Adventure! Tulsa Zoo

For my 25th birthday in June, I decided I needed to go to the zoo. I haven't been to a zoo in a couple years, so it was a blast. My dad also gave me his Nikon D80 as a birthday present, so I got to play Pixi-Box Pirate again. Here are the results...

The first grr-animal of the day... She was bright enough to be one!

The big marble globe. It spins in water, so it can get a little tough
to stop. Quala and Cowboy were giving it their best shot!

It was a very, very warm day. Even the bears didn't want any part of it.

Just think... I'm going to go diving in a lake that's home to some
of these in mid-July...

They stopped to feed the turtles.

Sister got tired.

This guy was all over the place! Finally tired out, though, and
I was able to get a shot.

And this guy didn't care how hot it was. He was having a blast.

Climbing some stuff. There were some little kids grabbing on
to Erin to try and climb her up... That didn't work.

 

"Stop taking pictures of me, I'm trying to sleep!"

Baby flamingo! He was very cute, although the noise he made was not.

It was feeding time, so we stopped and chilled here for a while.
Giraffe tongues are hilarious!!

And Emperor Penguins are apparently HUGE!

Meerkats were done with the heat as well.

Lunchtime for all the animals, I guess. This ugly guy was carrying
around a dead lizard.

And this one, probably my favorite animal at the zoo, got a pretty
awesome salad.

BOk employees at the BOk pavilion!

And we can't go to the zoo without seeing the Elephants.

I had a wonderful time! Friends from work, friends from other parts of the state, and family, all hanging out, getting rained upon, staring at animals, and then joining up at Ted's for a very, very big lunch. It was a good day.

Skyrim - Larien goes to Windhelm ((Update before posting))

Nope. Not going to do it. This shouting thing might come in handy in a pinch, but I am NOT their precious Dragonborn. I am an elf, and a rather small and unimportant one at that. I am not a Nord, I don't worship Talos, I don't think mead is the greatest thing ever, and I don't like an all-out brawl. I hate the cold and I hate dragons and I just want to go home. The greybeards tried to tell me that I am Dragonborn and they told me that I can "shout" because there is dragon blood in my veins. They trained me some and now they want me to go down into yet another draugr-hole and get an old horn for them. I don't understand why I should. Maybe the whole thing will fade if I just don't use it... Balgruf said to take his axe to Ulfric in Windhelm, to see if there can be peace between Windhelm and Whiterun. This might get me something to take back to the general. Stick to the original plan: Use the Legion to go home. Just leave all this dragon nonsense to the Nords.

What a depressing town! No wonder the Stormcloaks are losing, if this is where the center of their cause lies. I'm a little hesitant to walk up to Ulfric, so I'm going to look around some. Someone said there was a kid trying to perform the Black Sacrament. Who would a child want to kill, I wonder?

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(What have you been doing with your life?)

Caribbean Vacation Part 2 - Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras

Welcome back to my Caribbean adventures! Last week was all about the trip to Galveston and the ship, the Carnival Magic. This week you'll get to see the first port, which was Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, in Honduras. We actually went to Maya Key, which is a sort of sanctuary for rescued animals. Jaguars, parrots, monkeys, and even a puma. Maya Key also offers some entertainment for tourists by way of snorkeling, beach-y goodness, food, drink, and pool.

As a heads-up, there may be a second part to this post with some video my wonderful father got with his GoPro while snorkeling.

Also, if you visit, look out for the tiny black fish at the end of the dock where you get in the water to snorkel. He will bite the crap out of you! I actually have a little fish-mouth-shaped mark on the back of my leg from the little jerk.

 My first views of Mahogany Bay from the ship.

 Obligatory tourist shots with the big, pretty sign.

 This got me... This is a jade plant. We have this in Oklahoma, but it is primarily a house plant. Very pretty in windows, but it doesn't do so well outside. It's tropical, you see... Well, so is Honduras. These were everywhere, and it was rare that one was shorter than me. They are TREES!

 One of the street performers in the port.

 

Hanging out with some animals. Me and Dad, both holding a very vain macaw-on-a-stick, an anxious monkey, and a blind, albino crocodile. The crocodile was a lot warmer and squishier than I thought he'd be.

 

 I got really, really excited about a couple things. The first was that I saw a dolphin in Galveston. It's the first wild dolphin I've ever seen. The second is that I saw an actual coconut tree. With coconuts in it. One of them fell down and I got a picture of it, too.

 Some of the rescues I mentioned. The macaw at the top is pretty amazing. He also loved cameras.

Toucan and Jaguar. The jaguar had a worn path where he paced that same spot constantly.

The wild hermit crab. I almost stepped on him as he went scuttling across the path. And the puma, or in Oklahoma, the mount'n line.

 Our last look at Maya Key as we headed back to the port.

 One of Dad's favorite pictures. Our ship's smokestack through the foliage.

 And more obligatory tourist shots with the big boots and bird. Josh is a friendly pirate who loves guns. I am a friendly pirate who hates birds. Dad is an unfriendly pirate who hates people.

And that wraps up Mahogany Bay! Next week, on Clothing-Cooking-Computer Geekery, we see the beautiful land of Belize! Zip-lining, cave tubing, and more awesome plants!

Caribbean Vacation Part 1 - The Carnival Magic

So I just got back from the most amazing vacation ever! This one topped my trip to Europe when I was 15 (mostly because I could enjoy some of the more adult activities this time), and I can't wait to throw my pictures all over the internet!

It was an 8 hour drive to get down to Galveston, Texas, where our ship was docked. We went down the weekend that all the bluebells were going insane, so I got some great shots of those. Today's pictures are going to be from the journey to the port and the 3 sea days.

 

The four above were both at stops we made in Texas to stretch our legs. Why can't resting places in Oklahoma be that nice?!

 

Having some fun in Galveston before crashing in the hotel room.

 

On the left is the first view I got of the Magic. On the right is the shot of the whale-tail smokestack.

 

Fun about the boat. Josh and I on the deck, my Jamaica Sunrise, and Josh singing some Foo Fighters for karaoke.

  

Various shots around the ship.

Top Left: The water. I could not get over the water. Expect a post on just the water.

Top Right: Our partial sunset. We tried so hard to catch one but kept missing it!

Middle Left: Front of the ship. It was blocked off due to wind most of the trip.

Middle Right: Lifesaver! Not sure why it says Panama, since the Magic is out of Italy.

Bottom Left: The stair mechanism for cleaning the windows. I believe we're on Deck 11.

Bottom Right: The Theater. The curtain was amazing!!

 

I cheated on this one... We were actually in Honduras for this shot, but since it is a shot of the boat, I figured it could go here.

Stay tuned, kids! Next week we adventure in Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras! Snorkling, fish bites, and wild hermit crabs!