Spring Break 2012: Part Two

So, the day after we went to Knott's Berry Farm, Joseph's Auntie Helen took us to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Joseph's sister, Kailee, and her little baby Sophia had flown in from Maui the night before and were staying in our suite with us, so they also joined us at the aquarium.

There's not a whole lot to say, so I'll just start with the pictures and comment as needed.

Asher and Sophia were mesmerized by the giant tanks right away.

I just thought it was cute how my kids were lined up to watch the fish.

Kailee and Sophia enjoying their time there.

A giant eel swims by to say "hi" to my boys.

Now the sea bass and my kids wouldn't cooperate with each other for picture, so I had to take a picture of a random girl about Moses' size so you can see how big these 500 lb. sea bass were. It was huge!!

This display just made me hungry.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the black fin shark is about 4 ft. long. This was the biggest diamond ray I had ever seen!! It was ginormous!! At least 5.5 ft. in diameter and she weighed about 500 lbs.!! So beautiful.

 Auntie Helen took us to feed the lorikeets. They were friendly birds. The girl that worked there said that the lorikeets only land on people that they know aren't going to freak out. She told us they never land on her because they know she would freak out. They landed on Joseph, Kailee, Helen, and me right as we walked in.

I didn't even have any nectar and they loved me!

Chill little Sophia shows my kids how it's done.

We're just all glad none of us got pooped on.

Asher loved feeding the lorikeets.

By far, Akiko's favorite thing to do at aquariums is petting the animals at the touch pools. She would spend all day there if I'd let her. She loved the rays and they loved her back and kept swimming to her to let her touch them. When there was a group of teenagers freaking out about how "gross" and "slimy" the rays felt, she kept telling them that they were so soft and nice. She kept giving those kids looks like they were being a bunch of pansies. She totally showed them up.

She was practically in the pool with the rays.

I haven't seen seastars and anemones this brightly colored since we went snorkeling off of Boracay.

Petting the anemones turned into a family affair. Akiko also spent a lot of time at this exhibit and talked the ear off of the lady in charge of the exhibit.

Moses posing on the rocks.

Akiko, still soaked from petting the rays, poses on the rocks, too.

I could not believe how big these crabs were. They could have eaten little Sophia if they wanted to, I suppose.

After we were done at the aquarium, we went back to our hotel and Kailee and I took the kids down to the pool. They were a little upset that we weren't going to the beach, but neither Joseph or I had the energy for such an outing. Luckily, the time at the pool was sufficient.

After we got cleaned up, Grandpa and Helen took us out for a fabulous Mexican dinner. I ate way too much. I forgot to check my glucose levels after the meal, but I'm sure I was over.  It was soooo good!

Grandpa Jack with his newest great-granddaughter.

Moses and Akiko with Auntie Helen and Grandpa Jack. Asher was asleep and just out of the shot to the left of Akiko.

We drove home the next day. The kids were fantastic on the drive home and we made better time going north than we did heading south. I wish we could have stayed longer and spend more time with the family, but I'm glad we are close enough that a drive to Long Beach isn't terribly daunting.

Akiko had so much fun and didn't want to leave. She pretty much refused to get back in the car when we were loading up. I had to bribe her with the promise of a new baby brother and that I was really going to need her help. She reluctantly agreed to get in the car.