George called me last Friday with a surprise: he had purchased reduced-cost vouchers at work for the Adventure Aquarium. We decided not to tell Livy exactly where it was we were going the next day, though we knew it would be a big hit.
The first thing we saw was 2 hippos happily lounging. If you look closely, you'll notice that the hippo in the foreground is actually laying his head on another hippo that is submerged.
Then it was on to shark school. The kids were most interested in climbing in the big shark mouth.
We also got to see a caribbean exhibit with my favorite: seahorses. Then it was on to get Olivia's face painted. Here is our "Mermaid Princess."
There were also some hands-on exhibits that Olivia went wild for. She got to touch sharks, jellyfish and sting rays. I think she would have liked to do that all day long. After lunch, we went outside and saw the African penguins and seals. Here's Nate trying to get a better view of the penguins.
I love this picture of the penguins. You'll see them all posted in front of the door waiting patiently for their next feeding, which wasn't for another 75 minutes. They were super cute.
At last, it was time to go. The kids were tired and overstimulated. Olivia was not happy about this, as you can see.
The crying continued 30 minutes into our drive home. Willing to do anything to make her happy, George pulls into a McDonald's to buy her a cone. Much to our dismay, he was told, "Sorry, we have no ice cream today." Hearing this, Olivia begins to scream louder. "Don't worry" he tells her. "There'll be another McDonald's right up the road." Sure enough, a few blocks away, he pulls in and attempts to order a cone. "We don't have any ice cream today" was the answer again. What's the deal? It drops below 40 in Philly and no one makes ice cream? She's somewhat comforted by the apple pie and the crying stops. Eventually the car falls silent as both kids begin to nap. The day at the aquarium was definitely an adventure!
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