First Trip to the Aquarium

"EEEEEEEEEE"
"Wooooooowwww"
"OOOOOOHHHHHHHH"
"Hi, Bye, Hi, Bye Baby Bewuga"
"Sea Lions!!!!!!!!"
"Fishy, Fishy, Papa...look at that one"

These are the squeals and words that could be heard from Z as we toured the Mystic Aquarium this past weekend with S's parents. It was his first time at an aquarium and his reactions and big eyes helped us to see the aquarium for the "first time" all over again.

The first exhibit that draws you in is the giant outdoor Beluga Whale habitat. They had at least 5 whales living there at the moment (3 are permanent residents) and we got real close so that Z could watch them swim by. This was by far his favorite exhibit and he was in awe every time one of them swam by.....he had never seen anything so big!

The next exhibit was the ray touch tank. Z became very nervous as the rays came very close and would skim the surface. I don't think the shark lurking in the corner helped his nerves any. He was a little anxious when Mimi and Grandpa put their hands in to touch. Despite his nerves he has spent the last few days talking about rays and even asked to see them on YouTube :)

Next we went into the main building and Z quickly found the large fish tank in the middle of the room. He sat and stared, mesmerized by all of the giant fish swimming by (so much cooler than his fish bowl at home). He stood there for a good 10-15 minutes and would have stayed there longer if the adults in the group weren't ready to move on :)

Z loved each and every exhibit! There were lobsters, sharks, eels, frogs, Nemo clown fish and even bats :) At one point Mimi and I were sitting on the bench in the middle of the room when we heard this loud shriek. We quickly realized it was Z and that he had come face to face with his first sea lion. He let out quite a few more as he could not contain his excitement (I mean who could? :)). He had read about sea lions but never seen one up close......it was awesome! We then decided that the sea lion show was a must.

Our last two exhibits were the penguins and then one more trip to see the belugas. Z had missed nap and was getting very sleepy (we all were). We had spent a good 2 1/2 hours at the aquarium and it was worth every penny! Z spent the next few days talking about the "Bewuga's", "rays", "sea lions" and "fishies". We have watched many YouTube clips of these animals but it is just not the same :) It was a great day!