A Visit to the Downtown Aquarium

The week went by as usual- Spencer working A TON, the kids going to school, and Avery had Activity Days. But with Emily's B-day on Monday, and Spencer at work, we had a little party Monday night and Tuesday night. We wanted to do something as a family and decided to go to the Downtown Aquarium. They'd been there before and were excited to have some fun! They remembered the Long Beach Aquarium my dad took them to when we visited Cali and talked about the whale hanging from the ceiling. They loved it so much!

Anyways, we let Josh take his nap so he would be enjoyable and left after lunch. Good thing we waited, that's when the rain stopped.

The Allred trio super excited for the rides and fish!

I'm trying to take more pictures- can you see the excitement on their faces? Woohoo another picture.

Another picture? I think I confused Emily.....Or maybe she was getting wet from the water splashing behind her. She's a silly girl.

Jake wanted to take a picture by the shark while Spencer bought the cute blue bracelets that let us go on all the rides. That was funny- the bracelets were stickers and it was a bit confusing for sleep deprived parents: "How does this work?" We couldn't stick them on the kids arms- they cry enough with a small band aid being taken off! I laughed when I looked at the back of the other bracelets and it said in large capital letters: DO NOT PEEL OFF!! Ohhhh, I get it! Only peel off the small part on the end that says: start peel here. with arrows clearly pointing the direction to pull off the backing.

We hit the carousel first. The kids loved it. Round and round we go.....

Emily wanted to ride on the sea horse....

Josh rode a tiger shark. He had so much fun! The whole time around he would say, "Wooo..." I love this age, they are so fascinated with the simple things.

The next ride I passed on. I'm not sure what it's called but it shoots you up in the air and drops you down. It does that a few times. No, thank you! Have fun! I'll watch the girls go on the carousel again.

Ugh...I loved seeing Jake's legs fly out in front of him when it would fall. He always had a smile on his face so he must have enjoyed himself!

The next ride was the train that takes you through a shark tunnel. It also says that one of the Great White Sharks escaped from the tank and was loose, that we need to keep our eyes out for it. As this is being said we are riding past a large pool of water and up explodes this Great White Shark head right next to our seats! Emily and Avery screamed and Jake jumped right along with them. Emily covered her eyes for the next minute while Spencer and I laughed for the next few minutes. It was really funny!

So what is the best thing to do while you are waiting for your turn to ride the train and you are four years old? Swing of course! Swing on the railings. I think we were in line for 10 minutes. It made me think of all the times I went to Disneyland with my Dad and all the lines that would be at least an hour long. Wow! I remember doing the same exact thing waiting for the rides at Disneyland. It was hard to be patient and a little girl.

The train has finally arrived. Look how patiently they are waiting. What good kids.....

Yup! I was really that tired! I'd had about 5.5 hours of interrupted sleep that night. So please excuse the terrible picture of myself. I am holding a cute blondie though! ; )

I love this picture of Jake and Avery! I really hope that Emily and Josh will as close as these two are. They are best friends even if they fight and tease.

I love luv love these pictures of Josh. He makes us all smile and laugh! He's growing up so fast. He's such a happy boy and is so much fun. He learns a new word every few days. On the drive home he said, "Baby" He kept saying, "Momma" and I'd answer, "Yes, Baby." So he'd repeat me, "Baby." So fun!

I took a picture of my train seat companions in the shark tank. Can you see all the scary sharks? The coolest was the Sawfish! Do you see them above their heads? Of course not, my sleepy self used the flash. I really should take a photography class and learn how to take really great pictures. Photoshop wasn't around when I took my photography class in high school. Yup I just dated myself! Or maybe it was and I just wasn't interested enough in it.

Our next stop was the indoor exhibit. I had to convince Jake to take another picture by the turtles. There was an old looking shack with ragged windows and lots of noise coming from it. Jake was very concerned about what was going on in there. I told him we were "goin' down the bayou!"

Another picture that needed persuasion! "Come on let's take a picture next to the treasure chest! Jake try to pick some up!" As Emily trys to take off her monkey backpack, or her leash as we sometimes call it.

Spencer felt bad keeping Josh in the stroller most of the time so we put the monkey on him. He loved walking!

Before touching the sting rays and sand sharks she had to look out from this divers suit.

I was surprised Avery was brave enough to touch the rays and sharks. She's my more timid and reserved child but I'm proud to say she did. I know she did because she described how they felt to me. The rays were, "smooshy and smooth" and the sharks were "rough." Surprisingly Emily didn't like touching them. It must be the age because Emily loves to touch everything.

Josh thought it was fun to put his hands in the water. I think he actually got to feel a squishy sting ray. He loved watching all the fish swim around.

Finally we made it to the white tigers. When we approached this statue they were all a bit nervous about getting near it thinking it was real! Really?!

Apparently Jake was ready for a fight and Emily was scared- you can see it all over her face.

Ok maybe Emily wasn't scared. She just had a headache from all the pictures! I can just hear the heavy sigh, "Ahhh.....another picture?" Jake's still ready to fight. I think he's been watching me do my Kenpo X.

The white tigers were asleep in the back. Spencer told the kids to do jumping jacks to get their attention and wake them up. So Avery's mid jump here.

Emily got some height with her jumping jacks. Jake's ready to fight again. Nice stance there buddy!

Back outside for one last ride before heading out to get dinner and drop Dad off at work. He worked at telemetry that night. ALL night!

Jake and Emily took one last ride on the carousel before leaving. Jake won a prize by knocking down three clown fish throwing baseballs. Round we go.....

Emily rode a sea horse again! She also won a prize playing a giant fishing game.

Happy Birthday Emily! I hope you had a great week! Love you tons Baby Girl!