Last week we took Pete out of school on a Friday for a Family Field Trip to the Aquarium near us. It seemed like a good enough reason and it's educational, right? The kids haven't been for about two years, the littles were 2 and really didn't remember going in the past. Cuppie was a bit leary since we kept mentioning going through the shark tank, but she calmed down when we told her the name of the headliner rayshark was Sweat Pea.
The kids were really good and enjoyed looking at the fish, the alligators and such but the hit of the day was the avairy. Honestly, not my favorite place to go into but we knew Pete really enjoys going in so I sprung for the little tiny cup of nectar and inside we ventured. It's a mine field in there people. Birds are dropping stuff left and right since it's like an open buffet for them. Pete immediately starts hunting for an unsuspecting bird to feed and I am looking for cover for the littles and I. The helper in the area see's me eyeing the birds and says, "It's just like water really, but watch out for the Kukaburro above you, he eats mice." Nice. As we are watching the birds, there is this little tug on my arm. I look down and Linus wants to tell me something. I lean down for him to tell me and in the softest voice he says, "I want a cup like Pete to feed the birds." So I start looking for a cup, Pete's bird stole her cup and dumped it out but the nice man who shared the helpful information about the bird to watch out for, found me one and off Linus went to find a bird. Within a few minutes the worker had a bird for him and offered to put it on his arm. I never would've thought Linus would do this but here he was with a bird on his arm and excited as could be. I asked Cuppie if she wanted to feed a bird and as you can tell from the photo above, she was ready to get out of the avairy as fast as she could!
The other two highlights of the visit included the "let's all touch sharks" tank. Pete and Linus were all over the tank touching sharks, Cuppie and I touched a pajama shark quite a few times but could never get the bigger black one to come close enough.
By far the funniest part of the day was when the kids were chasing the penguins in the tank. I swear this penquin was playing chase with the kids swimming back and forth as they chased him from side to side.
All in all, a great Family Field Trip. The littles are growing up so fast, and so is Pete. It's nice to be able to get away with taking her out of school for these outings. In a few years it won't be so easy. As for the littles, I still think of them as too little to do certain things but I'm gradually reprograming my mind. Next time we head to an avairy, I'll remember to get two cups for Pete and Linus and send A in with them. Cuppie and I will hang out nearby petting sharks.