Aquarium Fun

A few weeks ago we hit up the local aquarium with our play group.  We were very excited for the outing as the aquarium was closed to the public that day and we were getting a behind the scenes tour. 

The aquarium isn't huge and it part of a larger museum in town but Natalie loved seeing all the different animals and even petting a few!

 

First we checked out the large exhibit of turtles in the main museum space.  There were probably upwards of 50 turtles in the display!  It was pretty cool to see all the turtles swimming around up close.  

One of the coolest things about this museum is all the special mosaic art.  It gives the whole place a funky and cool vibe!  I insisted Natalie pose by this gorgeous pole.  :)  Doesn't she already have the look of appeasing her crazy picture taking mom?!?
Check out the floor in the background too.  So cool!

Of course we had to check out the turtles from above!

Trying to get a picture of Natalie and Chase together.  He was not letting go of his binky and she was definitely distracted by everything going on around us.  (They were doing some repair work and it was a little loud.)

Coloring while learning about some of the different animals they were going to see.

Oh you know, just a selfie with my Chase in the baby bjorn!  This is definitely something I know I will miss as he gets bigger. 

Checking out the snake exhibits.  I may have the only girl around that must see the snakes every time we go to the zoo!  She absolutely loves trying to find them in their display cases.  :)

They had a very cool exhibit that let the kiddos get "kissed" by the fish.  I was so proud of how brave she was to stick her little finger in there!  I tried it myself and got totally freaked out by how it felt!  :)  She thought it was the neatest thing and every time we walked by the exhibit she jumped up there to get more kisses. 

Side note, have you seen the Keeping Up With the Kardashian episode where they go to Greece and get the fish pedicure?!?  If we are being honest I thought Kim was being super dramatic about the experience but now I totally get it!  There is NO WAY I could stick my feet in water and let a bunch of little fish nibble on them.  Ewww!  It totally freaks me out just thinking about how it would feel now! 

Checking out the eels.  She told Matt all about how she saw Flotsam and Jetsam when we got home.  The Little Mermaid is definitely a favorite movie around our house!

The shark.

She insisted that I take her picture by the hippo statue.  :)

And also by the big fish so she could show her daddy.  I love when she wants to document our days to share with Matt when he gets home from work.

Petting the turtle.  Again I was super impressed that she jumped right up and wasn't afraid to check it out.

We had so much fun and can't wait to go back when Chase is a little older!  I definitely think the behind the scenes group tour was a great way to go as well.  Not only did we get the place to ourselves, we got to feed some of the animals as well.  I didn't get a picture, but I fed the sting rays and Natalie feed the ferrets.  (No, I have no idea how ferrets work into the aquarium exhibits!)  We also were able to see the guide feed an anteater, a huge lizard and a sloth. 

To top off the day, since we were close to Matt's work we were able to meet up with him for lunch!  I love seeing my honey in the middle of the work day and I know he enjoys the break with the kids.  :)