a starfish!

Thomas was messing with the fish tank the other night (what's new, right?) and randomly I hear Thomas yelling at me, "uhhhhh, I just caught a star fish!"

Isn't he cool?!! He's a brittle starfish and lives in the sand or holes of the rocks. We knew we had some in the tank because they stick their legs out at night to catch any food that comes their way, but this was the fist time we've actually been able to see the entire guy.

I was a little shocked at how big he was! 

These photo's are on the blurry side because every time we 

moved the cup he kept trying to avoid the light. 

After I was done taking picture and ooo-ing and ahhh-ing at him, Thomas 

placed him back in the tank where he QUICKLY disappeared into the sand. 

the fish tank.

The fish tank is a hard thing to photograph.. but I feel like I'm getting a lot better. It's been awhile since I posted about the fish tank, so here are some pretty pictures of it that I took last night..

it's alive!

Finally. We have intentional living things in the fish tank! These babies are ten time more exciting than the rock and slugs that mezmorized us for a couple weeks (and now please excuse me while I come to the disturbing realization that I actually have slugs living with me. Lovely).

I'm not going to lie. I was getting a little impatient with the fish tank. However, to fill that void I was psyched to find this Disney Pixar gem among the DVDs. 

Such a good movie. 

As excited as I was to actually get some living things in the fish tank I was disappointed that we couldn't purchase up the clown fish I've been eyeing. So more waiting till our water is up to snuff.

boo! 

But! Back to what we were actually able to bring home!  The tank is now home to two yellow tail damsels (yay fish!) and our "cleaning crew," which consists of three turbo snails (where one has lately been enjoying the view from our glass cleaner magnet),

and twenty hermit crabs, or as we're calling them: the minions.

Here are the pretty (yet tiny!) damsels in action.

We're still working on names but nothing sticks other than, The Damsels.

And our last little addition to the tank, an emerald crab!

Allow me to introduce Lord Harold Crabbington-The First. I don't even know the round about way we came up with that name, but Thomas cracked me up with his rant of "Lord Harold Crabbington! First of his kind! Eater of algae and patiently awaiting the arrival of Lady Penelope."

It's safe to say this guys our favorite. 

And an eating machine! 

our own piece of the ocean

Did you know that a swim with the fishes.. 

can easily turns into this?

My brother Cullen, has a new hobby. Saltwater aquariums. And in spending a week with him in Florida we got to hear all about his aquarium and his saltwater friends. I'm blaming him (and also thanking him) for he started all of this, but the real push for the aquarium happened on our last day in Key West. Snorkeling. 

Snorkeling in the keys was so much fun. And like I said, Thomas was in his element. It was by far his favorite part of the entire trip. So it's shouldn't be much of a surprise that in spending the week by the ocean and talking with my brother the idea of owning a fish tank was in his plans. In landing back in Tennessee this was among our first purchases.. plus I never need an excuse to wander a bookstore or two ;)

At this point I was nervous, there is a LOT in replicating the ocean in the comforts of your own home. Nitrogen cycle? Nitrate vs Nitrites? Protein skimmer? What the heck. But I lost it when Thomas showed me the first paragraph of one of the books we were reading.. "did you just recently enjoy a relaxing vacation by the ocean? Perhaps you were able to see the depths of the sea with your own eyes and want to create a piece of the beauty in your home." 

Huh, well that sounds familiar. 

A little bit of reading and quite a bit of talking and it was decided! Only three days after leaving the keys, we were going to attempt at successfully owning a saltwater aquarium. A good 29 gallon tank should do the trick. 

But ohhh how I was mistaken. 

In arriving at Aquatic Critter (an awesome aquarium shop in Nashville) they had a steal of a deal on a 75 gallon tank. That would be seventy-five.. not twenty-nine (times that by two and you're almost there). This 75 gallon tank had all the bells and whistles Thomas could have hoped for and the kicker? It was only $50 more than the twenty-nine gallon tank we had in mind. 

Enter the nerves. This baby is huge. Well, huge in comparison to the cute square little 29 gallon tank. And I have to say the guy helping us at Aquatic Critter (who we now know by name) was super helpful and calmed me down a bit by telling us that it's easier at tacking a saltwater aquarium with a bigger tank because you're bound to have less hiccups and issues with your water. 

Well, it was a good thing we brought the truck..

Soo enter three weeks later and we finally have lights...

Woo! 

A much prettier improvement from this hot mess.. 

Not a single fish.. I wasn't joking when I said there was a lot in dealing with a saltwater aquarium. Apparently our water isn't up to snuff yet. Bummer. Here's hoping this weekend we'll be able to add some critters in there! I'm itching with excitement to get some fishies.
And so the adventure of the saltwater aquarium continues on.. I don't even know how or what to feed the fish when we actually get them.. still need to read up on that chapter. :)

a swim with the fishies.

Snorkeling was something I knew that I wanted to do, but at the same time I was slightly terrified.
We knew that these disposal underwater camera's weren't going to yield the sharp pretty pictures of my canon, but at the same time I wanted to document the event and left my big girl camera safely on land seven miles back. Let me type that again, seven miles. Seven. Now I don't like it when I can't touch the bottom when the waves crash on you at the beach.. and now we're seven miles out.

Just a 45min boat ride... out to sea.. to swim with fish.  

ooooookay. 

But we did it and lived to tell the tale, and I'm so frickin proud of myself! 

mama overcame her fear of Jaws.. here she is in the MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN: 

See, at this point, nothing grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her to the 

depths of the ocean.. thank goodness. 

 Thomas on the other hand was in his element. 

That diving fool. 

 Such a good one of miss mollie :) Cullen get's all the credit for this photo. 

See, clearly this is me and Thomas.. ha, and I am in fact snorkeling along the reef. 

 And I'm so happy that my dad took these from the boat because I'm quite proud of myself and I now have proof that I did it.  

 what a successful day.