the trip because, counting me, there were 18 of us!  Yikes!  

Getting everyone to sit still for a picture was a challenge - but here they are in front of one of the salt water tanks:  

One thing that I learned is that children move through aquarium exhibits much faster than adults - I guess the lure of what's around the corner outweighs the coolness of what's right in front of them pretty quickly...  

Hence, I didn't get many pictures of the exhibits - but couldn't resist trying to capture the jelly fish:  

And was "encouraged" by everyone of the male persuasion to take multiple pictures of the sharks:  

In addition to the sharks, the sting ray petting tank was a big hit, as was the outside splash zone.  

Janet, on the left, regaled us all during lunch by proving that she could count to 100...  

My advice - if you run into a 6-year-old who claims that she can count to 100, take her word for it!  ;)

Finally, we did the 90 minute dolphin cruise in the afternoon:  

Here are a few of the kids getting a good seat before we cast off.  

We caught a few glimpses of dolphins in the distance - but no pictures.  :(

Truthfully, taking that many people (5 adults and 13 children) on a field trip is a bit overwhelming...    

But, happily, there were no disasters.  In fact, you might even say there were 2 miracles...  

1) We returned home with the exact same set of 18 people that we had in the morning!

2) I parked the van in the parking garage without hitting anything!  

November's plan - ice skating in the Lakeland Center!