Explore UT Mega-Post Part 2

The campus hadn't seemed busy as we gathered or walked over to our first stop--Welch Hall--which was supposed to host the Marine Science Touch Tank. Welch Hall was crowded with dozens of parents and kids and tables and booths devoted to all kinds of organisms--pond scum, meal worms, and tarantulas--but no touch tank to be seen. Since the tables seemed to have some interesting stuff, we made the decision to let the kids look around, despite the fact that the touch tank was nowhere to be seen.
(Side note: I will feel bad about saying this if the touch tank was somewhere else, not where it was supposed to be, but: I interacted somewhat with the Marine Science people over the past few months, and it was next to impossible to get a hold of them or elicit any response, so my opinion of their level of organization is quite low, and it wouldn't surprise me if they ended up not showing up on the day)
Despite the variety of interesting (to me) booths, interest among some students seemed to wane fairly quickly. Trying to get 19 kids to finish up at the same time was an impossible task. We just had to be authoritative and say, "No, time to go," and herd them firmly to the exit. Our lunch slot wasn't until 12:30, so we decided to swing by the alleged International Festival on the way.
The International Festival turned out to be another illusion, and we found ourselves batting 0. I was personally embarrassed to have failed to deliver on promises twice in a row. I was really annoyed but with no easy outlet for my frustrations. We decided just to head over to the dining hall, even though we'd be a little early. One of the volunteers had the idea to take the kids past the turtle pond, which I thought was a good idea and the kids seemed to enjoy.
Next came lunch, which deserves its own post...