Shark Week at SEA LIFE Aquarium!

This week we were invited to check out SEA LIFE Aquarium at the Legoland Resort in Carlsbad, CA!

We were so excited because we had never been there and we love aquariums!

In honor of Shark Week on Discovery Channel, 

we took a special behind-the-scenes tour with the shark trainers at SEA LIFE!

They taught us all about what the sharks eat, and how they train them to behave!

SEA LIFE Aquarium is home to more than 50 sharks including zebra sharks, black tips,

white tips, grey reef sharks, white spotted bamboo sharks and Port Jackson sharks.

We also got to meet with Nicole Nasby Lucas, a marine biologist and great white shark expert!

Her presentation featured some of the 150 great white sharks she has photographed.

She is part of a team who tags the great whites to study their migratory patterns.

Great white sharks are at the top of the ocean food chain and help keep everything in balance.

We also loved wandering around the aquarium and seeing lots of our favorite sea creatures.

My daughter and I love the seahorses. 

It's so sweet how they curl their tails around each other,

like they were holding hands.

 

The giant crab exhibit is way cool!

They are amazing to watch!

Come check it out before it leaves at the end of 2013!

Thanks SEA LIFE!

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and we can't wait to come again

to visit our ocean friends!

SEA LIFE Aquarium is open daily!

Check out their website for more info and ticket prices!

Wow Me Wednesday #108

Welcome to the party!!

It's my favorite day of the week,

and I'm so excited to see all your fun projects!!

Grab the WOW button,

check out other entries that catch your eye,

and leave a little crafty comment love along the way!!

Ready, set, GO!!

<br /><a href="http://polkadotsonparade.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc405/laderalady/JaimeButtonWOW.jpg" border="0" />

Kraft Recipe Makers: Easy Meals for Dinner Tonight!

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.

The best family meals are easy meals!

With Kraft Recipe Makers, you can answer that tough question, 

"What to make for dinner tonight?"

I firmly believe that you shouldn't spend more time 

preparing your meal than you do eating it!

(With the exception of Thanksgiving of course.)

I love the new Kraft Recipe Makers, with their sauces and seasonings 

all put together so all I do is add a few simple things and presto!

Ready-made meals!

  

I put my roast in the crock pot and set it for 8 hours!

It was so great to think that when we got home from church,

we would have dinner ready!

Pour the tangy sauce all over your meat and cover it up!

It smelled so mouthwatering all day;

we couldn't wait to eat it!

When the meat came out, it was so tender and juicy!

I added the sauce packet and couldn't resist

taking a little taste before I fed it to my family!

SO GOOD!!

And bonus, there are other recipes you can make with this box.

Just open up the box and check it out!

This was the best easy meal to feed my family; they all loved it!

It would be great for any season and would taste great hot or cold!

Check out my shopping experience for Kraft Recipe Makers HERE!

#kraftrecipemakers

Mexican Chef Salad!

When my sisters and I were growing up, we had a very experimental chef for a mom.

She was always trying to make healthy meals that tasted good.

As you can imagine, some worked...and some didn't.

But this little gem was unanimously our favorite!

This tasty little salad is especially great in the summer,

when you want Mexican food, but it's hot!

Start with browning your meat.

I use ground turkey.

It's healthier and I need to save my calories for ice cream.

And lots of chocolate.

Anyway, season your meat to taste.

Can you tell we eat a lot of tacos?

We only buy taco seasoning in bulk.

While your meat is cooling in the fridge,

chop up some lettuce and tomatoes.

Whichever kind you like.

Now here's the key to all the tastiness.

Fritos and French.

Dressing that is.

I like Wish-Bone but I suppose another brand might work. 

But Fritos are a must.

Mix everything together with enough dressing to taste.

I dare you not to like it.

I haven't met anyone yet who doesn't!

I like to eat it fresh, but my husband even likes it the next day soggy.

He's funny, but he eats leftovers so I love him.

A LOT.

Here's the recipe, enjoy!

Mexican Chef Salad

1-2 lbs ground meat

Taco Seasoning

1 head of lettuce

4 tomatoes

1 bag of Fritos

French dressing

2 cups grated cheese

1 can kidney or black beans

Painting with Pachyderms at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey!

Today we had the extraordinary opportunity to Paint With Pachyderms

at the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus!

We were greeted by our favorite clowns, always ready to share a smile!

Ashley Vargas, circus hostess extraordinaire, welcomed us to the event

and explained to us what we would get to do today!

Mabel and Baby, two of the talented Asian elephants from the show

came skipping out to paint with us!

We watched as these amazing animals painted a rainbow of colors onto their canvas!

We learned that they can pick up anything from a huge log to a tiny dime,

so holding onto a paintbrush is not a problem!

Then it was our turn to make our own masterpieces!

Jeremy painted a tiger elephant, and Kelsey created a rainbow rock.

It was so fun to have our clown friends there to paint along with us!

We enjoyed coming to the circus for an up-close and personal experience

with the amazing Asian elephants and their circus friends!

Thank you Ringling Bros!!

Here are some interesting facts we learned about the Ringling Bros. animals:

• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey has more than 138 years of experience working with and caring for exotic and domestic animals.
• The animals are fed fresh food which is shipped directly to the the arena from local sources.
• Ringling Bros provides around-the-clock security for their animals - protection from other animals, natural predators, public harassment, vandalism and trespassers.
• The relationship between the humans and animals that perform with Ringling Bros. is built on mutual respect and trust. Training methods are based on reward and repetition. Verbal or physical mistreatment is prohibited.
• All animal enclosures were specially designed by the Ringling Bros. staff to meet the unique needs of each individual species.
• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey joined other conservation-minded organizations, such as World Wildlife Fund, The Sierra Club and Wildlife Preservation Trust International, to oversee support and enactment of the Asian Elephant Conservation Act. Ringling Bros. is committed to and supports efforts with international conservation community and the United States Congress to continue funding for Asian elephant conservation.
• The Asian elephant is in grave danger of extinction. Because of the care they receive, elephants in captivity live healthier and safer lives than their counterparts in the wild.
• The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation in Central Florida is a research, reproduction and retirement facility dedicated to the preservation of the Asian elephant.

For more info check out their websites!

www.feldentertainment.com

www.elephantcenter.com

www.Ringling.com

*We were invited to this special event by Feld Entertainment. All opinions are our own!