Whales

Our house has been obsessed with maritime mammals for the past couple of weeks. This could have something to do with the amazing whale watching trip we took though the New England Aquarium. The trip was organized though Jason's school and had the benefit of a chartered bus, so we didn't even have to drive to Boston.

We spent about 4.5 hours on the boat. Fortunately, Nora and I loved it, unfortunately, Jason got a little seasick. Both Jason and Nora were wearing sea bands, so I'm not really sure if they work or not, but given that Nora usually vomits at the drop of a hat, I suspect that they worked for her.

We saw a lot of whales. In the middle of Jason's worse moments, Nora decided we needed to climb up to the top deck. I was more than happy to desert Jason since he looked pretty green, but I wasn't thrilled about climbing up three decks with Nora since the sea was pretty rough. She must have some sort of whale sonar though, since just after we got up there the first whale was spotted. It breached and we got a very clear look since the top deck was a little less populated. I was pretty much amazed and Nora was super excited. I thought that would be as good as it got, but a little while later we slowed down and stopped in the middle of a pod of about 8-10 humpback whales. It included a calf that gave us a big show with lots of diving and tail flipping.

I don't have great pictures - holding on to Nora in the middle of some largish whales while operating a camera was sort of challenging. But I do have a short video. Despite Jason's illness, he did rally around the time we reached the pod and got to join in all the sightings. We had a wonderful trip and we would love to do it again sometime, should any of you want to join us. Be sure to bring Dramamine!

This was taken out in front of the aquarium, they were had an educational fair on whales and it included this inflatable of a right whale.


This was on our way back to Boston, we were in the harbor so Jason was feeling much better.

From whale watch

Click on the Thumbnail to watch the video of the humpback whale calf!

Notes From The Trip

We're on day 6 of our trip to South Texas and we've learned a few things along the way. 

1. Portable DVD players are a wonderful invention. 

2. One of the most unpleasant things in the world is waking up because a toddler is vomiting on you in a hotel room.  And we were so excited about that king size bed....

3.  The only thing worse about waking up with a toddler vomiting on you at 4 am, is when she continues to vomit throughout the morning,  We felt so bad for her, and it really sucks when you can't make it go away so she'll feel better. 

4.  While considerably less worse than the above, dealing with an explosive diaper blow out in a hot, dirty truck stop parking lot is pretty bad too.  Ganado, you are not my favorite Texas town.  Also bad is calling your friend from the night before and letting him know that you've exposed him to a nasty stomach bug.  Sorry, Bob. 

5.  Despite the unpleasantness above, the look on Grant's face when we finally arrived made it all worth it.  We all had a great time on the ranch, and Nora got to ride in the truck without a carseat, call the cows, and chase the dog, Bonnie, all over.  

6.  Rattlesnakes are really freaking big and really freaking scary.  I'm still freaking out that Nora was within yards of one.

6 a.  We really need to teach Nora some sense of proportion - rattlesnakes are really freaking big and really freaking scary and butterflies are not. 

7.  Texas history can be very interesting and it's worth driving down here to check out the historic sites even if you don't have family here.  Be sure to make a stop in Goliad for the presidio and mission. 

8.  South Texas really needs some rain.  It hasn't rained since August, and then it wasn't much.  When we were taking off it started to rain, but I'm not sure that it kept doing it. 

9.  One of the best things in the whole world is standing on the shore, letting the waves crash into you while a 3 year old giggles and giggles and giggles.  We might have been hungry and sleepy, but really, isn't this what what we came to the beach for?  It's pretty awesome.  

I'm really glad we got that in yesterday, because today is much cooler (okay it's the 70's instead of 84 degrees), overcast and rainy.  While we'll probably go back to the beach today (Nora will be really sad if we don't) I don't think we'll be getting into the water.  Also on the agenda today are the aquariums at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute.  We leave tomorrow morning to start the three day journey back home, although I'm wondering how feasible it is to do it in two days.  Wish us luck on the journey home!

The Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth Has Begun

Everyone, condolences are in order to Todd and Jason (and possibly Natascha, who seems to have fallen to this disease as well) who suffered a terrible loss today. Robbie Keane has gone to Liverpool and with him goes Tottenham's chance as the number 4 spot this year (number 4 is the new number 1). I thought Jason would be the hardest hit since Keane is the captain of the Irish national team and Jason wears his shirt, but Todd was last heard from down at the Tigin watching Southerland pre-season friendly, which can't be a good sign. It has been a long month of dire forecasts, and much hand wringing while rumours were bandied about, so while this was not unanticipated, the blow is still quite distressing. While Nora and I are unaffected, a dark cloud has fallen over our house and there is a sudden beer shortage. Please send your sympathy e-mails to the grieving parties, they are in need of the balm of friendship in these troubled times, but whatever you do, don't mention relegation.

Week of Troubles

Since I've last posted it seems like we've had one thing after another. First I was sick (again!), and Nora had the croup (again), which evolved into the stomach flu last weekend, which resulted in me not cleaning (again). But the worst day was Monday. Just as Nora was getting over the flu (no barfing in almost 24 hours), we were rushing off to our Monday morning routine, and Jason slipped on the ice and fell down the front steps with Nora. I was right behind them and in my haste to help, I hurried after them and fell on top of them. Jason and I were fine, but Nora to a nasty konk on the head and we rushed her to the emergency room in possibly the most panic-frenzied state of our lives. After several hours there and a CAT scan, we found out she's fine, but we're still a little shaken and guilt-ridden. Fortunately her bruise isn't as horrible as I feared it would be and she's back to her normal self. But between the croup. flu, and concussion she lost 2 pounds, which wouldn't be a big deal for adults but it's quite a bit for a already-light-for-her age 24 now 22 lbs little girl.

The one upside to Nora's flu was that last Saturday we did watch an entire day of Rankin and Bass stop action animation holiday features and Nora learned a whole new vocabulary - "Rudolph", "Santa", "Reindeer", "Vixen", "snowman", "Heat Miser/Snow Miser", and most unfortunately, "barf", which punctuated our day of TV excess. For those of you who may only be familiar with Rankin & Bass's "Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer", I can highly recommend several of their other features, most notably, the surreal "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" based on a Frank Baum book, the historically laughable "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" which features Ben Franklin and Caveman Ug helping Rudolf save Baby New Year, the biographical "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" or as Todd calls it "Glen Cambell Claus" showing the early years of of a very red haired Santa and his efforts to thwart the toy-destroying Burgermeister Meisterburger. But best of all was my personal favorite " A Year Without Santa Claus" featuring those trouble-making siblings - Heat Miser and Snow Miser. There were also several less thrilling features - Nestor the Long Eared Donkey and Pinocchio's Christmas. For those of you who missed it, I understand the Family Channel does this every year and that they will also show them throughout the month of December as well. All this Family Channel watching also resulted in me having to tune in on Sunday to the much advertised and anticipated Family Channel Holiday Special, Holiday in Handcuffs, featuring Melissa Joan Hart (Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina) and Mario Lopez of Dancing with the Stars fame (but I know him from Pet Star on Animal Planet). Jason commented that it was much better than expected.

The other event of note is that my aunt has bought Nora yet another pink pony that she can sit on and it neighs and plays music. This one has wheels instead of a rocker. It was supposed to be out at my parents but somehow it made it's way here, and now there are TWO singing pink ponies in my living room. I need a stable.

Under The Weather

All of my obsessing about buying a vintage Fisher Price farm that might be contaminated with germs has jinxed me into getting sick myself. Unbelievably, I am recovering from my SECOND bout with stomach flu this year. Prior to 2007, I cannot remember the last time I threw up due to legitimate illness and not over indulgence in drink. (Amazingly, I never once threw up while pregnant with Nora.) Oh, yeah, and I had the shingles this year. Jason says it's as if a small, wee person is sucking the antibodies out of me, and while I don't really plan to wean anytime soon, he might have a point.