Last Day of Summer

Well, our summer vacation is officially over. I've been trying to convince myself for the past 2 months that Ada and I are bored at home, and both need some outside stimulation. That I need adult conversation, goals to strive for, people to please, kids to teach. That Ada needs a room full of toys, and to play with Kash and Presley. And although I do love my job, and Ada does enjoy daycare- those are only secondary to the precious time we have together. This summer has been so amazing; and I am devastated to be hitting the daily grind again beginning tomorrow. I will miss that sweet baby Buggaboo so terribly, I'm afraid my heart will burst! She is the total light of my life, and we belong together all day everyday! OK, I'm being melodramatic, but it's what I'm feeling at the moment. It will all be "normal" again to us in a few days.

On a lighter note, we decided to spend our last hours of vacation at the Houston Aquarium- and wish we'd have been going all summer!! All 3 of us had a blast- and will definitely be visiting again soon. We must, actually- Ada needs more exposure to fish. She kept calling them birds ("dids") as they darted about in their aquariums!



We began our day trip with a quick ride on a crocodile. This carousel is the real deal- I got a little motion sickness!

Next up: a train ride alongside Buffalo Bayou....

Weeeeeeeeee!

.....and into shark infested waters! We parked in the welcomed cool shade for a few minutes to shark watch.

Not quite sure what we think of these snaggle toothed things.....




Gotta have some good animatronics to wrap up the trainride! This scared me more than anyone- Ada was, of course, more interested in the inner workings of the technology.




Hanging with Daddy at the sunken Mayan temple exhibit...




Exploring a coral reef with Mommy- the Clown Fish were our faves.




We have a very advanced 10 month old- she's already scuba diving through shipwrecks! Teachable moment: no looting!




An aquarium wouldn't be complete without a lifesized statue of an endangered Indian white tiger! Ada is perplexed- since when are tigers aquatic animals!?





And NO Dowell family vacay would be complete without an extended stay in the gift shop, playing with the stuffed animals! My little Snake Charmer....

OK, this is Alicia, officially signing off summer blogging. It is quite possible my postings will become sparse and uninteresting for the next few months. I will do my best to keep everyone updated on Ada's ultimate cuteness, though!