Monterey Bay

This weekend we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. A friend we met at church was kind enough to lend us two adult membership passes and Josie was free. We bought and printed a ticket online for Xander (and really appreciated those free adult passes, saved us $60!).

When we arrived, we had just missed the otters being fed. Josie and I still thought they were the cutest things ever.

They had a big jellyfish exhibit which was amazing to look at. No fancy environment, just a couple of jellyfish (or in one case about twenty) floating around.


They also had a big seahorse exhibit. It went through stages of life and had a wide variety of species. These in the picture were crazy, their camouflage to look like plants was amazing.


There were penguins and flamingos. The coral reef had fish with amazing neon colors. The kelp forest was huge and the size of the fish was astonishing. The octopus was big and was crawling across the window. The kids didn't seem to caret but Chris and I were amazed to watch it.

Xander's second favorite part was the touch pool. There was kelp and other plants, shells and starfish.


Xander's favorite part was the splash zone. A huge 'wave' was released onto a glass ceiling and wall.


Josie did not like it quite as much.


She did like the flamingos and was rather upset when we left them. The penguins made her feel a little better.


There were several play areas for the kids, but we only made it to one section on whales.


To commemorate the day, we told the kids they could pick out souvenirs. Josie immediately grabbed a stuffed baby penguin. Xander played with a few toys. Then they spotted the sparkly cups with the twisty straws. Let me tell you, they suddenly love water (I will only let them drink water from the cups).


After the aquarium, we went to a park in Monterey Bay called Dennis the Menace park. Let me tell you, it was an awesome park. Several play structures, a garden maze, bridges and even a train engine to climb on. Since it was 70 degrees out, everyone else wanted to go to the park too. And it was a little big for Josie, who split her lip on the first slide she went down.


Overall, it was a good trip. The aquarium wasn't too crowded and the 1.5 hour drive went surprisingly smoothly. We may go back (but only if we get free tickets again).