All things AQUATIC!
[To your right, you may see an image that confuses you. Do not panic. This shiny jacket, flowing seaweed hair and tutu are only those of the chosen deity of the Aquatic Cousins- or AC2, at least- Lord Old Gregg.
Originating from The Mighty Boosh, AC2 and her bestie added the "Lord" to distinguish him as he rightfully is- a god among the universe. He did, after all, discover the Funk Shake for which we all must worship him. I anoint thee in Baileys in His name.]
Some of you may be wondering- and with good reason- why exactly we call ourselves The Aquatic Cousins when so far the only liquid that you've really heard mentioned has been Sophies/cases of Sophies (which you should still feel free to send us).
With that I give you: HORRIFYING PHOTOS! of our adventure into the sometimes terrifying and always wonderful world of SCUBA! (AC1 will thank me for this later, I'm sure).
About to dive into the deeps of Aquarena Springs 
Diving around
Hey look at us! We emerge from the waters! Triumphant!I don't know how many of you may have ever been to Aquarena Springs, but Aquatic Cousin 1 and I spent a fair amount of time there in our youth watching the mermaid shows and dreaming of the day that we would be old enough and glamorous enough to wear a bikini top and a fake tail, breathing out of a hose for 45 minutes in freezing water, pretending to drink out of a coke bottle and swimming through hoops for the amusement of the general public. . .which probably just included over-excited seven-year-olds such as ourselves, and creepy old men.
We fulfilled our dream in a somewhat twisted way (oh Fate, you trickster you!) by swimming through the now-defunct mermaid course, going through hoops covered in algae and recovering hair ties from the moss-covered Seat of Old Gregg- or the oversized clam shells the mermaids used to sit on. I used my surface time while AC1 was completing some of her dive tasks to wave my hot pink flippers at small children cruising by in the glass bottom boats, which made them shriek with joy and wave frantically back. MERMAID DREAMS PARTIALLY FULFILLED!
We looked much less glamorous in our scuba gear (even if our gear is pretty damn swanky. . .you just can't compete with fake mermaid tails, nor would I advise you to try) but at least the wet suits ensured we did not freeze to death. Of course we almost passed out walking in the million degree heat to the dive site wearing all of our gear, but that just made the water that much more refreshing!
Overall the Aquatic Cousins were excited to be open water diving certified as well as receiving our peak buoyancy certification, all courtesy of the infinitely patient instructor we liked to call Scuba Bob. He, unfortunately(?), has no idea that we called him that.
I now show everyone my scuba IDs (you apparently get a separate one for every single certification, which must be interesting if you're up to the level of being a rescue diver or something) solely because they feature different random sea life on the back. Apparently scuba certification means SCHOOL OF FISH! or REALLY BIG WHALE! to the people crafting these things. I don't ask questions, I just pull them out in bars going HEY LOOK AT THIS IT IS AWESOME.
We fulfilled our dream in a somewhat twisted way (oh Fate, you trickster you!) by swimming through the now-defunct mermaid course, going through hoops covered in algae and recovering hair ties from the moss-covered Seat of Old Gregg- or the oversized clam shells the mermaids used to sit on. I used my surface time while AC1 was completing some of her dive tasks to wave my hot pink flippers at small children cruising by in the glass bottom boats, which made them shriek with joy and wave frantically back. MERMAID DREAMS PARTIALLY FULFILLED!
We looked much less glamorous in our scuba gear (even if our gear is pretty damn swanky. . .you just can't compete with fake mermaid tails, nor would I advise you to try) but at least the wet suits ensured we did not freeze to death. Of course we almost passed out walking in the million degree heat to the dive site wearing all of our gear, but that just made the water that much more refreshing!
Overall the Aquatic Cousins were excited to be open water diving certified as well as receiving our peak buoyancy certification, all courtesy of the infinitely patient instructor we liked to call Scuba Bob. He, unfortunately(?), has no idea that we called him that.
I now show everyone my scuba IDs (you apparently get a separate one for every single certification, which must be interesting if you're up to the level of being a rescue diver or something) solely because they feature different random sea life on the back. Apparently scuba certification means SCHOOL OF FISH! or REALLY BIG WHALE! to the people crafting these things. I don't ask questions, I just pull them out in bars going HEY LOOK AT THIS IT IS AWESOME.
Anyway, perhaps I should go forth and work on my fieldwork notes (grad school how you plague me with woe) since I fell asleep sitting upright on my couch last night, missing catch-up time and also my scheduled fieldwork. Apparently staying up til 5am on Thursday night/Friday morning watching River Wild (with AC1 passed out next to me on the couch) was not the best of ideas?
-AC2
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