Dinosaur Park

We spent the afternoon at Dinosaur Park on Mother's Day. What a great adventure for us. We went with my sister Marilyse, her husband Ben and their 5 year old Sam. It was a lot of fun!

For Christmas, Nana & Papa bought Triston a package of Triops to grow. Here are some pictures of ours so far, and some information below on what they are. The kids are totally fascinated with these little creatures.

The tadpole shrimp (scientific name = Triops longicaudatus, which are in the order Notostraca in the class Branchiopoda) inhabits freshwater, ephemeral ponds ranging from 50ºN latitude in western North America through Central America and into South America. In the U.S., Triops are found in desert habitats (see Figure 1). They live in small pools that accumulate after flash floods in the summer. Since these pools are rather short-lived, the Triops consequently have short lifespans, completing their life cycles in a mere 20-40 days!


Populations of Triops comprise males and hermaphrodites, with wide variation in the numbers of both sexual types. Most populations have many more hermaphrodites than males, and in some ponds, no males are found at all. The hermaphrodites can fertilize their own eggs (called "selfing"), or can mate with a male. The fertilized eggs are called "cysts" or "resting eggs," and can be dried for several years to decades before being hatching when rehydrated. In this cyst form, Triops can withstand extremes of heat and cold. (This is why they can be sold in plastic bags in novelty stores!) The eggs are carried by the hermaphrodites in small "brood pouches" located on two of their swimming appendages (about half-way down the length of the body, on the left and right sides). The eggs are either white or pinkish in color, and are carried in these pouches for between 12 and 24 hours before being laid in the ponds. (Note: some of the Triops actually cement their eggs on various structures (e.g., twigs, grass, etc.) in their ponds. If you drape something like a plastic or fiberglass mesh (like a small bit of a window screen) over the side of those small plastic containers that are included with kit, you might get the hermaphrodites to lay their eggs on the screen!)

Triops

Here comes Santa Claus

Picnic in December - Mack Park

Grandma Lind's House November 2008

Update

Hello all. It's been a while since I've updated our blog. Nothing has changed much since I last wrote. Life is very routine for us. Monday-Friday, get up, drop off the kids at daycare, go to work, pick up the kids, eat dinner, read scriptures and go to bed. On the weekends we relax with no routines. I am usually cleaning and doing laundry on most weekends since I'm not able to do it much during the week.

Kurt is really busy with school so we don't see him much. He spends most evenings up at the Studio working on his projects. Fortunately he only has about a year and a half left. This summer he'll be doing his internship. We aren't sure where yet. He'll start applying in a month or two. Hopefully he'll find a place that will want him to come back after he graduates. He's an excellent designer and a great student. We love him and miss him a lot when he's up at school. I imagine he'll be pretty busy as an interior designer as well once he gets into his career, so we're getting used to that idea now.

That's all for now folks!

Triston learns to ride a bike!

Yellowstone National Park