Celebrity Sighting at the Newport Aquarium

I usually spend my evenings on my couch with my laptop on my lap (duh) and my TV to my right. I don't really watch TV, it's more that I listen to it and glance up every so often when something catches my attention. Which is why I watch a ton of reruns. They're less distracting.

My favorite show to watch reruns of?

Ace of Cakes.

I find them funny and I love drooling over the cakes. So shoot me.

Anyway, to cut short my pathetic rambling about late night TV reruns, I shall get to the point of this whole post.

One day at Charm City Cakes (Bakery where Ace of Cakes is filmed) they made a cake of a Shark Ray for the Newport Aquarium. It was cool. Both the cake and the episode.

Today we went to the Newport Aquarium. Who knew it was in Kentucky, a mere 2.5 hours drive away from my sister's house?

And here's the sad thing.

I recognized Sweet Pea right away.

Oh yes, I am that talented. I can recognize real animals based on their cake counterparts. I rawk.

Of course she was shy and I never managed to get a picture of her. But I did snag some other cool shots as the kids dashed from one aquarium to another. We had a blast. It would have been cool even without meeting a fishy celebrity. But that was pretty cool too.

Here's what she looked like in cake form!

Whatcha lookin' at?

This guy did not get the "Fish are friends not food" memo.

Couldn't take my eyes off this beauty.

She was stunning and graceful and huge.

He was also huge. But not stunning or graceful.

Though he did do an impressive mud blob impression.

Teeny tiny cutie frog.

Then Little L touched a shark. Kinda.

And we weighed them on a shark scale.

They didn't measure up to that bad boy up there.

Especially not this one.

Fabulous aquarium. Highly recommend it next time you're in the Cincinnati, KY area.

A snowy after-Christmas

When we arrived in Ohio last Sunday morning, the world was covered in a thin white film of fine powdery snow. A cheery snowman greeted us from the front lawn and we smiled at the novelty of it all. It was a balmy 50 F when we left San Francisco the night before.

But our dreams of a white Christmas were foiled by a ton of rain that fell on the county on Christmas eve. I thought for sure that we were done with the snow, that the girls would have to wait for another trip to Tahoe to try their hands at building a snowman or sledding again.

I was wrong. I took this picture five minutes ago, moments before heading to bed. The world is once again blanketed in soft while snow and tomorrow morning I sense that there's going to be much gleeful snowball throwing and snowman building.

Stay tuned for pictures! The only bummer is that M took off thirty minutes after the snow started to fall. Instead of playing in the cold with us tomorrow he'll be heading back to work. Poor M.

Waiting anxiously to unplug

Knowing that I was heading out state for two weeks to spend the holidays with my sister, her family, my other sister, and my mother, I busted my butt to get as much work done as possible so I could sit back, shut down the computer, and relax for a good long stretch of time.

Of course even the best laid plans often go awry and this one was no exception.

Instead of a project being nicely wrapped up just before our departure it all blew up as we were taking off and I have been struggling to collect all the pieces and patch it back together ever since. Not an easy feat in between the quality family time and the time difference. The fact that I'm bitter and resentful about the whole thing and bringing a terrible attitude to the table about it isn't helping either.

In theory the whole shebang should be put to rest tonight, finally allowing me to shut down the computer for a few days. If all works out I'll just pop back here to post an obligatory Christmas Morning snap shot or two, but aside from that I'll be gloriously computer free for four days.

And frankly?

I can't wait.

Edited to add: The deadline I was scrambling to meet last night was moved to Monday. Without anyone telling me. The frustration and irritation I feel about that knows no bounds. Would have been nice to know that three days ago when the decision was made.

Fun with Cousins

One of the greatest things about traveling cross country to spend time with my sister and her family is that the girls get to spend some time with their cousins.

The instant we walked in C ran off to play. It was like we had seen them just last week, not six months ago. And for once Little L is able to keep up with the "big kids" which means that this really is quite a relaxing vacation for us. The kids entertain each other, leaving us to enjoy time with the grown-ups, read, work, or just hang out.
Periodically a child will wander through the main living area, gather a kiss and a cookie, and meander off again. They're happy, they're entertained, and they're forging those priceless family memories that will remain with them forever.

No Little L in this shot.

She was already bored with the whole picture taking thing and had wandered off.