Under the Sea

This past weekend we went to Biloxi for Damon to attend a continuing education seminar and for the girls and I to play with Mawmaw and Pawpaw. After trying the beach that morning and finding it a little too chilly, we searched for other fun things to do nearby. On the internet, we found the Oceanarium, which promised dolphins, sea lion shows, and much more. Unfortunately, this information appears to be outdated, because when we called them the number was disconnected, and the attached web link directed us to this place...

The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies does two tours per day.  The tour starts with a short film, and then it is on to the touch pool...

Cille was very impressed, but she's not really a big toucher yet...

See the triangle on the bottom of this crab?  It means she is a girl.  The boys have a little rocket ship shape on the bottom...

You can see that Stella is a little overwhelmed by all this information...

Petting the horseshoe crab...

Doesn't really look like someone you want to pet, does he?

Can you spot the fish in this picture?

Checking out the pretend injured dolphin.  One of the institute's missions is dolphin rescue...

Stella got to go digging for shark teeth...

Cille enjoyed this display.  She is definitely a seal...

And happy to be one!

If you visit Biloxi with older kids, this place might be a good fit for you. The staff was very knowledgeable about marine life and the tour was very educational. This was pretty much lost on Stella and Cille, who would have enjoyed watching a sea lion do silly tricks a lot more than a lecture on crabs. They have dolphins, but they are not on display yet, so we could only see them from about 50 yards away as they swam around their pool. One day soon this will be a great attraction for all ages, but right now it is a lot like Princess Tiana..."Almost there!"

On the Streetcar with Stella, Part 3

Eventually, Stella perked up...

Did I forget to mention that Aunt Sarah and the girls' new cousin came with us, too?  Aunt Sarah was a wonderful help in navigating the confusing city transit system...

The sun really helped me out on these next few...

Isn't she gorgeous?

Like a little model...

I like the blurry streetcar in the background...

Worn out...

But she still had enough energy to disagree with Daddy...

On the Streetcar with Stella, Part 2

Like I said, Stella was pretty tired...

We'd also like to send out a great big thank-you to the Laiche family for the sweet linen dress that Stella wore for the photos.  It was just perfect for a breezy streetcar ride on a hot day in New Orleans...

Narrowing her eyes at me...

Now we're moving...

Yawn...

Sooo sleepy...

I like this one because you can see the other streetcar passing...

On the Streetcar with Stella, Part 1

Post-egg hunt we dropped Cille off with a sitter and headed into town for our annual ride/photo shoot on the streetcar...

Stella was exhausted from her day of activities and fell asleep on the way into town...

So when she woke up she was not exactly ready for her close-up...

My silly monkey...

This was the kind of attitude we were dealing with...

Over it...

The streetcar was not actually moving at this point...

See what I mean?

Check out those eyelashes...

In spite of the fact that Stella was a little grumpy this year I still have over 30 streetcar pics to post, so brace yourself for 2 more installments!

To compare these pics to those from the previous two years, click here and here.

Cille's Easter Egg Hunt

Poor Cille. At the Easter egg hunt, kids were supposed to hunt with their age groups, and obviously the 1 & 2 year olds were scheduled first. We knew that if Cille got to hunt before Stella did we would have a major meltdown on our hands, and Cille didn't really seem like she had her heart set on hunting eggs, so we skipped her hunt and just gave her some eggs to play with from Stella's stash...

She chose to taste them...

Apparently, they were delicious...

See, who needs to hunt eggs to be happy?  Not our sweet little angel...

Stella's Easter Egg Hunt

Last Saturday we took the girls to church for an Easter egg hunt...

Pretty much nothing has changed in Stella's Easter egg strategy since last year.  She finds one egg, and then stops to open it and see what's inside.  She cannot be hurried in this endeavor.  It is of no concern to her that the rest of the eggs will be gone by the time she is finished...

It was a little windy...

Found another one!

And now we must open it...

And again...

She is a creature of habit...

Dropping it into her basket...

The eggs were very difficult to find, as you can see...

I guess she is talking to someone outside the fence?

Missy was capturing things from another angle...

Daddy was videoing...

Almost finished...(each kid got 12 eggs)

Sitting down to enjoy the spoils...