Blogs

On Thursday evening, I was invited to the Turtle Back Zoo for a special blogger event to get a behind-the-scenes look at the zoo's new aquarium. Zoo Director Dr. Jeremy Goodman kicked off the evening by providing an overview of the construction project and the forthcoming exhibit. He then took groups on tours of the new facility and the zoo's animal hospital.

The aquarium is located within the building that had formerly been the monkey house. The monkeys themselves have been relocated to the South American exhibit. There are 5 tanks within the facility, including a main 900 gallon tank that is modeled after a coral reef. The tanks will offer a range of exhibits, such as a clown fish tank, a sea horse tank and a venomous fish tank. The building was retrofitted with an extensive pump and climate system to keep the water in each tank within a precise range of temperatures.

I was interviewed this week by Dave Pidgeon at Compass Points Media for their Backcountry Radio podcast. The topic was about hiking with kids and how your outdoor adventures change once your family includes little ones. Dave's a great guy and the interview was a fun time!

Check it out: http://compasspointsmedia.com/backcountry-radio-august-5-2010/

Outbound Family is pleased to announce that Chris D. in Long Valley NJ is the winner of the Garmin GPS in last month's contest! Chris mentioned that he would likely use the GPS for geocaching.

Congratulations, Chris!

The popularity of children's music has grown considerably in recent years. Entertainers like Laurie Berkner and Dan Zanes made successful careers out of getting kids to sing and dance along to catchy music. Established adult stars like Lisa Loeb have also gotten in on the act of producing kids music. The popularity of kids music has also been enhanced by television shows like Jack's Big Music Show and DVDs like Elmopalooza that feature music geared toward kids.

Among this trend, an entertainer with a green message has emerged. Rosie Emery's career has spanned over 20 years of creating kids music and edutainment programs that help children learn about the environment around them.

Rating 4.5 out of 5

I recently tested MyNature Tree Guide, the second iOS app from MyNature Inc. Version 1.0 of the Tree Guide was released in June and is overall a great first version with room for refinement.