Watership Down

Goodreads recommended Watership Down to me, and since it was a book Cass brought to the marriage (doesn't that sound funny?), it was convenient to read. It tells the story of a few rabbits who choose to leave their warren because one of them, Fiver, has a premonition that something bad is going to happen. Though his vision isn't clear, he is trusted by a few rabbits. The book is basically about these rabbits and their journey to find, and make, a new home, as well as to bring some female rabbits into their warren so that they can procreate and make their arduous journey worth it. 

Some parts are pretty exciting, but other parts drag on and on.  Adams also uses a lot of made-up rabbit language, which you eventually get used to, but is kind of annoying.  I would have liked Watership Down  a whole lot more if it was about half as long. It was an okay book, but not great by any means. Three stars. 

The Chronicles of Narnia

After many years from whence I set my mind to it, I finally read The Chronicles of Narnia. It was very interesting to read these works that many have discussed and, actually, debated.  One of the main debates is which order to read them in: how Lewis wrote and published them, or in chronological order, as they are currently published. My copy has all seven in one, and I read them in the order the appeared in this compilation, chronologically. 

One of my reasons for wanted to read Narnia in the first place was because I'd heard it was like a children's bible; a way to present some of the stories and morals from the bible to young children. In fact, when I first read The Magician's Nephew a few years ago, I wrote a paper on it connecting it to Genesis's telling of the creation and the tale of Adam and Eve. It seems to me that Narnia certainly has many links to the bible, but not in an annoying way, more in a teach-your-child kind of way.

Lewis denied allegorical intent in his writing, instead stating that the aspects of Christianity he presented are merely "supposition"¹ and I find they're still a great series regardless of their Christian aspect. They're written for younger children, but enjoyable to all ages. I highly recommend this series (even though I didn't like the ending!): just read the books before the movies because they're very different, especially in the battles. Read on! 

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narnia_books  Yes, it's Wikipedia, but I'm quoting a cited source. I just don't know if it's 51 or 52! :) 

The Leviathan Trilogy: Leviathan, Behemoth, Goliath

In Scott Westerfeld's best work, the Leviathan Trilogy featuring Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath,we meet some great characters and go on an exciting adventure through alterna-history's WWI with both an Allied and an Axis perspective. The trilogy has elements of both steampunk and fantasy as well as threading in truths and actual people from history (Westerfeld includes an afterward correcting some of his alterna-history).  It was a lively exciting read that I highly recommend to any reader. I give it five stars. Westerfeld, you hit your mark with these works. Read on, my friends.

Water for Elephants

I first read Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants many, many moons ago. I love the idea 

of the old circus, the glamour and the sparkle and the majesty, even though I've never 

actually been to the circus! 

Once the movie came out, I meant to read Water for Elephants again to refresh my memory, but life got busy and books get packed (and moved and moved again) and other books get read instead and the movie was never seen. But it finally made it to the top of my pile! 

I enjoyed Water for Elephants as much the second time as I did the first. It encompasses the magic of the circus along with the devastation of The Great Depression.  It's a love story, love for a woman, an elephant, and the circus. It's a touching story with characters who come to life. I really felt like I knew the characters and I cared about what happened to them. 

The only thing I don't like about this novel is the bookending of the past by the present.

 Of course, I always say that about books like this. I don't feel the need for the small story

 of the present. I'm happy with the story of the past. It's enough for me. It's a great story 

and I think you'll like it too! Enjoy! 

The Living Planet Aquarium

Last Friday, we went to the Living Planet Aquarium.

We had a great time and I thought it was really neat!

cute napping otters!

I just really thought the otters were adorable. I wish I had gotten a better photo!

Nemo in his "ane-ma-nem-a-nee!"

upside down jellyfish!

it's alive! crazy!

the octopus has sensitive eyes, so I couldn't use flash. but it's such an interesting animal!

I told Cassidy, "I wish we were seahorses cuz then you'd carry the baby!"

Matthew petting the shark

Jordyn and Ammon with the shark

Jenn, Adam, and Dad

Rays are my favorite!

shark!!! aah!!!

fish face!

warrior face!

penguins! It was hard to get a good picture of them, too!

Penguins are tall!

Antelope Island

Last weekend, Cassidy got a scholarship to go to a conference about student affairs up at SLCC, so we jumped at the opportunity to head up north and get a quick visit in. The conference was Friday, so I got a sub for work and planned to have my mom come up to Salt Lake so we could play. Turns out, that was the day Jenn was flying back home from Louisiana and my mom already had plans to be in Salt Lake to pick her up. How convenient! 

Mom and Jordyn picked me up and we headed to the City Creek Mall. Despite the rain, we had a lovely time! 

We did some window shopping and had gyros for lunch before heading to the airport to get a very pregnant Jenn. While waiting, we saw some cute missionary homecomings as well as a marine meeting his baby for the first time. Tender! 

Saturday we went up to Antelope Island. Grandma Carma wanted to go after she found out that her great-great grandfather Briant Stringham was sent to Antelope Island to tend cattle. His father-in-law Fielding Garr was originally sent their by Brigham Young. There's a ranch on the island that was the Garr family ranch. The original house and other buildings are still there and open for the public. I had never been their before, so it was fun to see all the historical sites as well as the animals. 

Since I took so many pictures, I'll just let them show you our day! 

Dylan, Whitney, me, Cass, Pyper, and Morrell outside the Garr Ranch House

Dylan trying to rope a "cow"

 

Pyper "roping" hers! 

Cassidy roping Pyper

Pyper on the horse, trying to throw the rope

Pyper loved feeding the horses!

Cheese!

Pyper and the "buffalope"

Climbin' Rocks!

Cass and Morrell

I got so close the buffalo! er . . bison!

See?? Close! I was scared to get closer though

See all that white? Cass thought it was salt from the lake, but he went down and touched it, it was just foam! Salty, salty foam! 

After our fun, we got a late lunch, and then a much needed nap! All that fun and walking wore me out! 

Hong Kong: Ocean Park

On Monday we went to Ocean Park, an eclectic animal theme park. We chose to go to Ocean Park instead of Disneyland to get a more authentic Hong Kong experience (but next time, I totally want to go to Disneyland!). It's kind of like Lagoon with animals. Not like the sad animals at Lagoon, but they have their own habitats, so they're not just sitting in a hot metal or concrete enclosure. It was much more like seeing them in the wild, so it was really neat! They have lots of educational programs for kids at the local schools and have an established conservation foundation for the animals. 

The rides, as I said, were like Lagoon, so we didn't ride all of them. The roller coasters we rode were fun, though, and I went upside down! Yup, I can go on big kid rides now :) Also like Lagoon, you leave your bags near the exit, so I didn't get any pictures of us on rides, but these are some of the pictures we did get: 

James the Shark, one of the mascots.
He had no line so I felt bad for him!

Ocean Park has a cable car too!

Bungee Trampoline -- no tricks but still fun!

Godzilla!

Cass loves the red pandas! 

We got to see lots of other animals too. Of course, they have an aquarium with the cast of Finding Nemo, but they have all sorts of other sea-creatures: starfish, jellyfish, goldfish, manta rays, sharks, and more! We also saw giant pandas, red pandas, pygmy marmoset, and lots of birds! It was a really neat experience!