One Apiece

Yes. That's right. We now have six pets! (I told Buck, I'll claim the window toad, he's low maintenance :)

G$'s pic of our pet crowd :)

We took a little homeschool adventure yesterday to work through an aquarium field trip book I bought for LAST year's curriculum. Perfect day for the zoo--too cold for anyone but us and a handful of others. 

In the aquarium, the touch tank was open for business! I got to pet several star fish (they are hard and bumpy, not soft and squishy like I expected). Once I started getting my hands wet, the kids were more willing to pet sea urchins and the like, too. Boy, that water was cold! We need some tropical star fish on display--the Pacific Northwest crew has some polar ice melt going on that my already frozen fingers were not too excited about! :)

After we watched the penguins get fed and the divers scrub the shark tank, we headed to the movie theater for a bit of Jacques Cousteau -- how perfectly did that fit our field trip theme? Whoohoo, ocean stuff!

Next we used some gift card action from Buck's boss. He gave the office three, each a cash card and we used ours to get lunches out as a family :) Hooray for free lunch!

Then--with much cajoling and promises to love and care for more--we went to the pet store. Once again, I signed the adoption papers, and this time a gray gerbil has joined the other cages in the classroom. It seems that any time we buy a new cage, the old empty cage just waits to be filled. Caelan even had a plan for where to set it, since the others have just about taken up our homework turn in space. She built a platform of giant blocks in the corner--so the hamster and the gerbil can see each other and be friends ;)

So . . . here is Gandalf the Gray (Gerbil) . . . his eyes are kind of pink (which I think is so icky), but the other option was like cotton candy pink, and Ain't Nobody Got Time for That! in this house . . . shudder. I'm sure he'll grow on me like the others did. He's bigger than the hamster and has a long tail. He's super fast, and I guess enjoys toilet paper rolls :) Ahh the things you learn about nature, lol!