Burial at Sea

For Christmas the boys received a Triops kit. A Triops is a Triassic creature that's related to the shrimp. Think Seamonkey. You put the eggs and the peat moss into distilled water and eventually the eggs hatch and you can watch your Triops grow. And grow they do. We thought that the kids might be into it, but we never guessed that Jorma and I would enjoy the Triops so. The growth rate is impressive, with a visable difference each day. Our Triops lived for about 6 weeks, after which Pippin began to take an interest in "fishing". Because the Triops lived in a bowl with no cover, it was pretty easy for Pippin to dip his paw into the bowl, which we believe brought the life of the Triops to an untimely end.

Instead of "sending the Triops to the hospital through the toliet" like we did with our last fish I decided that Connor was ready for his first experience with death. I told him that the Triops died and that we were going to have a burial at sea. It was about that time that I realized by the look on Connor's face that maybe I should have just flushed it and told Connor we were sending it to the ocean so it could be with it's friends. But it was too late. There was nothing left to do but continue. We put the Triops in the toliet and we all said something nice about the Triops. I said how much we enjoyed watching the Triops grow, Tristan said, "Triops!" and Connor said, "TRIOPS, I LOVE YOU!!!" and burst into tears.

I took pictures of the event, pictures I would have been happy to share with the internet had my toliet been in any condition for public viewing, (I'm just keepin it real). It wasn't. So you'll just have to take my word for it and look at the two pictures that I can post.

Here's how Connor felt about the Triops funeral.

Here's how Tristan felt about the Triops funeral.

May our Triops rest in peace.