Whale Watching Trip: Part 2

After Aaron and Kaylee finished with the whale watching trip, we met up to go to the Virginia Beach Aquarium.  We didn't realize how busy it was going to be. It was "mermaid day." There were mermaids swimming in the tank and mermaids to meet throughout the aquarium. When we pulled in to the parking lot it was full. At that point, if we hadn't already paid for our tickets, we would have left. We had already visited the aquarium and we were hoping for a nice stroll through the aquarium. That wasn't possible. There were so many people that we could barely walk. Even though I wasn't very happy, Kaylee had a good time.

Kaylee's favorite part was the sting ray touch tank. I rolled up her sleeves, but she was so excited to touch a sting ray that she put her arm in too deep and got her shirt all wet. 

Kaylee touching a sting ray. Notice how deep her arm is in the water? 

Kaylee shoulder deep in the sting ray touch tank.

Another fun part of the aquarium is the other touch tank. It has horseshoe crabs, crabs, and a few other marine animals to touch and explore.

Kaylee touching a horseshoe crab. 

Then, we moved on to the mermaid activities. By this time, it was mid afternoon and things were getting a little bit calmer. Kaylee made a hat at an activity station.

Kaylee making a mermaid hat. 

We went to a read aloud story time. A mermaid read us a story about protecting the oceans.

Kaylee with the mermaid who read us a story. 

We explored the rest of the aquarium and found my favorite animal, a sea turtle. 

Kaylee and a sea turtle. 

When she saw this shark, she had to pose for a picture inside of its mouth. She talked daddy into joining her. 

Posing inside the jaws of a shark! 

We then walked over to the other part of the exhibits called the Marsh Pavilion and watched the river otters and explored the exhibits. We were all exhausted and hungry. We left the aquarium and met up with some dear friends and went out to dinner at one of our favorite Virginia Beach restaurants, Rudee's. 

Kaylee was worn out before dinner was over. And so was I.