What a poser!!!!
Last year, my very awesome birthday gift from Eric were two stuffed animal penguins--promptly named Roger (the little one) and Perry (the big one)--bearing a letter from the penguins at the Newport Aquarium. This letter kindly requested that Eric bring me to the aquarium to visit the penguins sometime very soon. It also informed me that Roger and Perry were staying with us, but wouldn't mind visiting either.
Sweet, thoughtful, funny, unique...in other words, a truly amazing gift, right?
RIGHT!!!!!
It took us nearly a full year to visit the penguins, but this past Thursday, we both took the morning off from work and made the trip to the Newport Aquarium. Our thinking was that on a weekday and early in the morning, there would be fewer people there. And we were wrong. But once we dashed past the massive cluster of people in the first two display rooms of the aquarium, we managed to avoid the worst of the scrambling, screeching children and tottering parents and grandparents. Phew! After going through the entire aquarium, lingering awhile at the newly remodeled penguin exhibit (with four different types of penguins and Inca terns) and at the giant shark tank (Eric's favorite and one of the more frightening exhibits to me), we still had a little bit of time before we were scheduled to meet for the Penguin Encounter, when we would actually get up close and personal (well, touch and watch closely) some penguins! I'd also like to note that Eric took far too much delight in trying to make me stand on the transparent floors above fish tanks (both tanks with this terrifying feature had either gators or sharks...eek!). I'd walk across them....but as quickly as possible. I loved how excited Eric was while watching the sharks, though. He's just adorable when he's excited, like a little kid on Christmas morning.
Finally, the penguin keepers came out to get the group of us who had paid the extra money to participate in the penguin encounter. We walked "behind the scenes" past the giant shark tank that Eric so loved; this tank is enormous and behind the scenes, it's entirely open across the top of the tank. Even with protective rails and staying a cautious few feet back from the tank, I still felt more than a little afraid of those sharks. (Side note: I am not someone who loves fish, sea creatures, or being in the water. Actually, I'm downright terrified of being in bodies of water other than chlorinated swimming pools and I hate, hate, hate fishies. But I love penguins. So I tolerated the rest of the aquarium, much of which I enjoyed....except for those horrifying sharks...)
Our group was herded into a glass-walled room containing about 8 South African penguins. They stood no taller than my knee and each wore a different colored band around one of its upper flippers. We were asked to sit on the benches along two of the walls of the room and to please not pet the penguins until we were specifically told. Okay, no problem here, I do not want to upset the dear pengys! I immediately became a paparazzi, snapping photo after photo (flash off!) of the penguins. Meanwhile, the penguin keepers were chatting, telling us the penguins' names and characteristics, how they'd been hand raised (and therefore believed one keeper was their "mama"), how they were transported to and from the room, and why the room stank of penguin poo (it was everywhere, and that's just how these penguins treat their homes. hmm..) Finally one of the keepers cajoled two penguins over to our area and told us we could pet her--two fingers together, stroking with the feathers. Apparently two fingers is roughly the size of a penguin beak, so it was not upsetting to the penguin. Hmm, fun fact.
Our little penguin friends were waddling around and underneath our legs, nipping at our bench neighbor's shoelaces, and being adorable. We both petted her and she was rather soft and sleek, though you could certainly tell it was feathers and not fur. The keeper led the penguin away to the other bench of visitors and we watched the other penguins waddle around. Or one penguins laid on her tummy on some rocks and puffed out. Maybe she was napping?
The keeper eventually brought our penguin friends back and we recommended petting while they danced around our legs. They started to fight a bit with each other, which the keeper explained was fighting between siblings for who was allowed to do something first. hehe, silly penguins! I suppose the inter-sibling rivalry increased their feistiness, because one of the penguins began nipping at Eric's exposed toes, then turned to try to eat my sandal! Ah! The bites didn't hurt, especially in comparison to Fonz's chomps, but felt more link a pinch.
Lastly, the keepers wheeled a fake rock formation in front of each group of visitors, so we could get a picture with a penguin perched on top of the rock with us. Both photos taken of us are slightly blurry, but I think you can see how excited and happy we both were with our penguin encounter!
If only I'd managed to convince some penguins to get inside my purse....then I'd have some penguin friends living with me!
I did purchase a new stuffed animal penguin friend, a rockhopper penguin we christened Otto von Penguin. His hair is crazy, just like mine. And he's living in my apartment, while Roger and Perry continue to live in Eric's apartment.
With such a fun morning, neither Eric nor I wanted to go to work. We had lunch at Claddagh Bar and Grill (my first visit there), then adventured to the Harley Davidson store here in Cincinnati, where we wandered around for quite some time. Eric purchased my birthday gift for this year (in addition to the fancy dinner date I requested as my gift) -- a black HD tank top. hehe! Surprisingly, it is difficult to find HD gear for women without rhinestones or glitter. I wouldn't have imagined that, but it's true.
Eventually we had to leave each other and go back to our dull jobs, where there weren't any penguins to watch and play with. I have to admit, the rest of the day was kinda a drag. All I could think about was how awesome meeting penguins was and how wonderful Eric is. <3 I know I'm truly lucky to be with him. And I can't thank him enough for this experience!
