Aquarium Adventure

So I find myself sitting down to try to catch up on the bajillion activities, adventures and day to day moments that are filling our days as I ignore the inevitable "first day of preschool" that is coming Tuesday. If I think about it too hard, I would soon be trying to figure out how I could kidnap my babies and take them off to a deserted island where we could dance in the sand and drink coconut milk the rest of our lives...but since it doesn't work that way, on Tuesday, we will go to school and I will watch him walk off with pride in his confident little self and the charming kind boy I know that he is. Meanwhile, I will do my best to hold it together. Wear my sunglasses and know that truly he is "ready".


And as the next week I am sure will be full of things that move me to write, I have a FLickr account full of randomness wtih photos that tell stories that I will probably never get around to writing. And so I do what I can...

Spontaneous Aquarium Trip:
Nothing like waking up at 6am on a random Saturday and deciding it is a good day for a trip to the Long Beach aquarium. My original intention was to go whale watching, but Maverick adamantly did not want to get on a boat that morning, so we went to the aquarium instead. Of course when we were leaving, he wanted to ride the boat....but that will have to wait for our next trip which will be soon...So, to the aquarium it was! And it was fun!



They were fascinated by all the sea animals. I was challenged by the fact that this was the first time I had been there with TWO of them walking and going in opposite directions. It was a bit of a challenge at first, but soon we had worked it out and were all going in the same direction (mostly).



They both spent a good hour in the seal hallway watching the seals go round and round and round. They were mesmerized by them.



Equally mesmerizing was the playground. A great place to play, get wet and learn how to take turns...


Here are my little punks as they wait for their next unsuspecting victim to walk by in the early morning aquarium hours...you see this little squid has special buttons that allow them to squirt relatively powerful streams of water at people a good 20 feet away.


So they plot...and they lay in wait...and start to scuffle over one of 3 available buttons....


And....Ka-Plowww-weeeee!!!!! They both get it!!!


And thus concludes cooperative play of the water spout buttons. So, I tried to save the moment with an opportunity to look at the sharks, which they accepted with some reluctance. They really wanted to play more, but the lure of sharks was able to sway them a bit...well, that and a promise to come back to the play spot after sharks...

But the real amazement for them and for me was they both were willing to PET THE SHARKS! And yes, they got soaking wet, and yes, I cringed at the thought of their little fingers in with the sharks, but they both got brave and found a good spot and they were so patient and they DID IT!



It was a fun day. I love going out on adventures with my babes. I love seeing it all through their eyes. I love that at this age, it is new every time. And the best part is the three-hour-nap after it all.