fish and friends!

Once Daddy had finished up the quarter, we suddenly found ourselves free for a bit of fun.  So, late one night the grown-ups decided that the next day would be for adventuring.  And to the children's delight, we settled on one of our collective favorites:  the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

We informed the children when they woke that morning that we were off to the aquarium.  The girls were beside themselves with anticipation.  They'd been asking to go for ages.  John David was, of course, oblivious -- since he had no context for the word aquarium or even fish, really.

That is no longer the case!

We were barely in the aquarium's doors before the girls were looking and touching and learning all about sea creatures.  (Well, to be fair, Madeline wasn't much interested in touching.  She came around eventually, but it took about half an hour.  We were on the other side of the aquarium by then.)

John David condescended to be wheeled around the aquarium in the jogger for a while.  He watched the fish while his sisters checked out the tidepools.  We introduced the sign for fish and he caught on quite quickly.  The only other sign he's learned with that much enthusiasm is "fan."

But he really got excited when we turned him loose in the children's exhibit!

One of his favorite things was toddler-sized tunnel with aquarium "windows" inside it.  John David could not be convinced to leave.  You can hardly tell, but he's got his face pressed up against some fish in this photo:

It's amazing how much is just the right height for a toddler!

Just before we left home we made a call to our good friends the Starlings, who happen to live in Monterey.  We said, "Sorry we're the anti-planners and give you absolutely no notice, but as it turns out, we're headed your way!  We're going to be at the aquarium this morning, and we'd love to see you if you've got time."  Because she's a champion, Joni said, "Sure!" and squeezed us in between shopping for a crib tent to contain her little climber.  (It's clear our children were born to be friends, is it not?)

Kathleen and Madeline were super-excited to meet up with their friends Sammie and Reese.  We're excited that they were excited, because Sammie and Reese will show up at West Point at the same time we do.  Friends that travel on the same timeline.  Talk about a blessing!

The highpoint of the morning (other than the friend reunion, obviously) was the new (to us) sea turtle exhibit.  It made me a bit homesick for Hawaii, where we used to watch sea turtles on the beach.  It was so much fun to see them again!  And the children loved it.  It was as though sea turtles were swimming right next to them!

Indy, Reese, and Sammie.

I love this photo.  What cute little guys!

More turtle love.

I managed to snap just one more photo -- of the girls clowning with a statue of a penguin (they loved the penguins, too!) -- before my camera's battery died.

Not long after that, our children's batteries started wearing down, too.  Joni and her girls took off toward home and naps.  We left in search of a yummy lunch, which we found.  And then we headed home, the children dozing (Madeline and John David) or reading (Kathleen) as we drove.  It was the perfect circus adventure!  Thanks for meeting up, Starlings!  We can't wait to do it again soon.