The Georgia Aquarium

Pics from the GA aquarium

Mystic Aquarium

I was one of the lucky few who grew up with an aquarium a couple of miles from my home http://www.mysticaquarium.org/ .

My mom became a 'charter member' the day it opened, I think I was 6, and we haven't stopped going. In my highschool years I actually volunteered there and got to put my mitts on some of the beautiful animals. Aurora, a charasmatic beluga whale, was my favorite. She liked her gums rubbed.

So during out visit to GA we had to go to the aquarium!! http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/

It's a really neat place and I highly recommend it.

History museum...more learning for mom.

More from Atlanta:

Fernbank Science center is also near Fernbank Museum of Natural History http://www.fernbankmuseum.org/. Since Violet is the science experiment as far as we are concerned, we had that covered. But Jay is the history buff...although when they say natural history they mean nature, and not people. He's a little more people oriented...famous people like presidents and composers. The history museum is more history of nature and dinosaurs, but I was able to find some people. The history center isn't really my cup of tea, but they have a great gift shop. However I did learn one amazing fact. Dinosaurs do not have genitals. No really, have you ever noticed that every replica of a dinosaur has very specific details: it's gray brown color and perfect leathery texture right down to it's dirty toenails but in the genital region there is nothing...nada...just like Barbie. I have no idea how these ginormous creatures use the potty or reproduce. By looking at the size of these creatures the males should be hung like yaks. It is possible that they are more inny then outie...most reptiles are..but the current set at least have a little opening somewhere. I am thoroughly convinced that the scientologist have it correct and the dinosaurs just appeared here from aliens one day. Certainly there was no reproduction going on, you can't even tell which ones are male or female, gives new meaning to androgenous...no wonder why they all died off.

Summer of Learning

Dragonflies

Below are some dragonflies mating, Violet impressed upon me how important it was to capture this image and share it with the world, 'in case they hadn't seen this before'.

My children probably hate the fact that everything has to do with learning. But when some of them are starting out 8 years behind I feel like we have so much catching up to do. Part of our learning tour in GA was visiting the Fernbank Science Center. Which in case you were wondering is FREE.

http://www.fernbank.edu/

Fernbank Science Center is chock full of educational things like a planetarium, composting, vegetable gardens, butterfly gardens, bee keeping, acres of natural GA that you can explore.

Fernbank also shares property with Fernbank Elementary school. One of the best public schools in Atlanta according to Jay's speech teacher who used to work there.

Learning about Atlanta

While Atlanta is a racially diverse city I was disturbed by how racially divided it is. At each location we visited we saw camp groups full of happy little children bouncing around. Those camp groups were completely segregated. Campers were either all caucasian or all African American. Not being from Atlanta I imagine this has to do with where you live in Atlanta and which camp you choose. However being a mom of bi-racial children I was acutely aware of the divide and the perceived inadequacies. I also did not see many bi-racial children, which also intrigued me. In a city that is diverse, isn't it natural that you should see more?