Afternoon at the Aquarium

The four kids and I spent an impromptu afternoon at the local aquarium. We had only been one other time (last March) on a field trip with Jackson's preschool. At the time, the triplets weren't mobile and Jackson was easily over stimulated. I had a stressful time navigating the crowds with my quad stroller. It was definitely not one of my more enjoyable experiences.

It was too cold and windy to play outside today, so I took the kids to the local mall with plans to play in the kid's area and see the fish at Bass Pro Shop. (This is the single story mall five minutes from our house, not the one with the escalators.) We parked at the aquarium entrance. It dawned on me that it was Tuesday, which meant they offer discounted tickets and toddlers are free. It is very rare that I pay for entertainment for the children, but I think $14 admission fee for five of us to enter the aquarium is definitely worth it.

We had so much fun. I let James, Amelia, and Maddie out of the stroller the entire time. We received several compliments of how well they behaved. One employee said, "Oh my goodness. They're like little ducklings following you around!"

FYI, most of the pictures of actual fish are poor quality because you can't use a flash. Ordinarily I don't post blurry/grainy pictures, but I'm making an exception today.

Jackson was way more excited to see the Octonauts that I expected.
Considering we don't have cable, I don't even know how he knew the character.

My favorite animal was the stingray. They would swim right against the glass so you could see their underbelly up close.

Maddie climbed every barrier she could to get closer to the fish.

After watching Finding Nemo a lot recently, Jackson recognized the jelly fish right away. 

All of the exhibits were the perfect level for the kids.

The octopus was unimpressive. It never moved.

We just so happened to be in the room during the daily shark feeding time.

Of all the kids, James was the most captivated by the fish.

I was relieved at how well everyone stayed together. It was as if they were soaking up every second at each tank and I broke their trance when I told them to keep going to the next room.

Everyone took turns at the touch tank.

Even the trio had a chance to touch the starfish and hermit crab shell.

Imagine trying to walk through this tunnel with a quad stroller and dozens of hyper toddlers.What a difference a year makes!

There were numerous tunnels that proved to be the perfect height for the trio.

Jackson played in the kids' area after we walked through each exhibit. His siblings were determined to join him.

It was $14 well spent!