The Crosby Family: Field Trip to the Aquarium

I had a four-day stretch of absolutely nothing looming in front of me & the kids this Memorial Day weekend, so I decided to start it off with a bang and take them down to Monterey to the aquarium. Jack has had an obsession with sharks lately (we've watched every episode of every Shark Week airing for the last 5 years on Netflix.) He really wanted to see them, and somehow convinced himself that Caroline was super interested in the jellyfish and those were her favorite. So we got up early (C @ 6am and J @ 630, sheesh!) and drove down.

We were a little early (go figure) so we stopped to have a little breakfast and check out the water...

looking for seals.

"maybe the seals aren't here now because it's too cold!"

We were the third people in line and entered just as they opened at 10am. The first place we went were the touch pools... Jack wanted to "touch the animals first!! Before anyone else's dirty hands!"

For Jack, they were touch pools. For Caroline, they were splashy splishy pools!

They each touched sea stars, abalone, kelp, decorator crabs, and anemones.

After that we stopped at the moving kelp tank. Caroline LOVED this tremendously. She could have stood there for hours screeching at all the fish that swam by.

She also loved the reef exhibit. We left the stroller most places, and she went walking holding my hand through the tunnels. I was so proud of her! She's come so far in such a short time.

Then we hit the Splash Zone (or as Jack said, "the baby play area!")

Jack was actually the one who remembered the aprons. He's more responsible
than me sometimes!

Oh, something to climb in, imagine that.

Another attempt at climbing. This girl is ridiculous.

They have a new exhibit called "The Jellyfish Experience." It's actually pretty cool. It's all groovy 70's music and lighted hallways to neat tanks of all kinds of jellyfish. We spent a fair amount of time in here. Caroline really did like it :)

She was getting tired. It was almost lunchtime (and naptime.) But she was still
really interested!

You could draw and then see your "jellyfish"
on the screen swimming through the ocean. Jack loved this.

Only shot of the 3 of us...but it's proof I was there. Ha.

We also saw the seahorses, which Jack didn't like too much, and spent a LOOOOONG time at the Deep Sea tank, which has the big fish and the sharks. He yelled out the name of every shark that swam by. Everyone thought it was really cute.

At about 1130, both kids were wiped and it was getting really crowded. All Jack wanted for lunch was crab (this kid has expensive taste) so we stopped at Bubba Gumps and ate crab legs on the water. It wasn't too bad. By the end, they were both super exhausted and fidgety, but they ate well and were relatively quiet.

As I was leaving, a family at the next table stopped me to say that my kids were very well-behaved and that I was a "rock star" for dining out with them by myself. I was so happy :) because it's true that they are pretty awesome (most of the time) - but it's nice to be appreciated for the hard work it is doing something like this all alone!

Of course we hit the gift shop on the way out. Jack got a (you guessed it) shark that he named Jaws, and Caroline got a pretty pink jellyfish that he named Terry. (??) She actually really likes it. The tentacles are super soft and she likes to play with them. She has Terry in her crib tonight too :)

Fast asleep before we were even out of the parking garage!

Caroline took a great nap once we got home. Jack did not. Thankfully both kids fell asleep early tonight! (By 730! Unheard of.) I'm finishing one more episode of Downton Abbey and then hitting the hay. It's been a long day for Mommy too!!! But a really fun one. This gives me confidence to try other new places with them both now that Caroline is a little bigger and she is more interested in what's going on around her.

Jack hung Terry up in the backyard while we were playing
outside before dinner. This jellyfish is growing on me!

And I leave you with a few other random shots from my phone:

pool day!

My little climber. This looks safe...

She can run stairs like it's her job.

Baby play date with Bailey.

Binky: You're doing it wrong.

OMG!! INTO EVERY.THING. She broke a box of pasta open and
not only spilled it everywhere, but half-chewed a bunch of pieces
and left the sticky chunks all over the house. Sigh.