Summer's Last Hurrah!

Sigh! Summer is coming to an end and our life as we’ve known it is ending. Anika will start school on Wednesday and I will never have her back in quite the same way again. (Boy, I’m sounding melancholy, aren’t I?) I’m so happy for her to make this big step, but I also realize that the school schedule is now a part of our lives. So, we decided to make sure that Daddy’s day off last week was a special time. We went to San Francisco to the “Aquarium on the Bay”, had lunch at Hard Rock Café, and walked Pier 39. It was a wonderful, special day and it reminded us that we need to take advantage of the all the wonderful opportunities around us.

The Aquarium on the Bay (it is located right on Pier 39):

A prehistoric Shark Jaw photo op:

This particular section was a big draw for the kids. It had all the characters in "Finding Nemo". Anika loved pointing out. . .

. . .Dorrie. . .

. . . Marlin and Nemo. . . and their anemone.

A quick shot with SpongeBob:

Kathryn was entralled with the moon jellies:

More jellies:

These northern anchovies remind me of the fish in "Nemo" that form pictures:

Starfish:

Bat ray:

Petting the bat ray and leopard shark (It actually came up out of the water as if it wanted to be touched):

Just one finger:

Touching anemones, star fish and sea slugs at the tide pool: