Our hotel was right next to the CARTA depot, which is the free electric shuttle bus that takes you right into downtown, and right to the aquarium. We were excited that we didn't have to pay for parking!
The aquarium is in two buildings, one that houses the saltwater fish and one that is the freshwater fish. I am going to butcher this fact but, the freshwater aquarium is the 2nd largest in the world, only to one in Bangladesh (that country is wrong, I know it...but basically we would never get to visit whatever country had the largest so we were pretty thrilled to be able to say we visited the largest freshwater aquarium in the United States!)
But up first, the saltwater fish. (kids pick) The very first thing we encountered was a sting ray touch tank. Finley all but climbed in with the sting rays and was soaked before the day really even started!! And we found Dory right off the bat too! (If you don't know what I am talking about, you need to watch Disney's Finding Nemo and Finding Dory movies...)
Next up was a butterfly garden. This was my favorite. I could seriously spend hours in there, it is so tranquil and beautiful. And the butterflies are everywhere and so graceful! It freaked Maclyn out a little at first because, afterall, they are still bugs.
Moving on to the "real" aquariums and exhibits. It wasn't long before we saw a giant shark and crazy cool jellyfish! But first, penguins.
Can you find Maclyn trying to touch the sea urchin thru the glass? Love how inquisitive little kids are! And I love the starfish on the glass tank...reminds me of a scene from Finding Nemo!
We found Nemo!!!! Well, lots and lots and lots of Nemos! Haha!
Between the saltwater and the freshwater buildings we decided to get some lunch and then we headed over to the Imax theater and watched a really cool documentary on raising pandas in captivity and then releasing them into the wild. The baby pandas in Imax form were absolutely adorable and I wanted to reach out and grab one!
Now onto freshwater fish!!!
More touch tanks. The kids did better not drenching themselves this time!
This picture absolutely cracks me up. These are piranhas. They were all just swimming around willy-nilly until Finley sat down in front of their tank. And just about as soon as he did, those piranhas turned and faced him!!
After the aquarium we went to Mellow Mushroom for supper. It was just across the street but our poor big girl gave out. She couldn't take it anymore and fell asleep in the stroller, then stayed asleep for a while in her daddy's arms. Boy was she a beast when she awoke though!!
Once we got back to the hotel there was a chocolate shop right across the street from the hotel that I wanted to try. I thought it was fudge, but when we got in we realized it was cheesecakes and specialty candies. Me and Mac were pretty thrilled with our dessert. Maclyn looks much cuter in her pics than I do. In my defense, I had no idea I was having my picture taken. Josh said I was serious about my cheesecake. Darn right.
After a long day, I decided to try some canned wine once we got back to the hotel. Weird, huh!? It was pretty good.
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