Boy's mom turns home into aquarium after coronavirus nixed his party - 963bigfm.com

Boy's mom turns home into aquarium after coronavirus nixed his party - 963bigfm.com

Boy's mom turns home into aquarium after coronavirus nixed his party - 963bigfm.com

Posted: 21 Apr 2020 10:59 AM PDT

One Michigan mom went above, beyond and under the sea to make up for her son's birthday trip, cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Becky Spagnuolo and her husband, Nick, had decided to take their son to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium for his second birthday on April 13.

Since Clark was born, he's always been fascinated by sea creatures. For nearly his entire life, he's tagged along to older brother Mikey's speech therapy sessions. There, the walls are full of painted fish.


READ MORE:
Thai babies given tiny face shields to wear for protection against coronavirus

"Each time we were there, I would walk him up and down the halls telling him about the fish," she told Global News. "Some of his first words were fish … We just knew that a trip to the Shedd Aquarium would blow him away."

So in January, they decided to book a train trip to Chicago to do just that — visit the city's famous aquarium, home to animals from sea otters to tropical fish.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 outbreak threw a wrench in their plans, forcing them to cancel the trip.

Michigan mom Becky Spagnuolo transformed her living room into an aquarium for her son's birthday after the pandemic required them to stay home.

Michigan mom Becky Spagnuolo transformed her living room into an aquarium for her son's birthday after the pandemic required them to stay home.

Becky Spagnuolo

"Cancelling the trip broke my heart," Spagnuolo said. "This was going to be our chance to really give Clark a day about him and what he loves."

A day or two after they cancelled their trip, hotel room and all, they came up with the idea to turn their own living room into an aquarium of sorts.

"I was just looking for a way to make everyone smile," she said.

Looking back to her days when she volunteered at a preschool, she remembered decorations put up on the walls for their ocean unit with the kids.


READ MORE:
Parents name baby 'Sanitiser' in midst of coronavirus lockdown

With craft supplies she already had at home, as well as some ordered from Amazon, Spagnuolo got to work.

She and her husband covered their windows with blue tissue paper, giving the illusion of fish tanks. Blue balloons and blow-up fish decorated the space, along with cut-out sharks and turtles and even a mini penguin family.

"Clark's reaction to the aquarium was exactly what I would have expected had we been at the real thing," she recalled.

"He soaked everything up in a state of silent wonder."

One of Clark's favourite Disney characters is Dory, a blue tang fish. Even she made an appearance that day.

The Spagnuolo family turned their living room into an aquarium when their birthday trip to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium was cancelled due to COVID-19.

The Spagnuolo family turned their living room into an aquarium when their birthday trip to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Becky Spagnuolo

"Then he noticed a blue tang I had made on the back window. He shouted, 'Dory! I found Dory, look!' as he ran over to it," she shared.

For the Spagnuolo family, a bit of imagination and creativity helped bring everyone together.

—

Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:

Health officials caution against all international travel. Returning travellers are legally obligated to self-isolate for 14 days, beginning March 26, in case they develop symptoms and to prevent spreading the virus to others.

Some provinces and territories have also implemented additional recommendations or enforcement measures to ensure those returning to the area self-isolate. Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease.

If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities. To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.

For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.

— With files from Reuters

meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca

Follow @meaghanwray

© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post Posted: 05 Jun 2016 12:00 AM PDT With exacting precision, the surgeon inserted the scalpel above the eyeball and cut out a snotty deposit of fatty tissue. The routine eye-lift was nearly complete when suddenly the patient awoke, suffocating, and began to flop about on the table. The audience gasped. Knowing time was of the essence, the surgeon scooped up the patient in his arms, raced across the stage, and dropped her into a tank of water. She revived. Because she was a fish. Yes, fish eye-lifts exist. As do fin jobs and tail tucks. The operating theater was a mall in Jakarta, Indonesia, where a pet expo was under way. As for the patient, she survived, her formerly droopy eyes now bright and perky. A good thing, too, as this was no ordinary goldfish but rather an Asian arowana, the world's most expensive aquarium denizen, rumored to sell for as mu
Read more

NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire

Image
NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire Posted: 11 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PST ALBANY, Ore. , March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NilocG launches a new website for planted tank enthusiasts to gather and make THRIVE, a plant fertilizer that assures planted tank aquascapes flourish while eliminating the need for multiple products more readily available online. The company also takes it a step further in the industry, making its flagship product easy to dose, super-concentrated, and an all-in-one solution based on an effective EL dosing method with all essential micro and macronutrients. Continue Reading Thrive fertilizer: North America's most trusted aquarium plant fertilizer Colin Grice , CEO, a self-described planted tank lover, re
Read more

Catching Dory: selling aquarium fish supports coastal livelihoods in Indonesia | npj Ocean Sustainability - Nature.com

Image
Abstract The global marine aquarium trade has created new local markets across the planet, including in Indonesia, now the second-largest exporting country of marine aquarium fish in the world. Participating in the global aquarium trade has been touted as a potentially sustainable addition to fisher livelihoods, but scant data exist showing the numbers of fish coming off the reef and how those fish contribute to income. To determine how participants in the trade incorporate aquarium species in their livelihoods, we examine source-level aquarium fish collecting and trading data in the Banggai Archipelago, a region in Central Sulawesi that has become a significant source for popular aquarium, also known as ornamental, fish species. Using a sustainable livelihoods lens, we examine this data to understand how participants in the aquarium trade both contribute to as well as benefit from the trade and consider how their participation relates to emerging Blue Justice principles. From one year
Read more