Less than Twelve Parsecs

Sea otters in Monterrey Bay are so very special. The species was almost extinct after being hunted for the outstanding coat, but thanks to recent conservation efforts the population is finally in the rise. We went to visit their home in Elkhorn Slough , and got to see their slough-mates as well. Here are some snapshots and fun facts we learned from our naturalist guide. Meet our little "Otter Spotter". When Mara saw an otter in the water, she held her Otter Card way up high to let everyone know, and pointed to the animal so we can see it. We needed to be very quiet because otters are sensitive to sound. Irina, Otter Spotter Mara and the Otter Card Sea Lions: - Very social, like to pile up on each other - One of them was giving an important speech to the other as we were taking photos - Unlike seals, they have little ear flaps! - They have large front flippers so they can climb on rocks and piers - All the ones here are males; all the females are on

Being a 2.5yo is tough. You finally understand that just because an adult says something does not make it a reality. So you start challenging everything. You start negotiating, testing the limits, and "pushing buttons" to see what will happen. If it goes your way, great. If it doesn't, you gain knowledge. Mara is going through these episodes, and it is so much fun to watch Greg twist her words around to make her do his bidding: ----- Greg: Mara, come to me so I can put your shirt on. Mara, collapsing to the floor: But I can't! Greg: Why can't you come?  Mara, frowning in concern: I am a rollie-pollie. Greg: Alright, then roll to me so I can put your shirt on. Mara rolls on the floor towards Greg and shirt goes on. ----- I, on the other hand, am not so skilled at this game. This story is about one of these struggles to find out whether she can 'best' me. ----- Breakfast on a weekend. Daddy is asleep. Mara, Gaius and Mommy are at the di

Greg and Elena joined Ultimate Summer League this year. Yay for more exercise, finally!! After the random draft, they both made it into Team 8,  and Team 8 needed a more personalized name than just, you know, a number. Consequently, a long email thread spawned candidate names that ranged from hints to current political or industry events to random puns for the number 8. Yes, when it comes to naming, this crowd often has a tendency for mathy puns. One of the proposed names was:  Octo-PI . Cute, but not enough to make the call. It would have gotten buried in with all the other silly names, had it not been for a key email response. What happened, you ask? Something that is also typical of this crowd: a pedantic comment. This plural version of "octopus" is questionable, because the word Octopus comes from Greek, not Latin. Thus, we should be using the Greek pluralization instead [ reference link ]. This is how this summer we became: Team  Octopodes!! Lit