Non stop fun weekend...I'm still tired.

So, this weekend was filled with fun and excitment, at least if you are nerd family like us.  So, I'm guessing, since you are reading this, you probably are.  First off, this weekend was the 37th annual Scienc Fiction Movie Marathon at Case Western Reserve University.  Wow, that's a mouthful of typing. My first marathon was #25, if that tells you how old I am getting.  I haven't missed a marathon yet, but I had to leave a few and had to miss some movies here and there (having a baby and once I had a job interview and once I had to take the shig home because he had the stomach flu).  This was Ryan's 17th marathon.  That's impressive. 

Anyway, I didn't go to the whole marathon this year, I have been having bad tummy troubles with this baby so I stayed home with Asher on Friday and went all day Saturday.  The marathon was great and I had a lot of fun.  The parking situation was about a mile away from the auditorium this year but...the weather was actually okay this year (for the first time in years this wasn't the coldest weekend of the year) and so the walk wasn't too bad.  But, due to the walk, no one left for food this year, and that was different but not bad. 

Also, I ate a fruit leather that technically didn't expire until 2043, although all the rest in the package expired next year.  I think that it's a sign.  What, you don't believe me?  Here's your proof:

Yeah, that's what I thought! 

So, we had a good time with that.  I am excited for the day when Asher is old enough to go with us.  I hope he likes it and doesn't think it's lame.  I mean, he probably will when he's a teenager, because all teenagers think the stuff their parents like is lame, but what can you do?

Due to a little bit of guilt and a whole lot of excitement over having gotten season passes from the inlaws for Christmas we decided we would go to the new Greater Cleveland Aquarium on Sunday.  

We were aiming to get there right at 10 when they opened since this would be only the second day they had been open ever, and we figured they'd be packed.  But...we forgot about little gym, which starts at 9:15 am.  So, we got to little gym in just the nick of time.  It was Asher's mid year showcase where pretty much everyone comes and the room is super packed with people who don't always come to class and they do a refresher course of all of the stuff they have learned so far this year.  Here's some photos of Asher doing his professional level bear crawls.  I think they are his favorite thing to do at little gym.  

After little gym and a minor melt down about leaving little gym we got on our way to the Aquarium.  It's a little difficult to find since the bridge that google maps told us to take had a road closed sign on it and we had to go the long way around but...we found it.  I think it sucks you have to pay $5 for parking even if you have a season pass.  That is a bit of a deterrent...you should at least get a parking discount...

It's in the old Powerhouse, which is a pretty cool building on it's own.  Theyd did a really cool job of transforming it into an aquarium, I mean, before it was an all male review, which can be classy as well, but I don't know that you'd want that many toddlers in the all male review. 

I want you to keep in mind, I would have lost my child if I had tried to take photos there, so all the pics I'm posting are from the Cleveland Insider's website.  Thanks guys!  Really, I think everyone should go and see it, though I'd suggest waiting a little while so that the masses can move through and you can enjoy it at your leisure.  It's hard to take things in pace when there are a million people everywhere kind of pushing the pace for you.  So, just my highlights...

I really liked the accordian guy who seemed to hang out in the arched tunnels (Which were super cool but kinda creepy at the same time) and the costal room.  Here's a photo of the coastal room:

Although when we were there there was only one girl and she was overwhelmed and didn't have time to really educate people on what animals she was putting in the boxes for us to touch (those yellow ones).  The lady beside me picked up a sea cucumber, took it out of the water and squeezed the bejezus out of it, so that water squirted out of both ends.  I told her that that was a living creature and she freaked out and put it back.

They also had a big section dedicated to local fish, rivers, streams, Lake Erie, it was pretty cool.  A lot of the aquarium wasn't finished yet, though, with missing fish, plants, plaques telling you about the fish, that kind of stuff.  But I can only expect it will get better. 

The last part of the aquarium is the huge walk underneath it shark tank.  Here's a photo, once again, not mine.

It was pretty cool but it made me a little dizzy, maybe the length combined with the amount of people there?  I don't know...Still, pretty cool. 

This is a smaller aquarium than some of the other ones that I've been to, but it's a good aquarium and I hope that it does well here.  I know we will go back again.  :)