Our Summer Bucket List

     Yesterday was a long, but extremely fun day full of all sorts of sea creatures!  With it being Memorial Day, the hubby was off, so we planned on going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I just had to rig the Summer Bucket again.  Which worked, Liam picked the right slip of paper!

     So we packed up the car with lots of snacks, extra clothes (in case it got chilly), 

the stroller, and camera and we were on our way about 8:30am.     

It was a LONG drive up there, so after some lunch, we finally made it

 to the aquarium around 2:00pm. Which gave us at least four hours to look 

around before they closed at 6:00pm.

The first exhibit we looked at was this ENORMOUS kelp tank full 

of different kinds of fish, including some little sharks!

We watched a scuba diver feed all the fishes,

 including an eel, which tend to be a bit shy.

There were lots of little tanks full of sea creatures.

Liam loved taking pictures of all the coral.

Next we checked out this huge Deep Water tank.  

It had Tuna, a Hammerhead Shark, Dolphin-head fish, and much more!

On to the Jellies.....these are amazing creatures!

These lite jelly fish lights were hanging from the ceiling, very cool.

To quote Sponge Bob Square Pants....."Jelly fishin', Jelly fishin', Jelly fishin'!"

Can you see who's in the pictures?

One of Liam's favorites! The Puffins!

And then on to the Penguins!  

Around the corner there was a touch pool for everyone to enjoy.  

There was Bat Rays, Sea Skates, Coral, Star Fishes, Seaweed, and much more!  

Liam didn't want to touch any of it though, maybe next time.

There was an area for the kids called the Splash Zone, 

where they could be interactive with how waves worked.

There was also this really cool wave tunnel that you could walk through. 

On our way out of the tunnel, Liam found some 

frogs and fish he wanted to take a picture of.

We started to get a little hungry, so we checked out the little cafe and got a snack.  

Afterward, we went out on the deck and took a look through some telescopes.

The last exhibit we checked out before the aquarium closed were the Seahorses.

Lots of pretty seahorses!

Can you spot the White's Seahorse, Leafy Sea Dragon Seahorse, 

or the Alligator Pipefish?

It was getting close to closing time, so we stopped by the gift 

shop and Liam got to pick out his favorite sea creature he saw today.

.....He chose the Giant Octopus and he named him Oscar!

We trekked it back up the hill to our car and just as soon 

as the hubby started driving back home, guess who zonked out!  

And he slept the whole drive home, which was good, 

since he didn't get a nap in today, and we didn't arrive home till 10:30pm.  

What a LONG LONG day! But like I said, sooo sooo much FUN!

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day, we sure did!!