THE LONG BEACH AQUARIUM

It was another fun outing when we went to the Long Beach Aquarium on Monday. The weather was great. A bit overcast but not cold at all. Yet, not hot either.

The Aquarium was not overly crowded and so we didn't have to wait to see anything.

We did miss having our Girl Scout sisters, Nikki (who was off having fun with her family on vacation) and Elizabeth (who sadly was sick).



I think the girls had all been to the Aquarium before but it was still fun to look at the large tanks of fish.



We saw so many different things. Like the Seahorses. They are very cute.

I enjoyed watching the girls faces as they spotted different fish. Their eyes would light up and smiles came across their faces.

The colors of the tanks were so pretty too. It made us see that under the Sea is a whole big world full of every color of the rainbow.

As we would go to the different areas, they had pictures of what we were looking at. The girls would each pick one and then hunt for it.

They not only had fun hunting for "their" fish but, they also got to learn about the different fish and what their names were.

Of course, it's not all learning when we go on outings. There is always a lot of fun and laughter going on.

In fact, I told the girls that no matter where we go they are learning something. They put me through a little quiz to see if they really did. Each place they named I told them what they learned without even knowing they were learning.

They just smiled and was a bit surprised that learning can be fun and done without them even knowing they are learning.

They loved being able to touch some of the sea life.

How many people can really say they touched a shark or a stingray? Well, these girls can!

The stingray is pretty slimy. It feels strange.



The girls made their "scared" faces as they stood by the shark sign. They really couldn't wait to run over to see the sharks though.

We saw many different types of sharks. They sure would be frightening to see while out in the water. But, here safe in the tanks they were a joy to watch.

Here, the girls are pointing the shark they like the most. Yes, they are learning right here and don't even know it.



Even though we were at the Aquarium, I think the bird area was the biggest hit of the day. We spent a lot of time in here.

The girls loved having the birds land on them (or get placed on them) and were so full of laughter and happiness.

Most of the birds would only land on you long enough to see if you had any food then, quickly fly away.

So, we ended up buying some nectar for them to eat.

At first, Jesse was a bit leery of the birds and didn't want them to land on her. But, then she saw that they were fine and she enjoyed feeding them too.

I love to see the girls getting over their fears and being willing to try something they think they wouldn't enjoy.

I think Trinity would have been happy if every bird landed on her at the same time.



I wish this blog had sound effects because you would hear three laughing, giggling girls.

I love this picture! You can see the excitement in Brittnee's face. She was laughing so hard! She was having the time of her life.

Look at Jesse! Not a drop of fear in her any more either.

Again, another great chance for the girls to learn something while having fun. They all learned how these birds don't eat seeds. They live on nectar and a little fresh fruit.

They also learned these pretty birds came from Australia.

Oh no! I just turned my back for a second and they all ended up in the mouth of a big shark!

Oh wait. Thankfully it's just a big shark mouth that blows out air so everyone can dry off from getting wet at the playground area.

Some of the sea life seem to come from another world. I really enjoyed watching the Jelly Fish. They are so peaceful looking as they slowly move through the water.

One thing I never tired of was, watching the girls run up the next exhibit so they could get up close and see what was next.

They liked the touching pools. Here they got to touch starfish, the soft sticky sea anemones and other things we may get to see when we go to the Tide Pool down by the beach.

They also got to see a Starfish that had lost one of it's legs and how it was growing back.

Some of the fish appeared to be fake. Their colors were so bright and pretty. Yet, everything was real and as they appear in Nature. No fake color lights were needed for these beauties.

After all the walking around, seeing so many strange and wonderful things, we were all treated to an ice cream by Trinity's grandma.

Thanks Maureen! It was just what we needed.

After our little break, we went to finish up the day. We stopped and watched the Sea Otters. They are so cute!

Checked out several more tanks.

Saw some more, but different, seahorses with some lovely colorful coral.

Then it was time for the all important shopping! These girls LOVE to shop!

It was so hard to decide what they were going to bring home to remember the day by.

In the end they all got a stuffed animal and Trinity got a key chain.

It was time to head home. Everyone tired but full of visions we will remember for a long, long time.

I hope the girls had as much fun as I did.