Finding Deepo

Edmund Sees Eye to Eye with a Big Grouper

Last week Steven had to take some ridiculous test that is required of all 4th year medical students. It involves diagnosing a bunch of actors hamming up medical ailments. From what I hear, everyone passes unless he or she a. does not speak English proficiently enough to communicate with patients in the US or b. has no bedside manner whatsoever. As Steven has no problem with either of the above mentioned items, he essentially had to fork over an exorbitant amount of money for a test he has absolutely no chance of failing. What does this have to do with Edmund? The test is only offered in 5 cities across the country. Steven decided to take the test in Atlanta, so Edmund and I came along for the ride.

You really don't want to hear about what Edmund and I did while Steven had his 8 hour exam on Friday. Just imagine being cooped up with a 20 month old child in a hotel room on a cold, rainy day. You fill in the blanks. OK so it wasn't that bad. Edmund is surprisingly resourceful and spent most of the day figuring out what sort of objects he could stick in the hotel room safe. If only such antics could amuse his mother for such a lengthy amount of time.

Saturday we got up bright and early for the main attraction--the Atlanta Aquarium. Steven's cousin Karen, who lives in Atlanta, joined us as she had never been. The first animals Edmund encountered were a bunch of penguins in the main rotunda. Edmund had a blast watching them slip and slide over the ice. After he tired of the penguins, we made our way to the River Scout section. Before we entered we came to a pool which houses rays and a small species of shark. Visitors are encouraged to touch the animals using the two finger stroke. I was itching to touch the animals. I was only able to get close enough to touch a ray as the sharks swam much deeper in the pool. Steven passed, but Karen dove in. Edmund was more than happy to get his arm wet, but he shuddered at the thought of touching these unknown creatures. A few feet away we came to another touch pool. This time we were able to touch horseshoe crabs, starfish, and some kind of anemone. Edmund was a little more willing to get out his two fingers this time and proudly touched a starfish. Near this pool was a remarkable children's playground. Edmund was still a little young, as it was quite a large structure full of tunnels. Edmund loves tunnels, but his inability to crawl definitely gets in the way of his going through the smaller ones. However, he did enjoy his time as captain of a ship in the play area. Where there are noisy buttons to be pushed, you can bet Edmund will be nearby.

We then walked through the rest of the aquarium sections. Edmund's favorite part was looking at fish through a crawl space just his size. I had to crawl to get through, but Edmund was able to clear the area while standing. Edmund also got to see real alligators. They figure into his favorite line in the second verse of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." The line is "if you see an alligator, don't forget to scream ahhh!" I'm not sure Edmund had ever seen an alligator in a picture, so now he knows what we are screaming, I mean, singing about.

When we walked out of one of the aquarium sections we spied a lifesize Deepo walking around. Deepo is the aquarium's mascot. I liken him to a very cheap knock-off of Disney's Nemo. We stood in a very short line to shake hands with Deepo. Edmund wasn't quite sure. I'm sure he was even more unsure when Deepo patted my head and gave my neck a rather prolonged squeeze. Deepo was still trying to shake hands with Edmund when his handler told Deepo it was time to go elsewhere. Edmund breathed a sigh of relief.

We had a great time at the aquarium. It is the biggest aquarium in the world, though I'm sure I've been to bigger. While researching for this post...Can you believe I did research? I'm sure some of you can...I found that it is the biggest because it has the largest amount of water of any aquarium in the world. Aren't you glad we've cleared that up? So even though the aquarium is the "biggest" it didn't take too long to see everything. We arrived early enough that Edmund was able to get up close and personal with most of the fish, and we were able to see everything before noon. It's a good thing too, as the aquarium was packed by the time we got to the last exhibit. I'm afraid this meant Edmund didn't get to get a good look at the Nemo (clown) fish. But hey, he got to meet Deepo!

That afternoon we went to stay with Steven's other Atlanta cousin, Amy, and her husband Aaron. They were gracious enough to let us spend the night in their lovely home. Their dog Ty, was also a trooper, especially since he had to be put away for most of our stay. Edmund loves dogs, but he is a little intimidated by big dogs. Sorry about that Ty. That evening we all went out for dinner. Karen joined us again. We had a wonderful time catching up. It was great to hear what everyone is up to, as we often miss certain cousins at the beach and Christmas. While at dinner Edmund perfected what we now call the "nenu" (dinner) dance. Any time music plays in a restaurant Edmund does the silliest dance. Unfortunately we don't have evidence of the "nenu" dance yet, but hopefully soon. We'll have to remember to grab the camera before we head out to eat next time.

So although the trip to Atlanta was a waste of money due to the absurd test, it was definitely a good time. And if any of you happen to find Deepo, tell him "hi" from the Pattishalls.