Marineland Florida

When I was a kid, I remember going on a school trip to Marineland.  It was a lot like Seaworld only cheaper and closer!  They had dolphin shows and all kinds of cool exhibits.  Years went by, I moved to Iowa, then back to Florida, then to Indiana.  Recently my best friend from Iowa (Not Nichole!) and I were planning a trip to Florida.  We were picking up puppies (and a kitty for me) from a friend.  Spending a week in the sunshine and then driving home.  On Thursday this friend said she mailed me a package for my birthday.  On Thursday night, someone posted a link to an article about the oldest dolphin in captivity Nellie dieing at age 61.  I thought to myself, "Wow, I haven't thought about Marineland in ages, I didn't even know they were still going, let me look them up!"  So I did, and I found that they are not at all like they used to be!  Instead they now focus on Dolphin research, and also offer a selection of activities to interact with the dolphins.  I looked over each and decided in that moment to make that vacation special for both my friend and I.  I booked us a 15 minute visit with a dolphin, during which time we would get a painting done by them!  I was excited!  I couldn't wait to tell my friend.  She laughed when I told her and I didn't quite understand until my package arrived on Saturday.  It contained a dolphin figurine on a mirror base that lights up, a dolphin bracelet, and a my little pony figure with a dolphin on it's side!!  Wow, talk about great minds thinking alike!  So, on August 6th at 9 am, we showed up to Marineland ready for an adventure!  We spent 15 minutes with the dolphin (1 dolphin for each of us we had separate encounters) during which time we got a painting done by the dolphin, got to touch and feed the dolphins and got lots of pictures and information about them!  It was super exciting!  My dolphin's name was Chubby and everyone said he was the best painter they had!  My friend got to work with Betty.  I will provide links at the bottom with information about what we did.  But first, pictures!

Chubby painting my painting.  They use a brush on the end of the foam thing.

Toni getting her painting done!

Finished product!

Toni's finished product!

Holding the dolphin by it's tail!

Toni shaking flippers!

Feeding him fish pieces (my hands stunk for days despite the repeated washing!)

Toni holding the tail!

Betty waving goodbye!

Waving hands over your head makes them spin in circles!

Here is a list of the dolphin's they had (slightly outdated as it still lists Nellie!)

Here is a link to the website if you want more information on pricing (ours was called Dolphin Design)

And here is a link to the article about Nellie's death.

Sweet Kid

I'm not at my best this morning.  I need a shower, but I'm waiting until after I mow the lawn.  My hair is greasy, and I generally look blah.  As I was getting ready to go outside, I put on a bandanna to keep my hair out of my face while I work.  Richard watched me put it on and said, "Mommy, you pretty now!"

Now, I know that all little kids think their moms are pretty.  And I know that Sam has a habit of putting silly things on his head and saying, "There, now I'm pretty."  Still, it made my morning.

2 Year Old Conversations

Cuddling on the couch with Richard tonight, and being the kind of parent I am, I started making obnoxious slurping noises in his ear.  He gave me a long suffering look, and said sternly, "No.  I am not cup!"  Can't put anything over on that one.

Family Museum

The weather here turned cold and rainy over the weekend, and has yet to improve.  Farming is pretty much shut down until things dry out a bit.  We decided we needed something fun to do on Monday.  Since it was my brother, Gary's, birthday, we thought it would be fun to go to Davenport and surprise him.  It worked, he was surprised.  We spent a pleasant evening and morning with them, then headed home Tuesday.  But, before we went to mom's house, we took a little side trip to the Family Museum in Bettendorf.

The Family Museum is pretty much paradise for little kids.  Geared toward the 8 and under crowd, there are multiple areas for pretend play and discovery.  My mom took Richard there when he was staying with her, but we wanted to experience it with him too.  It was loads of fun, and we could easily have spent all day there.  We definitely intend to be regular visitors!

Family Tree

Everyone knows the best place to go for looking up family tree info is Ancestry.com.  However there are some other pages that are a little less known that are just as good.  I have long been obsessed with history.  My own and others.  A recent visit to my fiance's family found that his mother was very much into the same thing.  I have been deemed the one to help continue that process.  Which is fine with me I can't wait to dive into new history!  I lucked out with my own family tree.  Through a series of lucky finds I traced my dad's direct father's line (Bixler) to Switzerland in 1649.  Of course in 1649 it was actually spelled Bichsel, Bicksler, or Bickler.  In addition I found another line of family that was German, which traced the Kemper line into Germany in 1435.  This made me crave finding out more.  In researching more of my father's line I found the English connection.  My furthest on that line would be Henry Webb, Warwickshire, England, born May 15, 1350.  While looking at the English line I found a name and a location that kind of surprised me.  Robert Arden Married Mary Webb.  They had a daughter Mary Arden.  Mary Arden married John Shakespeare.   Their son was William Shakespeare.  He was my 1st cousin 15x removed!  The point of all of this is to show that with a little luck and determination you can find out some fun facts about your family history!  So, in addition to Ancestry.com here are some helpful links to find out info.  Also try googling known names of family members.  Plus important dates that you may know.  To start I googled James Arthur Bixler.  This was my grandfather.  I knew he died in Dec. of 1978.  A google search started the greatest adventure I have ever gone on!  When you hit a brick wall (I had one with a family member who had been adopted), just take a break and search a different branch of family.  It's amazing what you can find out!  Now go forth and enjoy the hunting!

Ellis Island - This page you can look up family you know came through Ellis Island.  Search by name, approx. date of birth and gender. 

Surname Genealogy Search - This page you can look up a last name you know, it gives other sites to look at.

 Roots Web - An Ancestry.com page.  Another place to look.

US Gen Web Archives - This site is broken down by state.  Within that it has a few different ways to look up info. 

Ancestry.com - Of course the premiere site for looking up info.  They do require payment for some things, the starting monthly fee is $19.99 for the U.S. info. 

Some good starts so go forth and learn where you come from!

Home Again!

Sam and I had a great time at Gulf, and Richard had a lot of fun with grandma; but I think we're all happy to be home.

At Gulf, Sam did fighting and wood-working.  I took a bunch of classes, mostly sewing related.  I think my final total for the week was 18.  I missed a couple, and a bunch more were cancelled.  I may be a bit crazy.

Richard got to go swimming, and to the park.  He also got to go to the Family Museum, where he fell in love with a fire truck!  He was mostly happy, with only a couple of rough patches.

We all enjoyed our vacation, but it's nice to be getting back to our routines.

Tomorrow

Richard gets to go spend some time with his grandparents tomorrow.  So tonight, when he saw a picture of a truck that reminded him of his grandpa, I asked him if he wanted to go see grandpa tomorrow.  He got very excited and wanted to leave right away.

I explained to him that tomorrow means after bedtime, when it's light outside again.  He thought about it for a moment, then said, "nigh-night!" and laid his head down on my chest.  After a minute he sat up, looked outside, and said, "light!"

I think he's looking forward to seeing grandpa.