There and Back Again: A Sauve Adventure Part 3

Friday was again a lovely sunny day. We were so blessed by God in the weather department, and it was very nice to be able to be outside enjoying yourself in... January.

Faith, Mumsie, and I decided to take advantage of the weather and took little "peanut butter" Hercules for a walk. We passed Palm trees, prickly pear cactus, and birds of paradise.  "We're not in Michigan anymore." :)

Dad, John, and Josiah were stuck in a risk game, so the rest of us just kind of hung out for the rest of the morning and early afternoon.  For my part, I spent time playing with and capturing on camera the adorableness which was Hercules.

The guys took a break in Risk, and we all trouped out to the vehicles to go to what turned out to be one of the highlights of our time in Texas - The Texas State Aquarium.

While we were waiting for Angie to show up (she had some passes for the aquarium and kindly agreed to come so we could use them) John and Josiah decided to try climbing a palm tree.... the thought was quickly discarded after John did a test run "hug".  Those things are mighty poky!!

It wasn't to long before Angie showed up (with her darling baby, to the delight of all) and we marched into the aquarium to see the sights.

Now, I must explain that as far back as my memory goes I had never been to an aquarium.  Apparently the oldest 2 or 3 had been taken to Sea World when they were very, very little, and we of course had been to Zoo's which always had a small aquarium section (which does not count) but otherwise, nope.  So we had no clue exactly what this was, and were prepared to be impressed.

First we walked through a section that had open tanks full of shells, and crustaceans.  Some of the shells were moving :P and we were thrilled to understand that we could touch any of them. (We are easily amused I guess.)

Another favorite were the Sea Horses.  So delicate and colorful.

We had to run out of that section before we finished, because there was to be a Sea Turtle presentation at the time.

The turtles were very friendly and swam right up to glass to say hi!

You weren't allowed to put your hand in their tanks because... they bite. :)

Because the only small aquariumish places I had been to were obviously up North, I had never to my knowledge seen a dolphin in real life.  They are truly beautiful and intelligent creatures. An absolutely amazing part of creation. 

We made it up in time for the dolphin show.  It was simply marvelous.  The way the dolphins had learned so many different maneuvers just through little hand signals given by their trainers was wonderful, and how strong they were to perform some of the flips etc.; just incredible. 

{One of my favorite parts... the ducky getting a ride on the Dolphin swimming upside down. :D }

Once the dolphin show was over :( we went down to see the other animals. One of our favorites was the otter.  This little guy was so funny and personable. He took a special liking to Faith and would chase her around and put his nose on the glass just on the other side of hers.

After seeing all there was outside, we decided to retrace our steps to the indoor exhibits which we had been forced to quit.  There were so many interesting fish, in tanks along the walls, or in columns in the middle (I did feel a little bad for those particular fish.. no privacy).

My favorite fish in the entire place would have to be... the Cow Fish.  Yup, that little dinky, thumb nail sized, pudgy pale fish in the picture above, was for some reason stuck with the appellation of "Cow Fish".

The Lion fish were beautiful to look at, but the story of how they got here and how they are taking over the area and are destroying the native fish, is rather sad.

There were Sharks and huge Tuna fish just to name a couple.  Oh, and they also had a small display tank with "Nemo" fish. ;) There were 2 Dori fish, lots of little Clown fish, with anemone and 1 funny little Bubble fish.

Two tanks full of different kinds of creepy, yet majestic looking, Jelly Fish, completed the aquatic section and we marched on into the amazon/jungle area.

Here we were able to gaze at: flashy little birds related to Toucans, A Rat-Tailed Porcupine, gaping Piranhas, Poison Dart Frogs, and a big lazy Boa.

{These Silly Putty Frogs were another favorite}

{Poor John getting chewed on by a shark :P)
While we were in the "amazon" section, a voice kept on coming over the intercom reminding us that it was coming near to closing time, so we hurried up, making a quick stop in the gift shop to grab some post cards, then homewards.

Our stop home was just a quick one, (to feed Mr. Hercules) then we all packed off to dinner. John and Mandi had decided that we couldn't leave Texas without a taste of real barbecue, so they took us to Howard's BBQ, a restaurant owned and run by good friends of theirs.

It was definitely an experience, good food, and friendly service for sure. :)

 Later that evening, John and Mandi taught us how to play Qwirkle, a fun game, basically matching shapes and colors.  While we were relaxing and enjoying the game, John received a call... from his work. You see, John wasn't scheduled to go back into work till Sunday afternoon, and the next day (Saturday) was his Birthday, and the only reason they would call him would be if they really needed him in.  He ended up letting them leave a message and then called them back, and sure enough they wanted him to come in to work at 3 AM in the morning.  After the first bout of depression, we all rallied and figured out how we would fit in his Birthday celebration, and make the best of it.
So this is how we ended our second day in Texas, and we all headed to bed, expecting not to see John till the afternoon....

Tune in soon, to hear how God always works things out for good. :)

~Chs