Darcy Says Farewell To Aquariums (Aquaria?)

Darcy had a day off school today and we took advantage of the only free weekday she has left on the North Coast. After a few about-town errands, we headed south for one more visit to HSU's Marine Lab in Trinidad. This is where Darcy did her week of ocean day camp this summer. The weather wasn't wonderful, but we had a good time seeing all her old friends, including Elvira the wolf eel, and walking out to see Trinidad beach.

Then we headed to Arcata. Darcy started acting very strangely at lunch and I eventually realized that she must have a loose tooth, based on the fact that she was trying to take bites out of a bagel with her molars. She wouldn't let me see her face and there were tears, so our trip to Arcata ended up being very basic. Lunch at Los Bagels; ice cream at Arcata Scoop (where Darcy had my normal favorite, lemon poppyseed, and I had an utterly delicious, new-to-me flavor, vanilla almond rose); and a trip to a kitchen store for a few cake-making supplies. On the way home, Darcy fell asleep. Her sleep-breathing always makes ME sleepy, so I stopped in the Big Tree parking lot and snoozed for 20 minutes myself. Very nice.

We stopped at Michael's office to bring him to his truck. While visiting with Nate, Darcy put her hand up to her mouth, spit something out, and handed me a tooth. Second lost tooth -- there's a real gap in that lower jaw.

After a few more in-town errands, we headed to Ocean World, our local aquarium. A few weeks ago, Darcy started making a mental list of things we need to do before we leave. The first two things that made the list: eat at Good Harvest and go to Ocean World. We took care of the first one earlier in the week and Ocean World was on the afternoon agenda thanks to an inside tip from our friend Kyle, who gets mad props for his role in this story.

Ocean World is a lovely, but small, aquarium and we've been many (MANY) times. Darcy has probably been at least a dozen times, probably closer to 20. It doesn't totally lose its thrill because Cora, their young sea lion, almost always knows new tricks and it's been fun seeing her grow up. She's four now and we saw her for the first time very shortly after we moved here three years ago. But I thought it might be nice if there was something more to this visit and Kyle had mentioned that he works there in the summer. I asked him if they ever offer a behind the scenes tour. The answer was no, but he said that a few days a week, they feed the critters after the last tour and will let people stay for that.

And so we found ourselves joining the 4:30ish tour at Ocean World. We stopped by the tide pool petting area; saw the sharks, fish, and rays; pet the sharks; and went outside to see the seals and sea lion perform:

And when Cora was done showing off her tricks, we stayed behind. Back downstairs we went, waiting to see the fish poured into the tanks and the feeding frenzy begin:

It was a perfect last visit to Ocean World. Many thanks to Kyle for the inside tip and the staff at Ocean World who made it all possible. On tap for tomorrow: last soccer game, end-of-season soccer party, and an early birthday party for Darcy. And maybe a trip to Brookings for some live music at a bar. And cake making. And other cooking.