A few nights ago, a friend of R.C.'s invited us to go to Mystic Aquarium on Saturday. It didn't take us long to decide that we were definitely going. We did however decide to drive separately so that we could leave earlier and spend the entire day there, instead of just a few hours.

This morning we woke (some earlier than others), ate a quick breakfast, packed some snacks and headed out the door. We drove to Mystic, Connecticut, which is less than an hour away, to spend a beautiful day viewing some fish and ocean creatures. The weather was good...cool, not cold, and sunny. We were able to see: Beluga whales, dolphins, penguins, seals, seahorses, eels, sea turtles, sea lions, piranhas, an octopus, jellyfish, sharks, stingrays, and beautiful fish galore (just to name a few). We saw a great sea lion show and even got to pet stingrays. In the stingray tank they also had some sharks. The stingrays and the sharks shared a tank and you were allowed to stick your hands in to pet the stingrays, but were told that if the sharks began to swim around, you should remove your hands immediately. Max loved to warn everyone and yell, "watch out! You better watch out!" when the sharks would swim near him or anyone else.

Later in the afternoon we met up with Steve and walked around again with him. The boys were happy to show him around, as they thought they were experts on the place. One really great thing, other than the animals, was the fact that R.C. and I had our hands free for a good part of the afternoon. Once Steve got there the boys wanted to be close to him instead of us. It was funny to see Steve with both boys hands and R.C. and I just tagging along. We went back to pet the stingrays again, and also went to the sea lion show for the second time. It was all worth seeing again and again.

A few (ok, yes, I know there are too many...) pictures of our day...
Both boys love touch tanks! They pulled their sleeves up quick and plunged their hands in to feel all the little marine life.


A scuba diver in one of the tanks trying to entertain the boys...


The beluga whales were great to watch!






One of the sharks that was in with the stingrays


Trying to tempt the stingray up the surface so little arms could reach it.

Success! Everyone got a feel...and the man behind got a good laugh out of the boys...



A closer look at a horseshoe crab

Russell informing Steve as to how to hold a seastar. Russell is an expert, right?

Maxwell holding a crab. He was not afraid of it pinching him at all!!

We also saw displays of shipwrecks and everyone got to go into a very small submarine. Another fun day in New England!