Okay, okay, already....the taco ring is on the recipe blog.

Seriously....I thought everyone already knew how to make it and would be bored with even me posting pics of TB doing it. Started not to even include it, but it was a fun afternoon with her in the kitchen.

After a few demanding comments and even a couple of email-ers as well, I put the recipe on the House of Bowling recipe blog, where all good foods hope to reside. :)

Hope you all enjoy!

On a side note, can you believe tomorrow begins OCTOBER????

The perfect dress-up day for this little gal.....

• WILD & WACKY Wednesday......

They couldn't have dreamed of a better day for TB....

Hey, at least she's eating her banana before school. It's gonna take a lot of energy to walk around with all that garb layered on!!!

Cooking Camp...TACO RING!!

So, remember a few weeks back when Baby girl was TOO tired from the first day of school to help out in the kitchen???


Well, it's taken a while, but she's back rollin' it on out, now....

Even went so far as to do this cooking camp project by herself....no boys included. Of course, she tired easily from grating a 1/4 block of cheese.....which is where I had to step in and help out. If this is any indication of her future, she'll be buying bags of shredded for every occasion.

Her Taco Ring was beautiful and delicious.....

The tale of two views from the sideline......

Well, there's no place for me to start except the beginning...and I hope you'll stay with me. It's a great story....one for the family album, that's for sure.


I've spoken about the kid's great grandparents numerous times on the blog. I think it is wonderful that my children get to spend lots of time with their grandparents as well as their GREAT grandparents. Well, this week is no exception. We have Grandmama and Grandaddy staying with us!


Which meant they were able to see the Jr. High football game tonight....with their great-grandson playing!!! Remember....he's a 12 year old 7th grader....and I had prepared Grandaddy ahead of time with the fact that we wouldn't get to see a lot of him on the field of play. But to be sure to watch on the kick-off return team, because that's where the action (if any arrived) would be.


And sure enough that's where the action was....kick-off return. And here's where the tale goes in two different directions.....

Here's what happened, essentially, ....however, please remember I was merely a cheerleader....I do not pretend to actually know about football. And to be completely honest, I did not even realize he was on the field, and thus did not see this play, but was told of it by several.

The ball was kicked near Rivers....it landed on the ground....he looked at it, fell on top of it, and was hit. End of story.

On the ride home, only he and I were in the car, so I gingerly inquired about that particular play.

Me: So, did it hurt when they hit you tonight??
Him: No mam.
Me: So, you got the ball kicked to you for the first time.....that's great. Why didn't you pick that ball up and run with it????
Him: (silence)
Me: What did Coach say when you came to the sideline???
Him: He said, "You can't stare at the ball, son" .

And here is the version from the viewpoint of his 81 year old GREAT grandfather (Grandaddy) who was re-telling the evening's events to Rivers' grandfather (Pappy) via the telephone:

"Oh, man, Pappy.....you sure missed it tonight. That Rivers. He played some good football. That ball was down and he knew JUST WHAT TO DO....he fell on it before anyone else could get it and covered it up. And then another time he caught one in the air....just caught that kick-off right in the air. And boy did he hold on tight....I thought for sure he was about to squeeze that ball til it popped he had a hold of it so tight. Yep, you sure missed it tonight."

Now, in the defense of my eldest son.....that sweet 12 year old 7th grader, please allow me to remind you that he just came off from a week home with the flu. Lost 10 pounds in 4 days during that illness, and HAS NEVER HAD A BALL KICKED TO HIM IN HIS LIFE. So, all I'm saying is I would have probably fallen on it too!! :)

But there's even more news....with photos. Our guys were ahead by 2 or 3 touchdowns, and one of our 9th graders had already returned a punt for a touchdown earlier in the night. He's fast. Real fast. Anyway, the other team quit kicking it back there to him, instead they kicked it to our middle line of what I affectionately call our "little people". Because, that's what they are..... and look, right there lined up on the end of that middle row for kick-off return is my little guy.




And guess what....he at least learned a lesson from that earlier kick where he fell on top of it. This time he CAUGHT it in the air!! But then, even though he had some blockers, and by his own admission during our post game conversation, he hesitated. And thus.....


was brought down...to the ground....face plant in the field. Look....I'm just there for photography, but it took all the restraint I could muster not to run onto the field during the water break and shove those blue helmets in the ground.

However, I would like to point out that if you review the two previous photos, you will see that my boy caught the ball, and although he hesitated, he did gain yardage. Granted it was only a couple....and it certainly didn't look like the run out of the backfield from this 9th grader below....

But he's learning. And that's what's important.

And I'll tell you what's even more important than that.....his GREAT grandfather came and sat on the bleachers, watched every play of that ballgame and was PROUDER than a PEACOCK.

• Now that, my friends, is priceless.
  

Some would call it a milestone....I have a different name.

I say it's a big rock in my road of motherhood which keeps popping up and making me stub my toe!!!

Today marks the beginning of Homecoming week for our school. A week of festivites, dress-up days, bonfires, queens, queen wannabes, a parade and culminates with an actual football game sometime Friday night.

My children have long awaited the memo to be passed down every fall about this time, announcing from the cheerleaders the desired attire for each day of Homecoming week.

It just about kills their mama.....but they ADORE this daily costume dilemma.

Luckily, Monday was pajama day.
Smart group on the rah-rah squad, if you ask me.
After an exhausting weekend of watching no less than 6 or 8 college football games on various networks, laundry was exluded from the weekend fare.

So, I made the kids take their showers Sunday evening, put on their pajamas, thus all the work for Monday morning was already complete. Roll out of bed, grab your backpack and load up.

For the record, I did make them brush their teeth this morning before departing for school.

But here's where the kicker comes in. The "milestone" of sorts......

All was well, 3 kids were downstairs, brushing teeth, all pajama-ed up. Two went running to retrieve their robes & gather a stuffed animal to take as a prop......

8 minutes pass and everyone is ready to load the car, when my eyes catch a glimpse of a child in jeans and a t-shirt, heading for his backpack. The eldest son's brain had been on snooze for those first moments of excitement of dress-up day......but it didn't take long for the cool guy cerebrum to kick in......so, he took those pajama bottoms off fast.

Which means, today, I sent only 2 children off in their PJ's. I can only assume that means it's some milestone I'm supposed to embrace.

I hate milestones. In fact, I think I'm about to boycott them altogether.....while wearing my PJ's and binge drinking a 2 liter of Moutain Dew. (Sigh).

Click and SEE THE AMAZEMENT!!!!

I know y'all are more than capable enough of finding some internet videos to watch those little eight-armed sea creatures that I find so intriguing....

however, to save you some time.....

and because I want you to see this one....

this little guy disguises himself to match the piece algae--color and TEXTURE!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpbCGBJs-P0


and now, watch it in REVERSE!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJq-wAUmkeg&NR=1


See. Told you. AMAZING!!!

(And I beg to differ with anyone who believes this came from some BIG BANG THEORY????)

Fun Friday-----SUCKERS!!!

I'm weird, I know. But I think ocean critters are fun....and it's Friday...so you are getting Fun Friday, 8 arm, style. Plus it's been a long week, filled with more loads of laundering sheets and lysoling everything in sight. I'm delirious is the point.

An octopus may be highly intelligent, when speaking of invertabrates, but I don't think they will win "Miss Sea Creature 2009" any day soon.

I mean, really? They do not resemble those pretty purple and pink cartoon appearances, whatsoever.

In fact, at times, you could just say they are plain ugly. However, watch a few videos of these amazing cephalopods, and you'll see the beauty that lies in their Maker's ability to create them with such unique abilities.

Sure they release ink as a instinctive measure of defense, just like cute little Pearl does in Finding Nemo...."Hey, you guys made me ink." (Love that movie)

However, their most incredible defensive feat to me, is their uncanny ability to camouflage. And I mean they can camouflage to match any surrounding....color and texture!!!

You heard me correctly....not only can they change their colors, they can also make their "skin" have a bumpy or spiky appearance to match it's surroundings for an even better disguise. It is unbelievable to watch.

Go ahead, look up some video on You Tube...it will not disappoint.

And I'm sorry if y'all are sick of Dauphin Island class lectures.....but we love science around the House of Bowling. Bear with me...it's almost over. :)

Have a great weekend!!

Care to join me??? please.

You may or may not remember this post "a wise man once said...", concerning a favorite scripture of my PawPaw.

A good friend asked if I had thought about making scripture memorization part of my blog.

I had not.

Although I love the Lord, and His word, I am no biblical scholar.

Heck, if we want to be real honest, there are days where I don't even make it around to reading a chapter or two. Sure, I read verses every day. But sometimes, I allow the hectic hustle bustle of life to get in the way of real study. Look, I don't mean to be stepping on anyone's toes, because I know I am STOMPING ALL OVER MY OWN. But I'm just being honest with you.

I've been thinking it over, mulling it over my grey matter...what little is there....even prayed about it, and have decided to do a scripture memorization post monthly.

Simply because I feel it will be good for myself, my family....and why not?? That's what I had to keep asking myself and when I picked Temple's brain after asking him his thoughts....he replied, "why wouldn't you?".

And I consulted scripture:

"Accept instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart."~~Job 22:22 (niv)

So, beginning in October, I will post a new scripture to memorize for the month. I'm going monthly, but if we see it takes a shorter amount of time, we can do more. I'm not sure yet what text I will use....it may vary according to the verse, NIV, KJV, HCS. Do you have a preference???

Feel free to join me, I want you to!!! I would like to ask that you leave a comment or send me an email if you are participating.....I'd like to be sure to keep in touch.

Or even if you don't want to memorize, but have some thoughts to share concerning our scripture, please enlighten us.... the scripture says,

"Now all of you together are Christ's body, and each one of you is a seperate and necessary part of it." ~~I Corinthians 12:27

You may have a story, as I did with Micah 6:8 concerning my grandfather. We'd love to hear it.....often when you can relate something in life to a certain verse, the more likely you will be able to memorize it.

So, there yo go. I hope you will consider joining me in this adventure, to Hide His Words in Your Heart. (I'm thinking that may be the name of it....but would love to hear your suggestions.)


***Updated...if you are new here....WELCOME!! And thanks for your interest in H3...(Hide His words in your Heart). Scroll on over to the archives and look for other related scripture posts. Here is October's verse....and November's verse.

The Return Investment could be astronomical....

So, I've never been more thankful for "scheduled posts". I couldn't have put two words together the last two days even if I tried.....not that it's much different from other 24 hour periods in my life.

The point is I've been taking care of the infirmed here at House of Bowling. As of now, I have two patient beds going....a husband on the 2nd floor, room 3B, and the eldest son on the 1st floor, room 1A. The boy child is with his mama because he is my baby and I must pamper him......plus in all honesty, he's the sicker of the two. Plus I'm tired of going up the stairs so much during the day....I tried making an entire sleeve of crackers fit in one small bowl so that I wouldn't have to return until nightfall.....but I felt sorry for the patient in 3B, so I took some peeled orange slices on a return trip.

Okay, I'll come clean....the second time, I just sent them back up with a healthy child. But as God as my witness, their was a lot of love in that bowl of Vitamin C.

At any rate....with my Florence Nightengale skills, I am predicting that we may be past the worst of it. That coupled with the fact that I have been sticking a thermometer in patient 1A's mouth repeatedly for the last 72 hours and it is finally reading below 100.


I feel as though the entire infirmary would still deeply appreciate any prayers you can spare. As well as any extra flu vaccines you have lying around. Or if you would like to contribute a bottle of ginger ale, sprite, 7-up or gatorade to the hospital pantry.

I'm thinking of taking my wad of savings and either throwing it all down on BLACK, (who wants to join me on an overnight trip to Vegas???) or buying stock in Saltines, Sprite and Lysol.

Baby girl came upstairs tonight and said...."ummmmm....I just love the smell of that spray stuff, mama."

Good thing, baby girl. We may be bathing in it before the week is out.

Our revenge against the jellyfish....

The second evening we were on Dauphin Island, after a full day of classes, the kids were allowed some free time in the ocean after dinner. So we released them to the open waters....to swim with their "plankton" friends...the jellies.




Several kids were stung, although none terribly severe, thankfully. However, these jellies were not like the MICROSCOPIC one Walt had found in his petri dish after the plankton hunt.

They were much, much larger. Visible to the naked eye.....from 30 feet away!! :) I tried to get a couple of shots to show you the size of these guys.....

In reference to a small seashell like the ones we all pick up along the shoreline....




And here...your reference point is our fearless Jellyfish Catchers hand.....

• How about a little show and tell photo version of catching the jelly.....shall we???

Take the bucket, and go out into the ocean where a couple dozen kids are standing around shouting "THERE'S ANOTHER JELLYFISH!!! COME HERE MR. JELLYFISH CATCHER AND RETRIEVE IT FOR US IMMEDIATELY."

• And thus the catcher will come and scoop up the jelly, while the other few dozen children on the sand scream with delight.....Woo-Hoo....they get to bury another jelly!!! What fun.

Look at those lovely tentacles sliming their way out of the bucket.....prepare to meet your doom.

A load of 9,10,11 and 12 year olds are giddy at the news they get to dig yet another burial grave in the sand, dump you in it, and cover you up....never to sting again.

You know, it's not nice to sting others. It's not nice at all. Too bad you had to learn that lesson the hard way, my planktonic friend.

Plankton hunting off the dock of the bay.....

I know. I know. It's been a long time since 7th grade science or Biology or whatever.

Here, I'll make it easy on you and give you "Kimberly's watered down definition of Plankton":

• Plankton = bottom level of the food chain (mostly microscopic organisms that drift along in the water, waiting to be gobbled up by some bigger fish in the sea, so to speak.) :)
  

Anyway, while at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, my little marine scientist was able to take a very expensive ($100) dip net of sorts into the bay area and drag it across the top of the water in search of plankton. The net had this cool filter fabric that only allowed teeny tiny creatures (plankton) to seep into the bottle below it.

After catching about a million plankton critters, he brought them back into the lab, put them on a slide and gave them a look under the ol' microscope.

He even dropped a few drops of water into a petri dish to have a gander under another scope as well. You know what he found in there????

Plankton. You are real smart.

I mean a specific plankton????

He found a teeny tiny baby jellyfish. Yes, he did. And that is what we are pointing at.....not that you can see it ....but it's there.

Which brings me to another post for tomorrow....where I will be showing you more pics from DISL.....of some NOT so microscopic jellies.

Up close and personal.

And we weren't even in an official class for this encounter. Yikes!

Here, Here for Plankton....the food chain thanks you providing a virtual all you can eat buffet in the ocean.

Cooking Camp...grape salad.

It is delicious, and obviously begins with a "bunch" of these. :)

These lovely grape pickers....they may get a job at a winery one day....which would mean free wine for their Mom. I'm training them well. I know.

Look, let me put this disclaimer out there real quick, like before you go any further, quick.

Grape salad....may sound a bit misleading. Grapes are a fruit and salads are supposed to be "healthy", right???

However, this grape salad recipe is not for those interested in "healthy" fare.

It is not for the faint of heart.

It is not for those intending to lose weight.

In fact, we made it almost weekly this summer at the house of Bowling because there were children in the family who needed to GAIN weight and eat HIGH CALORIE, HIGH FAT foods to give energy to their body to heal their broken femur!!!

We actually made this to accompany our supper on the first night back to school! A little celebration of sorts....remember, I had a child cross over into HIGH SCHOOL-VILLE.

However, some members of the family couldn't participate in cooking camp for the evening, even though they love helping in the kitchen....it appeared the first day of 3rd grade had kicked their tail.

Of course that's exactly how I rest after a long, exhausting day.....with my leg propped on the table, head resting on my knee.

Okay, you got me. That was a lie. I'm not sure I can even raise my leg as high as the table.......

Back to the grape salad extravaganza.....

It's about to get good, look we've added in the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk....mmmmmm, yummy....plus we are even adding in the pecans. After we take out some of the mixture for those who don't enjoy nuts.

Which at our house would include that flexible, little, tired, pig-tail wearing school girl.

Look, I know I say this every time we have a cooking camp post, but seriously, it's delicious. Obviously we wouldn't put recipes on our recipe blog, or talk about them here if it weren't something that your mouth would want to shout, THANK YOU.

So, here's to grape salad....it always makes my kid's mouths say, thank you.

Now if only they can learn to say it without spitting food particles across the supper table.....that would be real nice.

WAR EAGLE!!! What a game....

I believe in Auburn.....and I love it!!

FUN FRIDAY-----Walt, the comedian

So, Broken Leg Boy always has some clever little riddles, brain ticklers or jokes for us. Usually he delivers them while traveling in the car. Here's the latest from earlier this week, that totally CRACKED me up! But then, as we have established numerous times before....I am easily amused.


Why did the chicken cross the road, roll in dirt, and then come back????


Answer: Because he was a dirty double crosser!!! :)


Have a FAB weekend, y'all!!

T5 calls me a sucker for gimmicks....I am.

Have you tried these????

They remind me of an Almond Joy....I love Almond Joys.

They also remind me of the beach....I love the beach.

And they have these cute little designs on the M&M's....I am easily amused.

Just call her Tumblelina.....

Another meet....Another great night on the medal stand.

TB did really well at her competition receiving a silver medal and two bronze:

• 2nd on BEAM with her highest score ever, a 9.225
• 3rd on BARS
• 4th in ALL-AROUND

• These girls love gymnastics....and each other.

Rest in peace, Johnny Castle. (a.k.a Patrick Swayze)

Y'all. My early teen years were formed directly around the events happening at Kellerman's.

From the time of it's release in the summer of 1987 until I realized that I was never going to be a real dancer with Patrick Swayze (which may or may not have been realized much later in my life), I watched Dirty Dancing dozens of times.

And I played the soundtrack repeatedly in my Nissan, 4 door, stick shift, hoping to make it at least "sound" cool, since it didn't "look" too cool.

I still get weak in the knees if I hear one of these 3 top songs from my youth:

• I've Had The Time of My Life
• Hungry Eyes
• She's Like the Wind

I remember that summer, and subsequent ones watching it on videotape, honestly thinking that my life could turn out just like Jennifer Grey's.

• Patrick Swayze himself, or at the very least some good looking guy who could dance well, would scoop me off my feet from the dance floor, and firmly announce, "No one puts Baby in the corner".

And I would dress in my finest pale pink chiffon short dress, which would flow in the wind as I ran down the makeshift aisle to leap into the arms of my dancing dreamboat.

Man, oh, man....those were the days. I was 14. I felt pretty sure I knew exactly what my future plans held.....and they had been set in stone thanks to two box office hits in the summer of 1986 and 1987.

I was certain I had narrowed down my life choices to these two scenarios:

• A.) offering dance lessons by day at a posh resort, and doing the steamy salsa by night with my partner, Patrick Swayze

or

• B.) "cruising" around Fightertown USA, waiting for my boyfriend Pete "Maverick" Mitchell to pick me up on his motorcycle, while wearing his flight jacket and a white T-shirt, after a hard day as a TOP GUN pilot.

Even at 14, a girl had to have goals.

I'll leave you with the mention of two other songs that can still make my heart skip a beat and take me right back to summer nights in the late 80's...

• You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling
• Take My Breath Away

So....what songs do you love from your favorite movies during your teen years???? Did you swoon over any male actors on the big screen???

Please don't tell me I'm the only one who thought dancing a special with Johnny at the Shelldrake would be fun??? Or watching Maverick play volleyball with Goose. Shirtless.

What? You were never 14 once....and had a slight crush on Tom Cruise? Before he went all scientology on us? I bet he still looks good playing volleyball, shirtless.

It's another AU recap....complete with my own color commentary.

• If I were to take a poll, this guy may very well be named the cutest little Auburn man around.....even while sporting the Spurrier visor look. Oh, yeah, it was a HAD TO HAVE purchase of the day. If the concession stand runs every quarter don't require me to take out a loan one day soon, the merchandise at the underarmour tents on campus definitely will!!! We spent yet another lovely Saturday on the plains. Y'all....it's hard for me to even describe how much I love Auburn. The football games are only a mere part of it.....though it is a big part, seeing as that is where I met my husband, the fantastic father of my children.
  
  So it's no wonder I enjoy Saturdays in the fall so much. The weather this past weekend was perfect fall at it's best. Have I ever mentioned how much I love night games??? Oh, I do. They are the absolute best....cool, crisp evenings spent in the stadium, cheering on the tigers....now that's heaven on earth if you ask me.
  
  If you add in a win, that is.
  
  And that's exactly what we did this week!! Man, that was a great game. Of course I've already shown you my favorite photo in the post below. The flight of the eagle....seriously, it brought tears to my eyes when they released the blanket and the eagle took off flying with red, white and blue flowing along behind.
  
  However, here are a few more faves from Saturday in Auburn.
  
  No, he's not doing the Hokey Pokey.....That, my dear football fans is a WALK-ON who came up with a big play and a great catch for the Tigers on Saturday.
  
  Jay Wisner is his name.
  WALK-ON is his game.

Way to go....Jay. Here's to Walk-Ons everywhere.

I now break into this blog publication for a little cheer from the sideline squad:

Chris Todd, Chris Todd....he's our man, if he can't do it.....

......Kodi Burns can!!

Seriously....they both played excellently. Chris Todd is doing a fab job as quarterback, and Kodi Burns is one of the most selfless players I've seen in a long while.

And boys and girls....what about that freshman running back....#23 McCaleb? He's looks to be only as tall as me....but he's a lot faster. I mean I haven't raced him in the 50 yard dash or anything, but he seems to be really quick on his feet, even with big burly football men barreling towards him for a tackle.

Come to think of it....I might run a quicker speed myself if I looked and saw those same guys coming at me.


"Hey little man....you did good. Nice touchdown. Now run on ahead and get us lineman some gatorade...you little freshman pipsqueak."

Now I'm breaking in with this (non) paid advertisement from a local sponsor:

What about this pic, there's a story behind it. A fellow blog friend, Michele, recently stated that her kiddos refer to Auburn's new head football coach, Gene Chizik as "Coach Cheez-it".

I just about fell out of section 7, early Saturday evening, when Aubie came around with this gear on.....

He's dressed as Coach Chizik...passing out "CHIZ-IKS"....throwing bags of "cheez-its" into the crowd!! TOO FUNNY!! LOVE IT! I know, I am easily amused. Hope you and the girls get a chuckle, Michele.

And finally...here's a public service announcement for all you Seniors out there:

• DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT wear your hat like shown below....sitting 4 inches atop his head of hair. Pull that baby on down, Gramps. I don't care what the local leader at the AARP does, it is not a fashion statement.
  
  
  

So there you go....hope you enjoyed another visit to Jordan Hare Stadium, home of the AUBURN tigers!! Please send concession money to the will-call booth. Put it under the code name "Cheez-it" fan. And don't forget to look for the guy in the big plastic blue cap on a row in front of you next Saturday!! Then spend the rest of the first half trying to see around his head.....

I know I'm boring y'all with football stuff.....but I love it. I don't always understand it....and T-5 makes fun of me, but I still love it. Just bear with me...even you Bama fans. Good Monday morning, y'all.

The flight of the eagle...it just doesn't get any better than this.

One of my favorite pictures from the weekend and I had to share it with you.

Sure it's an Auburn tradition---watching the eagle take flight from the upper deck ramp, cicle the stadium, and then land gracefully at center field...all the while, 85,000 of your closest Auburn family are yelling WARRRRRRRRRRR EAGLE!!

Saturday night, moments before kickoff began, Spirit (that's the Eagle's name), came out decked with red, white and blue streamers attached to him that looked gorgeous during flight. A really special touch of patriotism.

No matter who you root for in the SEC, or on any college football field, I think we could all agree on the beauty this beholds.....

I've been up to my knees in the "marsh" all week.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't actually me that was up to my knees in the Marshlands....it was that pink shirt loving son of mine. Why? Because we've been on a field trip to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab this week, that's why. Pretending to be marine biologists....and loving every squid filled minute of it.

And I was there to take photos, while alongside the marsh....not in it.

We've had a wonderful trip....but I am very tired, my vocabulary and sentence structure skills are escaping me, and I am in dire need of a nap...a long 8 hour overnight in my own bed, sort of nap.

However, I had to put out a few photos to show you a sprinkling of the fun we found while in our classes on the coast.

So without further adieu.....

The kids first class was a short lecture on Wetlands....and then a trip to the marsh for critter catching in the Gulf of Mexico using dip nets, their bare hands, and seine fishing (where you use the big net and drag it to shore and see what treasures from the sea you may behold).

And they caught a plethora of sea life right before my very eyes....through the lens of my camera, because these eyes weren't going into that muddy marsh to smell of brackish water for the remainder of the day.

A few pics of these cool creatures: (names (phylum, class or species) have been changed for anonymity)

• Mr. Flat Flounder

• Mrs. Crab-owitz

• Tomahawk John Doe

• I usually just call this guy..."supper"...when I'm dining at the coast.

• And this little guy....it seems he's a tad bit bi-polar....one minute he's a beautiful seashell......

• and the next....he's a slimy snail. (Fascinating story behind these snails....if I see you, I'll fill you in.)

• Truth be told....it was bucket loads of science filled awesomeness.

I would try to give some clever educational material to go along with these pics.....but my brain, may or may not have been left on the beach with a few large jellyfish we buried yesterday evening, or back a few hundred miles down the road a couple of hours earlier, when the 6 children in my car trampled right over my last nerve.

Trampled. Right Over. My. Last. Nerve.

Never fear, I will regain conciousness some day....and I may even begin to like 5th graders again....some day. I have more pics, from more days, of some TOTALLY NEAT time spent at the Sea Lab......and soon, I'll post coherent thoughts that make you want to continue reading....but until then, I only have one bit of wisdom to impart to you......

• The weekend is almost here....so don't be crabby.