Riverhead Aquarium - A Whale of a Time

 Hi Readers,

            Today I am going to briefly recount my trip to the Riverhead Aquarium.

Typically, my uncle Rudolph from Florida enjoys a yearly sojourn to New York in order to visit my family.  When he comes to visit we usually go fishing together; my late grandfather loved fishing and we try to uphold this tradition.  Unfortunately, due to inclement weather we were unable to go fishing this year.  I was a little bit disappointed, but it was more important to me that I would have the opportunity to spend some time with my uncle  In a spur of the moment decision, we decided instead to visit the Long Island Aquarium and let me tell you: it was a whale of a time.  If catching fish was out of the question, seeing some fish certainly would not be.

                One of my best friends from college works at the aquarium, and she was kind enough to act as our personal tour guide.  Not only that, she also let us play with one of the African black-footed penguins.   Thankfully, I can check that off of my bucket-list.  We saw many of the other animals that the aquarium had to offer, such as the otters, sea lions, Japanese snow monkeys, and various types of sharks.  After we were done with all of this monkeying around, I finally said “We otter have some lunch*.”  Afterwards we visited the butterfly exhibit, this was also a lot of fun.  All in all, I had a great time.  I really enjoy seeing wildlife when I travel, and for me, seeing so many incredible animals in the same place is an experience unlike any other. 

*In this case the word otter is used as a pun and is replacing the phrase “ought to.”

Vocabulary

Typically (adverb) – Usually, normally

Sojourn (noun) – A brief trip

Uphold (verb) – To continue (a custom/practice)

Inclement (adjective) – Severe (usually weather)

Bucket-list (noun) – Things a person would like to do before they die, comes from the term “kick the bucket”

Whale of a time (adjective) – A lot of fun

Out of the question (phrase) – Not possible, not an option

Monkeying around (verb) – To behave silly

Vocabulary Exercises – Use the vocabulary words above to fill in the blanks

Some people might say that eating cookies for breakfast is ___________, Cookie Crisp advertisers would say otherwise.

Jennifer told her two children to stop ____________, or else they would be grounded.  Her children did not want to stop, as they were having a ______________.

Jason eagerly accepted the invitation to go scuba diving, he said it was on his ______________.

Due to ___________ weather, the hikers were unable to summit the mountain.

Tom’s _________ to India included seeing the Taj Mahal, the Golden Temple, and visiting Delhi.  _________, tourists visit most of these sites in India.

During a U.S. president’s oath of office, they swear to _______ the constitution.

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are typically two word phrases that contain a verb + adverb or a verb + preposition.  Many times these phrases have unique meanings and should be memorized as single units.  As seen in my entry: “After we were done with all of this monkeying around…” 

Some other commonly used examples include to do over (repeat), look up (search), and to talk over (discuss).   

For additional practice, check out the free app Phrasal Verbs Machine. An extensive list of phrasal verbs can be found on the website below.

https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/phrasal-verbs-list.htm