New Pet

We were driving home on the afternoon of September 7th when Emily told me that she wanted a pet.  When I asked what kind of pet she wanted, she said a cat.  I explained that we couldn't have a cat because of allergies in the family and that our family wouldn't ever be able to come and visit to which she replied, "well, then I better think of a different pet."  So, her next suggestion was a fish.  And well, that evening, we went as a family to the pet store.

When we first arrived, Emily checked out all of the fun things that you can buy for a fish tank...

before explaining our "needs" to the employee.

 One by one we searched out everything we needed for the perfect tank.

Like gravel!

 Then Emily checked to make sure we didn't forget anything...

before we went over to see the doggies being groomed...

and visit the kitties.

 The next morning, both kids were eager to investigate and get started on assembling the tank.

 Emily took it so seriously that she wanted to check if King Triton was "level."

And Everett took it so seriously that he felt the project required boots.

We removed everything from it's packaging,

rinsed it all out,

poured in the gravel,

filled the tank a little,

carefully placed the plants and King Triton,

(Everett couldn't do that so he made sure the step ladder was secure.)

and put it in it's special spot in our family room.

The next day, Sunday, we went to a different pet store to pick out some fish.

Emily had a good look around...

 (as did Everett)

before we selected our fish and had a lady help us get them out of their tanks.

(Emily watched very closely...

 especially during the hunt for the "super fast" algae eater.)

Before leaving, we met a baby conure.

 Emily declined the offer to have him sit on her shoulder so I offered mine.

 Emily didn't really want to kiss him either but Everett was all about it.

He also allowed the birdie to sit on his shoulder...

before retreating to the top of the stroller...

and giving one last kiss good bye.  (At which time, Emily pet the conure.)

It was a little difficult to wait to fully put the fish in the tank and both kids watched them as they swam around in their bags (which were floating in the tank).

Emily didn't just watch though.  She also helped slowly mix in some tank water for the fish to get used to it.

And when the time came, she helped put her Molly in the tank...

turned on the light,

and gave them a snack.

You can see all of the fish in the picture below.  The bright orange Molly, the (5) pretty blue Neon Tetras, and if you look closely under King Triton's trident, you will see the algae eater.

Emily totally ADORES these fish.  She talked about them constantly the first couple of days and still checks on them first thing in the morning and turns their light off and says good night before bed.  The Molly is the only one with a steadfast name - Strawberry Shortcake.  We lost two Tetras in the first couple of days but that wasn't too surprising (and we got our $2 back, haha).

The tank has been more work than I was expecting!  I had one in my classroom (Daddy is getting tired of hearing this) that I did NOTHING to!  But, I didn't have an overly excited 4 year old feeding those fish either.  Between the overfeeding and the fact that we didn't have the tank "cycle" without fish for a week (Can you imagine?  There is NO way we could have stayed sane with Emily asking to put fish in her fully functioning empty tank for a week!) we have had a few days of pretty stressed fish!  But, we have cut back on the feeding allowance and cleaned it all out last night.  Now we have happy fish again!