Manhattan Beach Outing

If anyone remembers Morocco, I met some really fun friends there, and I've been lucky to now see them again already. I got to meet up with Haley at NAFSA in DC last week and crash some receptions with her, and then yesterday I got to head up to LA to visit Melanie who was in town visiting a friend.

Our halfway point was Manhattan Beach, and none of us really knew the area, so we wandered around, but we had such a good time! The highlight was, by far, the aquarium! Did you know there is an aquarium at the end of the Manhattan Beach pier? And even though it is the tiniest little doll house you've ever seen, it really packs a punch! Touch tank, whale skulls, eels, lobsters, jellyfish, seahorses, embalmed squid, education on keeping trash out of the oceans and how to keep your goldfish alive. We loved it!

We each held this sea cucumber. It really felt like nothing at all, just gelatinous like those sticky hand toys from the 50 cent machine. (They told us it was good luck!)

And we were mesmerized by this beautiful sea life in one of the tanks.

It reminded me of the small aquarium in Maryport down the street from Shannon - we had so much fun there!

It was great to see Melanie, even if for a few hours. This lucky girl actually quit her job and is about to go traveling through South America for about six months. She lives in St. Louis (where NAFSA will be next year) so if nothing else, looking forward to running into her there next May!

In unrelated news, Khaleesi has gone on quite the killing spree this week! She's been bringing in grasshoppers and butterflies and this morning brought us another butterfly. I can't scold her for indulging her hunter instincts, but considering she is The Queen of the Bugs, I can call her the Mad Queen for eating her people.