Aquarium of the Pacific

We woke up bright and early ready to play and see fun sights in California. Our first place to visit was the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
As we waited for the rest of our group to join us we watched the water fountain

and looked at all the boats in the harbor.

Papa, Mimi, Uncle Scott, and Aunt Lorisa met us at the aquarium.

As soon as you walked in the aquarium there was a gigantic whale!

We started on the second level checking out all the fish tanks. We played eye-spy and tried finding all the different fish in the tanks. Papa has a real love for the ocean life and wanted to share his excitement with his grandchildren.

Caleb was fascinated by the large grouper fish, which were probably bigger than he was!

We sat and watched a scuba diver swim around one of the tanks and feed the fish. He was hooked up to some sort of microphone that we could hear him talk as he swam and told us about some of the fish he was swimming with.

The aquarium was pretty big, it felt good to sit down a few times and take a break!

Outside were the touch tanks with different sea creatures including sting rays and baby sharks. Caleb had to be held back--he would have jumped in!

It was sure fun to see Uncle Scott and Aunt Lorisa. We miss them and wish they lived closer. They are expecting their first baby in September and we might just have to make a trip out again after the baby comes so we can see our little niece!

Who knew the ocean was so colorful! It sure made us all want to go scuba diving!

I especially liked the sea turtle--I don't know why, but I thought it was really cool to see him swimming all around. I really like the tanks that go up over your head so you feel surrounded by fish.

The sea horses were also pretty cool to watch. We even saw teeny-tiny sea horse babies!

Watch out Ty--a spider crab is going to get you!

Mara's smile says it all: Pure joy! Fun times at the aquarium!