Monterey...Part 1!

This past weekend we escaped the heat and hung out in Monterey for the weekend! First stop...the Monterey Bay Aquarium! We spent a lot of time telling Landry about the aquarium and how he would get to see lots of different "fishies." He of course wanted to see...elephants! Poor guy...we tried to explain that there wouldn't be any elephants...but he still asked for them...several times. ;o)

We started off in the flukes and fins area...actually we started in the Open Sea exhibit...which led to lots of tears, crying, the death grip, etc...so we decided to make a u-turn and start with a smaller, more well-lit part of the aquarium. Of course it would have helped if Landry would have been willing to take off his glasses...but...we were in a new place, with lots of people he didn't know, so we should have known that it would take about 2 hours to be able to part with those bad boys...no joke.

Back to the story...flukes and fins...it was a hit! Landry loved to listen to the dolphin sounds. Seals... not so much. Sea lions...nope. Just the dolphins!

He and Daddy went "fishing" for krill.

Mr. Independent quickly decided, "I do it!"

Looks like fishing can be tough work...and requires a lot of concentration!

After that we headed back to the Open Sea area...Landry and Daddy looking for sharks!

The anchovies were a hit!

Always a highlight...the jellyfish!

Landry decided that he wanted to touch a lot of the exhibits! "I touch it," he would say. :o)

So...we headed to the Splash Zone where he could touch the exhibits.

Of course Mr. OCD was more concerned with washing his hands...

and then we decided it was time to take a break and eat some lunch! We were getting a bit grumpy...when I say "we" I really mean Landry and me. Sorry, Bubs...you inherited the "I'm hungry, feed me now...or I might stab you" gene from your mommy. :o)

We were much better after a belly full of..."fench fies!" Did you also notice that the shades came off finally?

So we picked up where we had left off and went to check out the "touch pools"...where you can touch the animals. Guess what...Landry did NOT want to touch any of the animals. 

"No touch, Mommy...I spash (splash!)"

This is the face I got when I asked for a "cheesy smile!"

Even though Landry didn't want to touch the animals...one of the animals really wanted to touch Landry! This little crab kept trying to crawl up and say hi to Landry. :o)

Then it was on to check out the salmon...which of course...Landry wanted to...TOUCH!

One of his favorites...the PENGUINS!!!!!

Next we went to check out the otters. Landry...not so interested...at all. He was, though, VERY interested in the stairs that lead up to the otter exhibit. "Tairs, Mommy. Tairs. I go tairs." The child is crazy! :o)

Last but not least...bubbles! No, not real bubbles...but that is what Landry called this exhibit. The aquarium has this really cool area that shows how the tides work. You can walk through a clear tunnel and water rushes over and around you.

We had a great day at the aquarium! Huge thanks to Jake for the passes. :o) More on the rest of our trip tomorrow!