Titanic :: Penguins :: Belugas

This is going to be a little bit of picture overload today but I went to one of my favorite places, the aquarium, and had so much fun shooting today!!  Their new Titanic exhibit is open and I finally got to see it!!  It was really cool!! One thing I really like about the Mystic Aquarium is how interactive it is.  Maybe it was always that way and I was just too young to appreciate it, or maybe because I can very easily be entertained by the animals, but they have loads of information about the different animals and they have ways of presenting it to kids in fun ways. The Titanic exhibit was no different, it's very educational for adults and kids

They have all kinds of touch screens that bring up information about the ship, the passengers, and about the crew who discovered it back in 1985.

 We had fun with one of the touch tables, it was like something from sci-fi movies, there was a section with videos that you could pull up and make bigger or smaller, then a bunch of pictures to flip through, and documents all about the research that went into finding the wreckage.  It was really neat!!

 There were no actual artifacts in the exhibit.  The group who discovered the Titanic are trying to preserve the wreckage as a living memorial for all those who lost their lives in the tragedy. Instead there are a few statue/reproductions of some of the items found.  One of the touch screens has a library of videos from the ocean floor at the site that show shoes and pots and bed frames, one video showed champagne bottles that had the corks sucked inside due to the pressures of the ocean 

It's an amazing exhibit, I would recommend checking it out if you're in or around the Mystic area!!

Then there was the rest of the aquarium to check out!!

 This was one of the animals they have in their rescue center

 There were a lot of frogs out in the marsh pond croaking back and forth

 The turtles were out too :)

The penguins were all out waiting for lunch, they were also very vocal,

 probably the most talkative I've ever heard them

 They honked almost like a donkey

We finished off the trip watching the beluga whales, who seemed to be in a very playful mood today, they kept swimming back and forth in front of the windows showing off for the camera :)

I probably could have stayed and taken pictures of the whales and penguins all day :)

It gets me really excited about hopefully going to the Shedd Aquarium when I go to Chicago this summer!!

(Especially because they have dolphins there!!)

So that was my most recent, fun trip :)

Cheers :)

This One's :: For The Birds

A couple weeks ago my friend Sue told me that a couple of cardinals had made a nest outside her bedroom window.  All the kids (and the cats) in the house kept a close eye on it and about a week ago 3 of the 4 eggs hatched!!  It took me a few days but I was finally able to visit to check out the nest and the baby birds :) Mama and Papa bird were around for feedings, though they were very cautious of the visitors watching from the window :) It took a little time and a little patience but finally they would come to the nest to feed the babies. Whenever mom and dad were coming the three little ones would pop up ready to eat (it was a nice little warning to me to get the camera ready), and once they were gone they would settle in and go back to sleep.

 Dad would scout out the area before coming to the nest

 Another bird checking out the rose bush

 Dad brought lunch

 The little ones were ready

 Mom came with more lunch

Those are the little chicks, according to some online research it should only be a few more days before these little guys are big enough to leave their nest :)

Cheers :)

***Update***
As of yesterday (5-16-12) our little birdy friends left the nest :)

Devil's Hopyard

So I've discovered a few things about myself recently . . . Apparently I enjoy climbing around on rocks (which I guess I already knew seeing how I'll go rock/wall climbing any chance I get), and I guess I like playing in rivers since that seems to be my location of choice for shooting lately :)  Earlier in the week my mom and I went out to Devil's Hopyard to do some hiking.  Our 'hiking' turned into a lot of me climbing around on the falls taking pictures :)

It was a very pretty spot and neither of us had been there before so we just enjoyed the view and a relaxing morning.  

Mom taking my picture . . .

. . . While I took her picture :)

Mom even got a couple shots of me which doesn't happen too often :)

We had a lovely time and this little guy was hanging out across the street to greet us when we got home :)

Hehe!!

'Til the next great adventure . . .

Cheers!!

ARC :: Pirates

This past weekend I was asked to go to the ARC of New London's annual pirate themed auction benefit. It was such a fun night!! Everyone who wanted to got to dress up like a pirate (I was told I could so I had to take advantage!!) The venue was decorated with canons, gold coins, tequila bottles, treasure maps, if it makes you think pirate they had it!!

They even had the Free Men Of The Seas there to mix and mingle and put on a pirate fight out on the river!!

They fired off a canon, sailed a boat up and down the river with pirates both on land and on sea shooting back and forth!!

It was an exciting display and the pirates were a fun bunch to have around, they posed for pictures with everyone, and were always quick with a joke, all the while staying in character as the swashbuckling pirate!!

 Kara Lawson and Blaze from the Connecticut Sun were also there for the festivities. Blaze had fun showing off his dance moves to the live band :)
Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, so many people were leaving with big smiles of their faces with their winnings both from the silent auction and the basket raffle!!
The Free Men capped off the night singing some sea shanties :)







It was such a fun night!! I would recommend checking it out next year when the pirates invade Mystic!!

Cheers :)