Welcome Marla Cheree Whittington!

Marla Cheree Whittington
Daddy and Marla
She just need to hold his hand!
Mommy and Marla
Marla, Aaron and Tarin - Congratulations!

Yesterday, July 30, 2008 at 3:19PM, the Whittington family grew by one! We are so excited that our new niece, Marla Cheree Whittington has arrived safely...although not as excited as her Mom since sweetie Marla took her time in coming and was 5 days overdue! She weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. She is just adorable and we are heading to Texas in 1 week to see, hold, cuddle and kiss her! God is so good.

The gift of the geodes

Aunt Becky trying to crack the geode.
Still trying to crack the geode.
Daddy trying to crack open the geode using a bigger screwdriver.
Success!
Displaying the geodes.

This is the 4th of 4 new posts, so be sure and scroll down to catch up on all the excitement around the Blankinship house!

RaDora and Aunt Becky brought some geodes they bought at the Earth Science Museum in Asheville, North Carolina. We all had big fun cracking them open to admire the crystals on the inside...yep, science nerds. Did I mention that Aunt Becky is a 7th grade Science teacher? We now have cracked open geodes strategically placed around the house.

Playing at the Beach

Randy and I. Aren't we a sophisticated couple?
Randy, Reed and I in our snorkel gear.

Cassidy playing in the sand.


Becky and RaDora: Another "self-captured" photo

The gang.
Randy, Reed and Becky getting ready to head out to snorkel.
Cassidy and RaDora playing around.
Randy, Reed and Becky swimming out.

On Sunday after church, we drove out to Coquina Beach to swim and snorkel. We all had a great time. I wish I had an underwater camera to capture pictures of Randy literally standing (although he isn't touching the sea floor with his head) on his head under water to see under the ledges. It is rather impressive to me. Reed is doing so well with his swimming and snorkeling. He snorkeled with Randy and Aunt Becky for a long time and didn't even need his life jacket.

Enjoying Emerson Point...Of Course!

This is such a classic Reed picture. We have pictures of Reed with various sea life clutched tightly in his two hands from the time he could walk around to pick them up...maybe even before he could walk!
Fish kiss
A cool Crown Conch
This is what happens if you ask Becky or RaDora to hold your camera...the "self-photo". And often more than one.

An arrow crab...I love these guys!
RaDora didn't love the arrow crab...a little too spider-like.
Reed doing his thing.
Aunt Becky and Cassidy looking at a sea horse Reed netted up for us.
Reed in action. Can you say, "One track mind?!"
The day's catch...using the versatile cheese puff!

Becky with the Sunshine Skyway behind her.
Reed exploring
RaDora feeding Cassidy lunch.
Aunt Becky and Cassidy

We, obviously, had to take Becky and RaDora to our favorite stompin' grounds. And, as usual, we all had a great time and saw some cool critters. Cheese puffs work quite well in luring little fishies into the dip net.

Entertaining Randy

Showing the new toy
Experimenting: Can the heat from your breath make the water move up the tube?
Experimenting: Can using just 2 fingers make the water move up the tube?
Experimenting: Can just cupping your hands around the base without actually touching it produce enough heat to move the water up the tube?

Becky, unintentionally, scored big with one of the many "gifts" she brought us. In fact, I don't think she actually even intended for this to be a gift - I think she was just showing it to us. But, as you can see from the pictures, SOMEBODY really found it fascinating. There is nothing like watching colored water move through glass tubes powered only by body heat. Isn't he cute?!?

The Tadpole Update!

Little frog...well mostly...on brick
A couple of the tadpoles/froggies
Various stages of the tadpole to frog metamorphosis
The new and improved "beach" habitat!
Teeny frogs!
A little blurry, but still super cute tiny frogs!

We have been having so much fun with Aunt Becky and RaDora that I haven't had any time to post. But before I can post pictures of all our exciting adventures, I need to address a VERY SERIOUS MATTER: The Tadpole Update!

The tadpoles have been making some amazing changes since I posted the last pictures. All kinds of leg growing and tail shrinking going on around here. In fact, some are actually hopping out and into freedom!

Yesterday (Sunday), after we got back from the beach (pics to come), Becky, RaDora and I decided the current tadpole habitat was severely flawed. They couldn't find a way to higher ground once they went from gills to lungs. So we dumped the water and tads/froglets into a trusty 5 gallon bucket and made some major improvements on the habitat. Becky (and, incidentally, the sources on the Internet that I had here-to-fore ignored) suggested creating a "beach" that sloped upward to the top of the tote. Becky is quite the "thinker!" So we did. And the little, teeny, tiny frogs IMMEDIATELY began hopping out of the water and up the beach. We saw a few even make their final escape into the bushes!

Luckily, we still have some tadpoles with only back legs so I don't have to suffer tadpole with drawl completely cold turkey!

Step Away from the Tadpoles with Your Hands Up!

The Tadpole Habitat
Looking into the Tadpoles' home
The tads enjoying a healthy lunch of frozen, soggy Romaine lettuce.
The tads still eating...note the growth of back legs!
A close up of one with back leg growth goin' on!!

I am supposed to be cleaning. I need to be cleaning. Randy thinks I'm cleaning. I'm not cleaning...yet. I'm going to clean, really. But first, I must confess...I'm obsessed with my (note the use of the SINGULAR POSSESSIVE 'my' as opposed to the plural possessive 'ours') tadpoles. And, as with many obsessions, it was never supposed to be this way!!! About 2 weeks ago, Randy went fishing on a Saturday(I posted pictures of the catch). That left me and the kids with another day stretching ahead of us. So, we took a walk through our neighborhood in search of tadpoles. We'd been having rain so the ditches were full. When I say we "took a walk" it really means that they rode their bikes while I carried a small bucket half full of water and tadpoles, 2 nets and the 80lb dog on her leash. The one thing I didn't have, but really wanted was my camera. Randy had it on his fishing trip.

Anyhoo...we collected a rather healthy amount of tadpoles and I managed to transport them, with only minor sloshing, to the safety of our driveway. At this point it was all still a very innocent undertaking. I thought it would be fun to see if we could watch their metamorphosis from tadpole to frog. So, Reed and I got online and read about how to care for them. I then scoured the garage looking for the perfect habitat...one of the totes used to hold Skipper's dog food was deemed perfect and I cleaned it up. Reed and I then went and filled a 5 gallon bucket with water and algae from the pond behind the house, lugged it back to the driveway and poured it in the newly renovated tote. We dumped the tadpoles into their new "home" and...it happened - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Mommy!

It's true - I'VE HIJACKED THE TADPOLES! From the moment they hit the "perfect habitat" I sweated over, the kids are allowed only minimal access (hands behind their backs and heavily supervised by psycho-mommy) and are lectured frequently on the dire consequences of PUTTING THEIR GRIMY HANDS IN MY POND SCUMMY TADPOLE WATER! And to make matters even more crazy, I go and check on the little guys at least 5 times a day. I've even been known to sit down on the driveway and just observe them. And yes, I freeze Romaine lettuce and feed them everyday...note again WHO feeds them...ME! I keep telling myself it isn't all that bad, but REALLY...I've even managed to work them into conversations with friends. Randy knows to nod appropriately with the daily tadpole update and that, in words from Star Trek, RESISTANCE IS FUTILE when I tell him to come and check out their progress. I think my saving grace is that they aren't going to be tadpoles forever (sniff, sniff) and soon they will absorb their tails and hop out of my life forever!!! And I'll be left mending fences with my poor, 2 legged Homo Sapiens!

Mote Aquarium

At the touch tank...or in Cass's case...mostly in the touch tank
Reed and Cass on the other side of the new mangrove/bay tank
Reed requested his picture in front of the snook tank
Check out the HUGE spiny lobster in the tank behind the kids.
Cass - the seahorse whisperer?
Watching the octopus - he is so cool.
Reed with a horseshoe crab

I took the kids out to Mote last Friday and forgot to post the pictures. We haven't been very exciting (Walmart, Publix,Target...boring) the past few days, so I'm posting them now. The aquarium is rather dark inside so the kids are "glowing white" in many of the pictures from the flash.