Playfull Interludes

Lest anyone think we spent the whole day on election-day activities yesterday, I want to report a great discovery we made in our local area. Actually, it happened thanks to the election--our assigned polling place is a community center in a local park which we had never visited before. As I had already sent in my ballot by mail, we decided to drop Nathan off to go in and vote while the kids and I did some exploring. I had seen an intriguing sign on the way in pointing to a Marine Mammal Care Center, so we drove off in that direction. We found a modest little facility to house marine mammals found in trouble on local beaches. When we visited, the resident guests included two adorable baby fur seals, 6 or 7 sea lions, and one gigantic baby elephant seal. It was a wonderful discovery, and a nice complement to the fun little aquarium down the road from us. The kids want to go back today, so as soon as I get everyone dressed we're off to visit the seals. By the way, I had always heard of seals barking, and I suppose adult seals to. Baby seals, however, make a sound remarkably similar to the "ba-a-a" of a sheep. I kept looking around for something with wool!