Gustav

Hurricane Gustav is currently about 36 hours from landfall somewhere in southern Lousiana. It passed over Cuba this evening as a category 4 storm and is expected to strengthen to a category 5 briefly before making landfall as a strong category 4. I boarded up the house today then Alice and I got things packed to evacuate at dawn tomorrow morning. Kathy and Linda are staying at our place tonight since it would have been nearly impossible to meet up with them in the morning due to the mandatory evacuations. Anyway, this doesn't look too good for New Orleans but hopefully it will shift enough to not hit us with the brunt of the storm.

Many, many bugs . . . yum!

Yesterday Mom & I took the kids to the new Audubon Insectarium, and it rocks. Viv loved it, I loved it, Mom loved it, and Gus . . . well, when he was alert and not soiled or hungry, I guess he probably loved it too. We were there 3.5 hours and it felt like half that amount of time.

Gus imitates a spittlebug, one of Vivi's favorites.


Out front.


We all dressed for the occasion. Mom wore fireflies, I had ladybugs on my collar and butterflies on my trunk. Viv wore her bug anatomy shirt with her ladybug Converse. And Gus wore a bug outfit too.


Giant roaches.



The fabulous former Plappy, Zack Lemmon, allows Viv to pet a hissing cockroach. Viv has petted so many weird things at the zoo and aquarium that she is fond of saying "two fingers" when she pets things. I think Zack was impressed.



Giant centipede and banana slug (a family favorite) in the Underground exhibit, which gives you a bug's eye perspective of life underground.



Main hall, filled with giant bugs on the walls, live bugs, fake bugs, and a lovely bug mural.


Can you imagine?


Oh yes I did. I ate everything they had made with bugs in it. Wax worm chutney, meal worm queso, fried crickets, cricket herb dip, and cricket fudge. I almost balked at the queso since the meal worms are so big and visible, but I rose to the occasion. The server said that most men try it but most women don't. I took that as a dare and had to step up to the ramekin for my gender. Nothing quite like implying that I can't do something to motivate me to prove otherwise. Vivi ate so many fried crickets that a man behind us asked her to save some for him.





Viv in the non-bug food cafe.


Vintage bug themed toys.


Viv on the alligator in the swamp gallery.


Eastern lubber grasshoppers, two different color phases.


Gorgeous mounted bug displays in the Hall of Fame gallery.










Hot pink Katydid. Not a great picture, I know, but they were so cool. We learned that katydids come in hues of pink and yellow, as well as green. In this cage there was a hot pink one, a lighter pink one, a yellow one, and a regular old green one. They are all the same species, and the color variations are genetic. Later in the day, Mom & I were going over all the cool things we saw, and we mentioned the pink katydids. Viv said, "don't forget yellow." Right on kiddo.


Butterflies and koi in the Butterflies in Flight gallery. This room was beautiful and looked like a Japanese garden.





So, the Audubon Insectarium gets three enthusiastic thumbs up and one ah-goo from us.

Donuts

Vivienne: Donuts...

Sprinkles...

Mommy likes donuts...

Vivi likes donuts...

Daddy likes donuts...

Curt: Actually, Daddy doesn't like donuts so much.

Vivienne: What's your problem Daddy?

Arabi playground

Yesterday we went to the playground in our neighborhood for the kids' adventure. The second picture is a close up of the snazzy bib Gus was wearing yesterday. My friend Sherry, who lives in Japan, sent Gus Japanese bibs as a gift. They are pointy, unlike domestic bibs, and I LOVE how this particular one says Brum Brum instead of Vroom Vroom. So killer.

Ducks and cute noises

On Tuesday, Mom & I took the kids to Torres park to feed the ducks. Viv always eats the ducks' bread. The inside pictures of Gus were later that afternoon, as is the video. I know it's not the greatest video, but his noises are so cute that I had to share.