Baltimore Aquarium

Dave and I have been wanting to take the kids to the Baltimore Aquarium for a good while now. Even before Hadley was born we'd talked about making the trip with Caleb because he's always shown an interest in watching fish. Whether staring at the fish in Aunt Courtney's tank (like he often did when she still lived with my parents) or being mesmerized by the variety of aquatic animals found in the pet section of Walmart, his attention is definitely captured by underwater creatures. After seeing Hadley's excitement when she looked at the fish in the tank at Scheels on our trip to Illinois recently, we knew she'd enjoy visiting an aquarium too.

Since kids under three are free, we thought we'd better hurry before our big boy's birthday two months from now when the rate would increase to $20.95 for him. How crazy! So, last Saturday we drove about two hours to Maryland to finally see all Baltimore's aquarium had to offer. We picked a freezing cold day for such a venture and ended up having to walk several blocks from the parking garage to our destination, but we made it work. Dave put Hadley inside her carrier and zipped her up inside his coat while I scooped up Caleb and snuggled him close as I walked as quickly as possible to get there - first off because I was freezing, and secondly because my arms were about to fall off from toting that 32lb boy multiple blocks. It all worked out though; Hadley was warm and I didn't have to worry about Caleb running out into traffic or meandering slowly down the sidewalk as everything in the city drew his attention. 

The National Aquarium does not allow strollers since there are so many escalators throughout, so choosing such a cold day to travel was not such a good idea for another reason. Not only did we have to tote Hadley and the diaper bag around all day, we also had to lug everyone's heavy winter coats. We decided in advance though that juggling everything was worth it and just tried to downsize what we brought along. Instead of the large diaper bag I normally drag with us full of anything and everything I think we might need, we took a small backpack one with just the essentials - diapers, wipes, a changing pad, and food. I also opted to leave the Nikon at home and rely on Dave's cell phone for recording our memories. (I thought this would also help me to focus on enjoying the day more rather than worrying about getting the perfect pics .)

We found out upon arrival that we'd picked Australia Day to check out the animals. This was especially cool because their special exhibits right now is called "Australia: Wild Extremes." We were quickly ushered into the exhibit and our animal browsing began. 

I mentioned that there was a snake in this cage and Caleb ran right up to it. This boy is braver than his momma!

Whoa! A sting ray!

Hadley is traveling in style.

 

I think he likes this!

Turtles and a freshwater crocodile

Getting a closer look

Though the D.C. aquarium is closer to us and quite a bit cheaper, the main reason I wanted to go to Baltimore was the dolphin show.  When Dave and I were dating we came one evening and enjoyed watching them.  I had a feeling that a little boy who enjoys watching miniature fish swim around in the small tanks in the back of our local Walmart would be crazy about watching these large sea animals put on their performance. Since it was supposed to be the highlight of the visit, we made sure to stop there right after the Australia exhibit. I had no idea what time they did performances throughout the day, but thankfully we arrived just in time to catch the show and would probably not have gotten to see the later one if we'd missed this one. While Caleb did enjoy seeing them, he wasn't quite as thrilled as I thought he might be, which may be in part due to the fact that we had to sit way up in the stands to avoid being splashed, that the trainer giving the show did a lot of the talking, and the dolphins only did a few tricks. His favorite part was when the dolphins would jump high into the air and make a huge splash. He repeatedly squealed in delight something like, "He make a big wave." The trainer told us how they teach the dolphins to do the tricks and all of animals did a great job.

Waving to us

Posing for us

Relaxing on Daddy

There's that smiley face

Caleb's favorite part!

I might have been more excited than the kids.

After the dolphins, we stopped for lunch for a bit. Caleb, who is a wiggly little boy, somehow fell out of his chair backwards and hit the back of his head on the slate floor. When I first went to pick him up, he made a little bit of a gagging sound and all I could think was concussion! I thought we were going to have to leave shortly and take him to a hospital to get checked out. After crying some though, he settled down and acted perfectly fine the rest of the day despite the knot on the back of his noggin.

Once he and I both calmed ourselves, we headed to the jellyfish exhibit. This stop was Caleb's favorite we think judging by his reaction. He just kept going back and forth from one tank to another and back again in awe. It is pretty interesting to watch jellyfish swim. This particular exhibit was called the "Jellyfish Invasion" and focused on how jellyfish are spreading to more areas, harming certain ecosystems as these hearty animals take over and eat the food other fish need to survive. The background music was a bit eerie, but watching the jellyfish and learning about them was fun.

Next, we toured the other wing of the building where the rest of the fish reside. There was floor after floor of tanks teeming with aquatic life. From the Amazon River to the Pacific and Atlantic coral reefs to tropical rain forests to local rivers and streams, animals had been gathered for us to enjoy and learn about their lives. While this area was very busy, Caleb used his size to his advantage and snuck through the crowd to get right up close while the rest of us often had to just stand back and watch him and the fish from behind the other onlookers.

Our last stop was to check out the huge shark tank room.

Scary! Of all the fish in the shark tank, Caleb kept wanting to see the sawfish.

I truly enjoyed the time together as a family but when we went into the shark room, my body felt exhausted and I knew physically I was beyond done for the day after toting both Hadley and the rest of our stuff. We stopped for a break to feed Baby Girl and rest ourselves before heading back to the car. While on our way to do some diaper changes before we left, we noticed right next to the entrance that they had lockers for sale for $2. It was definitely one of those smack your forehead moments, but at least next time we'll know.

We bundled up and made our speedy trip back to the parking garage. Despite the fact that we pushed the kids way past their nap times, they'd done amazing and both of them conked out for the drive home. 

Caleb said his favorite parts of the day were the parking garage (which was just a normal cement parking garage) and the dinosaur (which we later realized meant the giant fossil of some prehistoric shark-like animal that was found near the entrance). He cracks me up!