Aquarium Fun!

The other day we went to the big aquarium down in Sandy. Last time we went to the aquarium was for Heidi Anne's 2nd birthday and it was at old place. It's since moved to a brand new (to us) building.  

I went to go wake up Rowan and found he was buried in a nest. Recently, he loves to surround himself with his, and a few of Heidi Anne's, stuffed animals. No matter how hot it gets, he must have everyone of them. 

We left the house before 9:00 am to get there right when it opened. We were hoping it would be less crowded for Rowan's sake and that less crowds would equal more time there. We snapped pictures of each of the kids on the ride down. 

Heidi Anne enjoys having a mini-van. She gets to pick anywhere in the back seat to sit. She now has dark purple reading glasses. She's reading along to the audio book of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" while in the car.

Rowan just got new shoes today. Which he HATED when we put them on. We think that since the shoes are a different texture they just rubbed him the wrong way. 

Anastasia just sat back and enjoyed the ride. She'd serenade us with her lovely voice saying her new word "No, No, No" whenever it got to quiet in the car. (She's going to be rear facing until she's 3, I swear, she is such a light baby.)

We got down there a bit earlier then expected. We just waited outside until they opened. 

Plus we were also waiting for Grandma, Aunt L, and cousins G and little E. (Boy will I be in trouble if cousins start to have the same initials).  

We found Grandma and later Aunt L. We didn't get to explore all of the aquarium nor see a 4D movie. Hey, you've got to save something for the next visit, right? What we did see was awesome and loads of fun. 

We went to the South America exhibit. We saw toucans, huge catfish, sting rays, and loads of different fish. Grandma told the kids about her experiences with a variety of animals on her various trips around the world. 

Rory demanded to be freed from the stroller, leaving Anastasia all alone. So Heidi Anne, Grandma, and I took turns holding his hand / carrying him around the exhibits. 

We saw tiny poison dart frogs. Rowan surprised us by joining Heidi Anne on a replica of a frog. 

Here is an electric eel. Underneath the it was a demonstration of how the shock of an electric eel feels like. You'd place two fingers on the buttons and receive a shock equal to that of a 15 volt battery. Just enough to give you that pins and needles feeling in your hand.

In the Asia section we saw Heidi Anne's favorite wild animal. She did 2 different reports on this critter. It's a clouded leopard. She asked "Why is it called clouded when it's not grey like a cloud?" (I quickly Googled that question). I told her it's because of their large cloud like spots on their fur. Heidi Anne regaled one of the employees nearby the cage with all the information she's learned about the leopard. 

Fun Fact: I love the show Deadliest Catch. Char liked it before I did, and I would tease him that he was watching people fishing like an old man, never giving the show a glance. Then one day I was sick at home from work, when this cool show about crab fishing was on. I loved it. Later that day Char exclaimed, "That's the show you've been picking on me for watching!" 

I'm amazed at how big those crabs really are. I got a picture of a Japanese Spider crab. It was huge but there is nothing in the picture to compare it's size to. 

Rowan was running out of steam, so we quickly went through the Wild Utah section. Lots of fish, a couple tortoises, and these adorable river otters. Which were sleeping. Char tried a dad joke and told Heidi Anne "You know, that's where Otter Pops come from, right?" While Heidi just rolled her eyes it did make a random stranger laugh.  

We thought we'd push the limits and go to the playground zone. There were three different playgrounds, one was for infants, (just right for Anastasia), another for kids 4 and under, (perfect for Rowan), and lastly a huge maze for 5 and up (which Heidi Anne had a blast in). Honestly, it was like a play maze of your childhood dreams. 

Rory would do the obstacle course to get to the end with the slide. He'd sit at the top and say "GO!". It was rather crowded and I was impressed he spoke at all. He doesn't normally talk in large groups of people. Anastasia was walking with the help of Char and even played on the baby playground a little and went down the tiny slide.

After the aquarium we all went to McDonald's. Where Rowan impressed us once again. He liked apple juice from a juice box with a straw-without squirting it everywhere! You have to appreciate all the small victories in life.