Water Day

The first day of vacation our family had planned to go to a water park.  Not everyone could go to the water park, due to work/school obligations.  Soon after arriving we quickly got the impression my parents were feeling left out of the days activities, so we invited them to go to the new aquarium instead.  My Dad was really excited to get out of the house.

We told him we would take turns pushing him around in a wheelchair which is just what we did.  He even got up and walked a little himself.  My sister Susan and her daughter Tori also came along which made it even more fun.

We quickly fell in love with this new/improved aquarium.  All the kids were able to get up close and personal with all the fish.

They have several different touch pools where you can touch anything from starfish to stingrays.

Besides the HUGE shark tank, I think by far our favorite exhibit was the penguins.  This is Sadi's favorite animal, and she was in heaven watching these guys.

There were 3 baby penguins, all of different ages within the exhibit but they were sleeping most the time we were there.

These guys are just so funny waddling around.  We especially enjoyed watching one particular penguin waddle back and forth trying to figure out how to get down off a ledge.

I liked watching these two have the longest staring contest I have ever seen. 

In the Asia habitat we found some slimy creatures.  Kelsey tested her kissing skills on the frog to see if he would turn into a prince....

Where there's a jungle, there's bound to be a bridge...

Now this, is a funny exhibit that I was happy they had not taken away from the old aquarium (the electric eel fish).  If you see this, you have to take a seat and watch how funny people are when they try it.  Matt is pretty strong and can hold on for a long time.

I teased the kids and told them it wasn't even turned on.  Sadi gave it a try....she was not happy about my little "bluff".

We visited the arctic, and ran across Shamu's friends.

 

We had a "whaley" good time.  Of course we had to visit the gift shop (you actually have to walk through it to exit....well played marketing dept., well played).  So, we left with a few new critters to take care of.

Later that night, it was time for a family barbecue in Susan's backyard.  We also had a salsa contest, which was fun to try each family's salsa.  Mine came in second (I believe only because some thought it too hot...wimps).  Each family was asked to bring a game to play, however we were the only one's to actually bring one.  We played the "not so new newly wed game" with the adults. 

It was really fun, and we played well into the dark.  It was fun to see how well the spouses new each other.  (Since I was playing I enlisted others to take photo's for me, this was the best I got)

We had some pretty revealing answers,

and we all had some really good laughs.

Luckie had a few moments of explaining to do....

It was fun to have my parents participating as well.

Matt and I didn't win, but we did okay. 

My brother David and his wife Santina won.  I bought the winners a gift card for DQ ice-cream, and all the losers got a little extra love for the night (Hershey kisses).