aquarium day

The Living Planet Aquarium did a $2 day.  I'm not usually a discount day person, battling the crowds is so awful, but the last few weeks have been really stressful for the boys because Tyler and I both had big adult stuff (exams and papers) that we had to take care of, so this week I wanted to go do some fun, kid-centered things.  I specifically wanted to go to the aquarium, and when my sister-in-law messaged me the discount day flyer, I jumped on it.

We got up and going so we could be there before it opened at 10.  I figured their would be a line, and there was, so I was glad we were there in time to get in with the first wave.  We spent about 15 minutes (maybe less?) waiting but the line moved pretty fast, so it wasn't too awful.  They also had exhibits outside, like a crocodile skull, leopard fur, and a giant conch shell, to keep everybody entertained.

The kids were thrilled!  They were both so busy, neither could fathom why I was making them sit for a picture.  They just wanted to look at the fish!

It wasn't crazy for the first little while, just about as busy as the last few times we went.  By the time we were finishing up, it was turning into a madhouse.  A few field-trip groups showed up, which was awful for us and them, since everyone else there were moms with tiny kids.

TJ's favorite exhibits were the otters (who doesn't love otters?), the fish tank being cleaned by a scuba diver, the Asian otter exhibit being cleaned by a zookeeper, a bird exhibit, and the giant coin-donation-spiral thing.  We donated lots of pennies.

Eli just loved the fish.  Really loved them.  Fish is one of the few words he says so he just ran from tank to tank saying "fshh fshh fshh!"  It was super cute.  It was interesting to see him interact with the big crowds of kids.  He behaved in some ways that I've never seen before, but that explain the problems he's been having in nursery lately.  So that's good, I guess. Now I just have to figure out how to deal with my cuddle bug who is secretly super aggressive.

We had to take a snack break so I could sit down for a minute.  The boys were just moving so fast and the "amazon" exhibit was so hot and muggy!

My favorite exhibit was the big shark tank.  There were several blue tang's in the tank and when we walked in to the viewing room, TJ ran up to the glass and said "Look!  Dory!"  I had sat down but he made me come see.  "Look!  It's dory!"  And then a shark swam by ... "Shark!  Oh no!"  It just cracked me up to hear his dialog.

"MOOOOM there are SHARKS behind us!  Why do we have to take a picture?"

I'm really glad we went and did something fun!  I was really glad we went early when we got out and saw the crazy line.  Once we got home, the kids were totally exhausted.  TJ had a total meltdown.  He was so tired, it was almost funny.  He's never like that!  Poor little guy.  Once everyone was wound down and in clean diapers, they crashed hard!