National Aquarium in Baltimore

We are not planning any huge vacations this year. Instead we are going to try to do some fun things closer to home. One of those things is a year membership to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. We decided to go the last day of spring break. We haven't been to the aquarium since Levi was born. Miriam and Simon loved showing him all the fish.

After seeing all the fish we decided to explore the harbor. It ended up being a really beautiful day.

Baltimore National Aquarium

Our year membership pass to the aquarium expires at the end of March. We decided to take the kids one last time while we had the chance. Even though it was a Saturday (and the aquarium was really packed) we had a great time this last time around. We even saw a couple of things we had passed or not seen before. The octopus is usually hiding in a comer where you can't even see it. This time around he was right out in the middle moving around. We also decided to go in the rainforest section, which we usually skip, and saw some pretty tropical birds. One of the last things we did is stop to see the dolphins. It seems like the past few times we have seem them they didn't feel like performing. However, this time they were playful which meant we got to see a lot more splashing, jumping and diving from the dolphins.

We decided to pack a lunch this time (after discovering a place you can eat inside the aquarium last time we went). It gave the kids a nice break in the middle of it all to eat and look out at the harbor. It was nice to not have to leave the aquarium and come back in, which makes the kids more tired. We had some nice weather and even though it was windy when we were leaving the aquarium it was nice to come out and walk around in the sunshine. It was a great year seeing the aquarium with the kids. We look forward to buying year membership again in a couple of years.

^^every time we walk by this statue Miriam comments about the "funny guy"^^

this time she really wanted a picture - and I kindly obliged

National Aquarium - Baltimore

After Michael returned from some unexpected summer travel he decided to take a couple of days off. One of the days we headed up to Baltimore to see the National Aquarium (remember we got a year pass in April so we will probably go one or two more times this year). We started backward/opposite of what we did last time, so they wouldn't be tired and miss the dolphins and jellyfish again. The new shark exhibit was open this time. Miriam asked a lot of questions about the animals. She is really getting interested in learning about what she sees. Simon kept asking to see the scary fish. However, he was unsure at every exhibit if he was safe. Every time he walked up he touched the glass to make sure it was there.

^^we even witnessed someone getting engaged ^^

National Aquarium - Baltimore

This year we decided to get a membership to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It takes a little over an hour for us to get there, but the membership pays for itself in two visits. After checking the weather this past week we finally decided Monday would be the best day to go. I didn't remember too much about the aquarium from the last time we went, but I was sure the kids would love seeing all the fish. Michael's Dad was able to join us and the kids loved having him there. Simon kept saying, "Grandpa look, Grandpa look". I forgot how dark it is inside the aquarium so it was hard to get too many good pictures.

After we left to get some lunch we walked around the harbor for a few minutes. It was a really windy day so we only spent a few minutes outside before going back to the aquarium to see the last two exhibits. (We really should have just gone home after that because the kids were too tired to be interested in anything.) When we go back we will have to start at the two exhibits the kids were too tired for last time...