Our Aquarium Adventure!

A friend from my mom's board posted an offer for free Monterey Bay Aquarium tickets the other day, so we decided to give it a try! I just had to take it slow and sit down a lot, but it worked out really well and we had a great time! Max hadn't been to the Aquarium since before he could walk, so it was a pretty different experience for all of us this time! (Geez, a two year old can run FAST when he wants to! LOL)

I think the jellyfish might be my personal favorite… I could sit and watch them for HOURS… the coolest thing was that Max knew what they were! We walked in to the exhibit and he exclaimed “Jellyfish!” He has a plush jellyfish that I made for his first birthday party, but to translate that little yellow bit of fleece into what he saw in front of him is pretty darn impressive to me! I'm totally fascinated by the fact that they swim in an, what seems to me, upside down direction… I thought about rotating these photos, to make them look “right” but decided I should put them here the way they actually are! LOL

A close second for my favorite exhibit is the Secret Life of Seahorses… I'm just so intrigued by them! Max is a fan as well, so we spent quite a bit of time watching them too.

Max examining the Coral Reef exhibit… I love the way he's lit in this one.



They have a cool new feature since the last time we were there… you can sign up for a texting service that will send you a text message if there are interesting, unscheduled things going on… we managed to be in the right place at the right time to see a sardine feeding, which was so cool! They normally swim in a circle overhead; this is the entry area for an exhibit… They are normally all going in one direction, around and around and around… I suddenly understand the phrase “feeding frenzy” Totally interesting to watch, and if you ever have a chance to see it, it's cool!


The kid has no fear. Touch a seastar? Sure! Slimy kelp? No problem! Hold a hermit crab? Cool! He loved the touch and feel exhibit, and I think that next time we go (next summer maybe?) he'll be big enough for the next step up in participation, which has even more interactivity and touchability!
We had a wonderful day, thanks so much to Mary for the tickets!