The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

That's right ladies and gentlemen...it's Shark Week. Each night this week, my family will huddle up and learn all there is to know about shark attacks, the latest in shark research, and everything we can do to help with shark conservation...all compliments of the Discovery Channel. We're even lucky enough to have Discovery Channel in HD so the sharks are even bigger and more realistic than ever.

It's a little strange to watch Shark Week in the midwest. We usually find ourselves along the shores of the ocean during this time of the year, making Shark Week even more pertinent to our survival while on vacation.

Two vacations ago, we visited the Mote Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida - home of renowned shark scientist, Eugenie Clarke, one of my favorite scientists, ever. It was shark week while we visited the aquarium and it was good times.

I've even been lucky enough to get to see sharks in person - in other words, in their natural environment. A couple of years back while snorkeling in the Cayman Islands, we came upon a reef where a few nurse sharks lie sleeping in the early afternoon. It was a wonderful scene, looking down on the sharks seeing them the same way I would if I was showing a National Geographic video in my classroom.

This week, I get to see all the sharks I want every night. You'll understand if I don't answer your calls or respond to your texts, right?