Aquarium and a bit of Roatan.

Wondering what happened to me and blogging? Wondering if those summer bulbs ever bloomed? I'm alive and well and the bulbs bloomed! I've taken on a new hobby this year - gardening - which I'll get to in the next post.

In the mean time, Brett started a salt water aquarium a while back so I thought I'd post a few pictures of the coral and other life in the tank. Here's your full shot view:

This is mainly a reef tank meaning lots of corals and very few fish. It's just getting started so many of the spaces are unfilled and many of the corals are small and growing.

We have 3 fish right now - 2 Clown fish and 1 fire fish. The species of Fire Fish has a nick name which is a Dart Fish because they tend to dart around the tank. This made it difficult to get a picture of him. The 2 clown fish, on the other hand, were following me around the tank and I ended up having to crop them out of a few pictures. Silly friendly things they are. I call the black one with the orange face "Lil' B" for Little Bruno. See the resemblance?

 

Another little friendly guy is this one:

 He's a Conch (Pronounced  "CONK")

See his funny little eyeballs and long snout? He uses his snout to eat but also to propel himself at amazing speeds around the tank.

Speaking of Conch's, we ate one in Roatan, Honduras where we went on vacation back in February. Roatan is a small Island in the Caribbean where Conch's are plentiful (and much larger than this one). Here are a few fun pictures of a conch shells and that trip:

Our friends Amy and Chad went with us.

We had lots of fun in the warm weather.

 Out tanning

 At Herbie's (our favorite restaurant there).

 Together.

 

This is the house we rented for the week. See that awesome open area deck there at the top? We spent a lot of time up there.

 In the hammocks especially.

  We went to the Western part of the island a few days to enjoy the amazing snorkeling and beautiful beaches and cheap alcohol.

 This wore me out...

 And right after this sleeping picture was taken on the way home, we had to to stop because there was a cow in the middle of the road and the owner chasing after it on foot:

 

See the guy on the left in the blue shirt running?

 Hehe, and the windshield is another story. Suffice it to say we got a discount on the rental.

And I was tired on the airplane ride home too.

 But wide awake back in the states in Houston.

We had lots of fun.

Oh you wanted to see more pictures of the aquarium? No prob.

 Here's a crab:

 This is a new addition to the tank, pretty neat huh?

 The next two pictures are of the Frog Spawn. (See the silly clown fish? He wanted to be in the picture too!)

 Frog Spawn:

 This little guy was difficult to get a picture of because he is so small and far away from the glass:

 Really neat though:

 Pretty yeah? Called an Acan.

 Below is a plate coral that is growing nicely.

 Oh there's the fire fish! See him in the back? That thing on the sand closest in the picture is a clam. Further back in the middle of the tank are two Welsos that puff up nicely each day.

There are lots of other little things in the tank but the moving water made it difficult to capture some of them. Maybe another time.

Hope you enjoyed the aquarium tour and a bit of Roatan.

California - the rest of it

Sunday night was the rehearsal dinner located at a restaurant called the Estate. It was Mediterranean/Californian food. Everyone had fun:

Monday was wedding day! In the morning I went on a hike with all of Brett's siblings - the two brothers,Steve and Greg(the groom), and a sister, Jean, that I have gained. The hike felt great, especially after all the food we had been gorging on. Plus the views were spectacular:

 I don't have very many pictures of the wedding and reception as I was quite busy doing the bride's hair, videoing the wedding, and being the assistant to the photographer. Brett got a couple though. The wedding was held in a small Presbyterian church in Sausalito with the reception held at a classy restaurant a few miles away.

The lovely couple:

Blogger believes we should turn our heads to the right to view food:

Well folks, three posts later, that's about the entirety of the trip. We saw a movie that night then got up the next morning and headed straight to the Airport. All in all it was a grand trip to Cali-for-ni-a.

California- Saturday and Sunday day

We spent most of the rest of Saturday in San Jose and on Santana Row which is the shopping district in the city. We ate lunch at an Asian Fusion Restaurant called Straits.

 The Bride and Groom ordered for the table and we all got a taste of each dish family style. The food was soo good. I wish we had more restaurants like this in our area.

Afterward we did a little shopping. The H&M store is featured a lot in the TLC show "What Not to Wear" and I've always wanted to shop there. It was on Santana Row! Too bad I didn't have more time to try things on and all, stuff was cute and cheap!!

And of course, if there is an enormous warehouse style electronics store in the area, you know my husband will be there:

On Sunday we went to the famous Fisherman's Wharf.

And saw some break dancers:

And ate at a delicious restaurant (he he you can see Brett in the reflection) where we shared a Seared Ahi Tuna sandwich with a wasabi mayonnaise and sprouts. Wowee was it good, like sushi in a sandwich:

And took a boat around the bay:

It was very windy (win-dee not wine-dee):

And we went around Alcatraz:

No doubt about it, it was a blast.