Aquarium

Okay so this post is out of order...Than and I went to the Mystic Aquarium on Monday June 28th. We had a really good time. I knew Than would love it as he loves the sea lions at the zoo and had been fascinated by fish lately.That day in particular I wanted to take him to see penguins. Than's middle name is Paul, he was named after my best friend who was obsessed with penguins. This year was a rough year for me when the anniversary of his death rolled around, and I could think if no better way to remember and honor him than to take his namesake to go see some penguins. It did the trick. We had a wonderful time and I wasn't feeling sad anymore, just nostalgic. Sadly Than wasn't impressed by the penguins but it was very hot outside and all he wanted to do was go back inside, so maybe next time he will be more impressed.

Than loved every minute of it and we will be back often. He made friends with a Beluga whale, I believe it is the new male...but he seemed really enchanted with Than. He just stayed there staring at each other and squeaking back and forth for 5 or 10 minutes. In the indoor exhibits they have some of them that are down very low which is perfect for little kids like Than. He loved it when he could go right up and stare and not have to be picked up by me in order to do it. He thought that sting rays felt "Yucky" and chanted that loudly anytime we were near the ray pool. In general he loved it all.

The thing I thought was funniest was a new exhibit, the bird enclosure. For a few dollars extra they would give you a stick with bird seed on the end and let you in to the enclosure with hundreds of parakeets, cockatiels, etc. The birds would fly right up and land on your hand, the stick, whatever it took to get close and get the food. Now Than adored the birds...he was delighted to feed them, as long as they stayed still. He liked them best when they were sitting on a branch and he could just hold the food near them. However when they would fly around, particularly around his head it scared the heck out of him. So he constantly went back and forth between delight and terror depending on if the birds were still or not. Yet we stayed in there for a very long time as he really didn't want to leave. Thankfully a very sweet girl took a picture for us, and as you can see the bird was still so he was happy. I wish I had gotten a picture of the look on his face when one tried to land on his shoulder...it was priceless!