Anyway, poor photo quality aside, we had a great morning together! Gus had purchased a Groupon a while back that was basically two adult aquarium tickets for the price of one. And today was the perfect day for a visit! Gus is off work all week, plus the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The aquarium is located on a cliff in La Jolla overlooking the ocean. It was clear and sunny and just a fabulous day to be near the beach.
The aquarium itself was really nice, too. It's not the biggest place, but it had a lot to offer. First, we went through the classic aquarium section-- dark hallways, tank after tank filled with fish and sea creatures mostly native to the California coastline. Some highlights of that part included the eels (which were HUGE and scary!), the jellies, the seahorses, the giant kelp forest aquarium (similar to the one in Monterey, but a little smaller), the lionfish, and a man in a wetsuit cleaning one of the tanks. Actually, this is the only part where Nikos got scared. He didn't know that the man was a man-- I guess because of his snorkel gear and wetsuit? He didn't want to get anywhere NEAR that tank. He even asked, "Is that a gorilla in there???" haha! Silly boy!
After that, we went through the hands-on exploratory section. Half of it is dedicated to seahorse research, and the other half is about reducing carbon emissions, conserving electricity, etc. There were lots of buttons and dials for the kids to mess with, which they enjoyed. And when we got to the end of that hallway, we found a door leading outside to the shark reef exhibit! Awesome!! There were also some water tables outside where you could use plastic panels to control the direction of the current, then race boats across. Both kids loved this part! There was also a nice shark photo op, which we had to take advantage of...
When we were done in that courtyard, we found our way to a different one which housed the tidepools. One of the workers asked Nikos if he had touched a starfish yet, and he said he hadn't. So, she got a small plastic box, filled it with water, and removed a starfish from one of the tidepools. Nikos stuck his hand in the water, but couldn't quite bring himself to actually make contact with the starfish. Maya touched it twice, and then thanked the worker several times. It was too cute! If only I'd had a camera, DOH!!
Anyway, we got home just before lunchtime, and I think Maya was tired... We all ate lunch, then relaxed in the living room for a bit. One minute, she was snuggling in my lap as I checked my email. The next minute, she was sound asleep. Luckily, I had another crappy camera (my laptop's webcam) handy to take a picture:
Aside from the whole not-having-good-pictures thing (which bothers me endlessly!), we had a great time together. And now we know what a hidden gem this little aquarium is! I think another visit will be in order... maybe even with a camera!
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