field trippin'...

no school today because thanks to jeanbean we had free tickets to the aquarium...

can sea otters really get any cuter?...i mean, c'mon!...they are so cute it really hurts...one was taking a nap on his back clutching a green frisbee...i think i actually had heart palpatations with that one...the *awwwwww factor* was HIGH!...

and we saw something called a sea dragon, like a sea horse only totally tricked out...all flowy and mystical...the stevie nicks of the sea...absolutely magical and beautiful and amazing...

wingman was enthralled with the jelly fish that kept circling around in a big glass enclosed ring that went over your head and even underneath you...they even had different colored lights that would shine through the jelly fish...definitely rave material...definitely right up wingman's alley...


and if you've never seen a mandarin gobi, then baby y'a'int seen nothin'!...absolutely fabulously colored fish...

but what i really got from the whole trip was this...(other than my boys are like rockets in two different directions!)...i miss the big city...i miss the hustle and bustle and the proximity to cool and wonderful stuff for my boys to see and do...imagine the possibilities for school!...

sure, it's *do-able* as a day trip...but it's a big commitment of time and money to partake of the big city when you're this far out...

sigh...i pitched a penny to the urine smelling fountain on the waterfront and made a wish...i figured it was as good a place as any to let loose a dream...

just yesterday the lord of the ring reminded me how long ago we met in that same big city...in the car on the way to the ferry over i was telling the duke about the different neighborhoods, and reminding him of where he was born and lived...i'm sure in the back of his mind he wonders why it is we lived there, and yet we don't anymore, BUT papa commutes four hours a day back and forth...

i couldn't tell you kid, but if you figure it out could you let us know?...we've been having a bit of trouble with that one...

even wingman saw those big buildings from the ferry and said

"hey lote! (look) stystwapahs! (skyscrapers)"

what does he know from skyscrapers?...the tallest building we have out here is the play-place attached to the mcdonalds...

who knows...we love where we are and it is good to have this space...i get nervous with neighbors so close...

but, i can see a return to the other side of the pond as a eventual necessity, and a really good family move on our parts...it is the city the lord of the ring grew up in...the city we met and began a family in...the roots run deep...

deep enough to feel the pull so many years and miles away...

so i chased after the kids on the top deck of the ferry as it sailed away towards home and made another wish, this time i spread the words to the open water...(well, two wishes...the first being that i wished the boybarians would just take it down a FRIGGIN'! notch!)...(no such luck)

and while i know *home* is wherever the lord of the ring and i make it, i can't help feeling like i'd like to have a spin in the ruby slippers...dorothy may have been seeking an exodus back to kansas...but me?...i think i'd like to make my way back to the emerald city...

x.