Fun day out!

This morning we went to the Newport Aquarium. It was almost a year ago since the last time we went. That time, we went early afternoon and it was PACKED and Julia fell asleep halfway through! So this time we thought we would go on a Sunday morning soon after they opened hoping to miss most of the crowd. It worked!! We just about had the place to ourselves!! We were able to just put Julia down and let her run tank to tank, where ever she wanted, at her own pace.

Julia absolutely LOVED it!!! She would run tank to tank checking everything out! I did not get many pictures because it was dark and she would only linger at a tank for a few seconds before she would see another one to go run to see. She just had a blast being able to go where she wanted at her own pace.

Her favorite parts of the Aquarium were the 360 tunnels, although the see-through floor freaked her out some, and the lorikeet birds. The loud noise of the birds first scared her when we walked into the exhibit, but she quickly adjusted. She just stared and stared at the colorful birds. When in the 360 tunnels, she would see a fish swim overhead or see the rays and would say they were flying. I guess it does kind of look like they are flying.

Here are the pictures I did get. Julia always looks very somber when she is checking out new things and learning, that is why we could not get any smiles.

Just getting started.


This is how she spent most of the visit. Looking up at all the fish in the tanks.




You were allowed to touch these sea creatures, but Julia was content to just look.


She did really like the tanks that went all the way down to her level. She especially loved this one that had huge sturgeon in it.


Here, her and daddy were watching sharks swim by. You were allowed to actually touch the sharks, but Julia just like watching them and splashing in the water. Jerrod did pull her hand out when a shark swam by.


After we went to the Aquarium, we stopped by Jerrod's sister's condo. She lives in Cincinnati right on the river, so she was really close to the Aquarium. Julia loves her Aunt Ninnie and her cat Aby.


Aunt Ninnie fed Julia chocolate covered marshmallows!


Julia just had a BLAST today!! She was such a joy to watch too. We really need to find more things like this to take her too because she really does enjoy them. She just does not do well with crowds, so we have to find times were it will not be really crowded.

One thing that TOTALLY shocked Jerrod and I both was that as we were leaving the aquarium and walking to the car Julia asked "Where the horses go?". I had to think why she would think there would be horses here then I remembered it. WAY BACK in Oct., we stopped at the levee on our way to The Smoky Mountains to have dinner with Jerrod's sister. The restaurant was right in front of the Aquarium and there were horse-drawn carriages on the street offering rides. Julia commented on the horses then, and now MONTHS later, she remembered them being there and wondered where they went!! Jerrod and I were completely shocked that she remembered that! Makes us wonder what else that brain of hers picks up and remembers.