A Wandering WeyrCat...

I chaperoned a student research trip in Croatia with Operation Wallacea !  J and I took eight DP1 students (11th grade) to Croatia for two weeks. Over these two weeks, students would participate in research projects, providing baseline population data for organisms outside Krka National Park and in the No Take (fish) Zone around Silba Island.  First week is in the Krka National Park! Day 1 Schiphol to Spit *The Flight went well, students were great. Short flight: just two hours from Amsterdam.  *We didn't find the gift shop until too late! The Spit Airport has no tchotchky shops. How un-American. (This became an inside joke as students looks for souvenirs.) * Road trip! We drove two hours through chaparral with limestone buildings and walls. It felt like Spain and Arizona had a baby.  * Operation Wallace hostel near Krka National Park! Crew is very friendly. Hostel is bare concrete but comfortable. It is very hot (35⁰C)...

Today we took the kids to the Hague to visit the Sea Life Aquarium. It's a bit of a trip from Amstelveen, on public transit, but our Amsterdam aquarium has been closed for repair the whole time we've lived here. And our Tante Barb is in town, so, we went.  We got there just in time for the Shark and Ray feeding, and the boys got a nice seat next to a sleepy spotted dogfish cuddled up behind a cannon!  The very next room is for kids, with coloring tables and a cool projected aquarium to turn your drawing into a swimming fish! I do kinda wish these rooms weren't at the beginning of the attraction, because it's always pulling teeth getting kids out of these places. BUT it did have a machine for us to get caffeine.  The caiman wasn't out (sad pout) but the kids liked the Amazon room. The Piranha tank had thick while mist rolling off it and the opposite wall had a beautiful 4 foot high waterfall. It was cool.  ...

Het Amsterdamzse Bos literally means The Amsterdam Forest (though most of it is on Amstelveen). It is a National Forest , built in the 1930s by an unemployment relief project started after the Great War. The last tree was planted in the 1970s. It's three times the size of Central Park in New York City, and contains small animal parks, playgrounds, sport clubs, memorials, and an outdoor theater!  29 May 2023 - Tree Treasure Hunt for Biodiversity Week We signed up to walk the Experience Path with a guide. He gave us Boxes to collect tree treasures! He showed us leaves of all different shapes and we collected as many different shapes as we could! Then, like squirrels, we scampered across fallen logs! We stopped to listen to the birds. Trees are home and food for birds. We picked up sticks that would help us build good nests.  We found bushes covered in caterpillar silk!  Some caterpillars hung out by themselves,...