Roxy... notice the kids in the pics, Mom!

 So, we have pretty much been bitten by the spider-bug.  We love our tarantulas!  They are fascinating and so unique:)  Also, you will never find a more quiet or less stinky pet!  They never have accidents on the floor and never scream over the TV while the characters are talking quietly!  They only have to be fed every few days and their food is super cheap.  What pet could be better?! 

 So here is our latest acquisition, Roxy! She is a pink toe tarantula.  They are arboreal, which means she is a very good jumper.  She is a real acrobat:)  As you can see, she is just a spiderling.  We don't actually know if she is a girl, we are just hoping.  We will not know until she molts.  Another reason we are looking forward to her molt, is that she is missing a leg.  It will grow back bit by bit over the next 3-4 molts.  Then she will have a normally functioning leg where now she has nothing.  Pretty cool, huh?
She is so itty bitty!  She makes Goldilocks look like Godzilla!  The boys like that she is small, they are less intimidated.  I don't let them hold Goldilocks very often because she is so huge. 

In the picture above, you can just barely tell how they got the name pink toe.  She is a deep black all over- so black, she is nearly blue- with little pinkish/orange tips on each leg.  This picture also makes it easy to count her legs.  Not including her pedipalps up front, that she uses to eat- you can see just 7 legs.  She is just so adorable:)

Yes, Mom, I read your blog...AKA picture of me and kids

 So apparently it does not count if I am only blogging about spiders and other pets.  Pictures of the grandchildren are the only blog worthy items!  So, here we are on our trip to the Oklahoma Aquarium.  Trevor's most favorite part, I think, was this picture because it looks like he is nearly 5'6"!  He is so determined to be taller than Christina!  Well, we should know in just a few weeks:)  We went to the aquarium with the Marshalls and had a wonderful time.  It was absolutely packed because we went on spring break and all it did was pour down rain the whole week.  So, everyone was looking for ways to get out of the house, but not actually be outdoors.  It was still a lot of fun and we only lost Gavin once:)

 This is an alligator snapping turtle skeleton.  There were all sorts of cool Oklahoma animals in this section.  It is impossible to tell by the photo, but this thing is about 3 feet long!  Snapping turtles are just one of many reasons it is difficult for me to enjoy swimming in Oklahoma lakes!  I didn't include the pictures of the alligator gar and several other gar varieties that Trevor took pictures of- all of which can be found in our waters! In case you are not familiar- gar have long snouts full of very sharp teeth.  If you accidentally hook one while fishing, you don't even attempt to retrieve your hook.  You just cut the line and call it good!

 This green moray eel was putting on quite a show!  He was swimming around his aquarium and trying to rub off the cleaner shrimp that was dutifully cleaning- even in his mouth!  It was funny to hear all the people saying- Oh, that shrimp better watch out! He is gonna end up on the menu!  And my shrimp-savvy boys telling the adults that it is a cleaner shrimp and in no danger at all:)
 Here is the electric eel.  We watched a show on animal planet about river monsters and discovered that these can actually kill a grown man.  They put off a strong electrical pulse and it will stop a persons heart!  I would not get in the water during dry season for all the money in the world!  That is when large eels get trapped in smaller ponds and streams and become very dangerous!

This isn't a very good picture, but I thought it was so cool!  This aquarium was packed with clownfish!  They were swimming through the anemones and dancing around.  It was so fun to watch:) They really are clowns.  All in all, we had a great couple of hours at the aquarium.  I can't believe that Trevor didn't take one picture of the sharks!  There is an awesome shark tank you can walk under and they swim all around you.  About 3 of them put on a show right in front of us!  They were wrestling and grabbing eachothers fins!  It was pretty amazing, but thankfully, the ones doing the grabbing only have bony plates and not sharp teeth or someone would have been hurt pretty badly!  It is too bad that we haven't taken advantage of the aquarium more since we've been here.  It is only 10 min from our house.  Well, we know there is a neat aquarium in Sandy.  I guess we'll just have to drive a bit farther now.