Bye bye Baba fish.

We received an e-mail yesterday morning informing membership holders that two of the resident fish would be moving to Oregon Coast Aquarium on Monday. I barely scan those e-mails, sometimes delete them before reading and had been considering unsubscribing from their listserv. Good thing that I am the world's worst procrastinator. To most people the departure of two fish is not that big of a deal (sorry P, I hope in time you can forgive such harsh words), but these are sturgeons, aka the coolest fish in the world, aka Baba Fish. For two years, SS has visited them and she is so freaking cute when she points at them and proudly calls them Baba Fish. She waves at them and blows them kisses. It is so cute watching our little girl so enamored with the ugly (again, sorry P) fish. And now they are leaving. Oh well, here's a learning opportunity for SS, welcome to the wonderful world of loss. Except that SS is a pro at this so we decided to change our Sunday plans and try to explain that her favorite fish would be going on a fun trip to a new home, where they would have a bigger tank and lots of friends to play with. Now we wait until SS notices their absence and we'll see if she bought all that b.s.

The sturgeons arrived at the facility eight years ago and were a mere three inches long. According to the e-mail, they are now six footers but as you can see in the pictures below, that is an exaggeration. Still, P knows his fish and he agreed that they need a bigger tank, and Oregon Coast Aquarium, former home to Keiko (does anyone remember him?), does have a sturgeon tank. We visited OCA on JJ's 16th birthday, just to see Keiko. It was a fun trip, and it looks like we will be returning, because SS is sure going to miss her best fish buds. A few weeks ago I was thinking about that little road trip, it was my first year of grad school and P returned after a year hiatus from his undergrad work. I had a paper due the day after our return and I actually hammered that puppy in the middle of the night after such a long drive. I asked P then if we could fit a visit this summer, but he already had requested every single vacation hour on a very necessary and on a very unnecessary trip this summer. Maybe next summer.

P is not a breakfast fan, but he never turns down scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, especially when it is served in bed. One plate, three lazy bums, and everyone is ready for the day.

Could they look any sadder?

So much fun had with a few pennies.

For someone so small, SS does a great job of dragging people around.