To the lost crew of the Intrepid Tank

God speed.

Or, as Morgen says "Awww. That's ok. Now we have a nice bowl of water to look at."

Time to clean and test the water again, and then ready our hearts for the rookie crew.

But first...does this seem suspicious to anyone else? When we purchased our first three, healthy looking platies, the pet store guaranteed them for 14 days.  One died while we were on vacation...and so, feeling guilty, we didn't pursue a replacement. Two went belly up on day 15. Coincidence? Evil plot? Or am I simply a very bad fish whisperer?

Complete my survey, if you dare.

The "Poor-Substitute-for-a-Pony" Tank

Before Gavin and I were married, I moved into a bungalo in Mimico and bought, of all things, a very small fishtank. I called it my "three gallons of liquid happiness." I filled it with beige stones, a plant, and seven neon cardinal tetras that I named after the Borg (one-of-seven, two-of-seven, three-of-seven...you get it).

If we were speaking in person, this is where I would tell you to stop me if I'd already told you the story about the tank's evolution from "three gallons of liquid happiness" to "three gallons of liquid deathtrap." And this is also where I'll stop telling that story now, and tell you the one I logged in to write about.

Ever since my friend shared the news on his blog about his son's idyllic daycare, where they have hamsters and fish, and bring in actual ponies to entertain and enlighten the children, I've been stewing about the lack of animals in the otherwise nurturing, empowering, and safe daycare that my children attend and for which we are very grateful.  (I mean, COME ON! Is it fair to the rest of the pony-starved children for some to get rides at preschool, and not others? I'm happy for him, I really am...but the sheer number of animals at that preschool was amazing to me.) I started asking other parents whether they have pets in their preschool classrooms.

And eventually I decided that our daycare needed a fish tank. Or to be more accurate, I decided that it needed a second fish tank. One for fish. The preschool room already has a tank, but it is filled with plants.

I did a bunch of reading about what kinds of aquariums are good for an educational setting. I asked a teacher in the toddler room if she would care for some fish if I provided the tank. I weighed the benefits of really big tanks (harder to kill fish) with the benefits of really small tanks (easier to fit into small spaces). This morning I brought my donation into daycare, while Morgen and Lillian bounced around begging the teacher if they could take it out of the box and play with it. It's shatterproof, of a medium-to-small size, and soon, once we've washed it and filled it with faux river rocks and water plants, and waited for the good tank bugs to grow, we'll introduce a few, hopefully hardy, fish into the environment....

While we were picking out our daycare's new tank, we also bought a new tank for our living room.  I'm not sure what to call it yet. Maybe the "Intrepid." Or maybe we'll call it the "Poor-substitute-for-a-pony Tank." Thanks for the inspiration, friends with children in super-cool daycare programs...and please wish those daycare fish luck.

Sister Pics

 

At the zoo, posing for a sister pic.

 

Good habits start early?

 

Stickers together. 

 

This is what it looks like when Lillian decides she needs to sit on "My Morgen," and Morgen decides to let her.

What you might have overheard at swim class

[In the gender neutral echo chamber they call a family change room]

Lillian: I see your belly button!!! I see your....NIPPLES!
Me: You've seen it all before, sweetie. Use your inside voice please.
Morgen: MOM, WHY ARE YOUR BREASTS FLAT LIKE PANCAKES? THEY'RE FLAT LIKE PANCAKES MOM!!!
Me: [pause]
Lillian: HA!

I confess I had no witty come back.

Quiet on the virtual front...but loud loud loud in real life.

If this picture doesn't say it all, I don't know what does. We've been busy.

I passed my major field exam, but still have an ethics protocol, committee selection, and language examination between me and the ever-elusive "ABD" designation. Gavin has been busy in the archives of his office, preserving history and marvelling at corporate enterprise. Lillian has had her first hair cut, and is busy telling everyone to remember their hat and "suncream" now that it's hot outside. Morgen has turned 4, and of course that means she doesn't need to nap any more.  For real.