Newport Aquarium

Over the weekend, Mandy, Jeff, Blake, Vera, Adam and I decided to try to beat the winter blues and get out of the house for a day trip to Newport Aquarium. Vera was so excited for her adventure with Blake.  As we were leaving the driveway, Vera very seriously looked at Blake and asked, "Blake, do you like sharks?"   

When we arrived, we immediately saw a huge mass of people waiting outside to buy tickets to the aquarium.  It was very chilly, and no one was dressed warm enough to stand outside for 30 minutes for tickets!  Evidently the rest of Ohio and Kentucky also had the same plan to beat the winter blues and get out of the house.  (I'm sure the holiday weekend and kids getting in free had nothing to do with it!!)  It was packed!  But, we lucked out in a few ways.  Mandy & I found a warm spot inside with the kids while the guys waited for tickets.  I spotted two people we knew from our area who were toward the front of the line.  I went over to talk with them, and they bought our tickets for us so Adam and Jeff didn't have to freeze waiting in the long line.

When we finally got inside, it was super-crowded and difficult to see everything, but we made the most of it.

Because it was so crowded, Vera (and Blake) had to be carried almost the entire time.  Dad was a trooper in carrying Ms. Vera while mom carried the coats and bags.  No strollers were allowed!

There weren't too many exhibits that were at eye-level for these two munchkins!

When we went to the Frog Bog, there were less people and these two got to run around a little bit.  They had fun pushing buttons and checking everything out.

 

Vera searched for all of the creatures from Finding Nemo.

Here's Mr. Ray.

We spotted some really giant fish!

Cool jellyfish!

Lots of SHARKS with really sharp teeth!  This was mom's favorite part.

And Vera said that seeing Nemo and Dorie was her favorite part of the trip.

These are the best pictures we could get of these two lil sharks!

Blake was more excited about running around!

There was an exhibit with a pool to pet the sharks.  Vera and dad watched carefully.

Blake tried to drink the water on the ledge and splash in the pool.

And Vera had a bird's eye view of the penguin exhibit.  There were lots of them, and it was feeding time so they were fun to watch!

We rounded out our day with some yummy food at Applebee's on the way home.  Everyone was tired when we got back, including the moms and dads.  The kids were very well-behaved all day, and we were glad for a fun day out of the house!