Fun Stuff

Last year I flatly refused to let Rachel participate, but this year I finally caved. Saturday was the GHS "Cheerleading Fun Day", where elementary kids could spend the day at the high school, playing games and learning cheers to be performed during half time of the JV game that night. To my extreme chagrin, the day exceeded Rachel's expectations. She absolutely loved it. And she was pretty cute out there on the gym floor, along with about 90 other little girls, doing her cheering routines, although there was a bit too much hip-swaying for my liking! We did enjoy going to the game and were pleasantly surprised that Mr. Moo made it all the way through 2 quarters and half time before we had to make a fast exit.

On Monday, all four kiddos and I headed down to the Newport Aquarium, where we were joined by my mom, both my sisters and their little ones. They're doing a special promotion during the month of February, and for every adult ticket purchase ($20), 2 kids 12 and under are free. It was well worth the 1.5-hour trip (even with all the gas station pit stops)! We were there from 10 (when they opened) until 3, and all the kiddos did pretty well. Malachi wasn't in the greatest mood, but as long as I kept his mouth stuffed full of cheese and crackers, he did alright.

We saw penguins, alligators, frogs, turtles, sea anemone, sword fish, sting rays, sharks of all sizes, just about every character from Finding Nemo, gigantic star fish, and a fascinating array of underwater life. The only bummer was that my favorite display - the jellyfish - is closed for the next 6 months for renovations. But there is a new play area called the "Frog Bog" - a favorite both for the kids and for their tired moms (grandma)!

Below are a bunch of pictures, which is really just a small sampling of everything we saw . . .

The alligators were a big hit.


I don't want to be anywhere near one of these guys!


Me, Moo, and some kind of large snapping turtle


I loved that the place was so hands-on.


The kids met Paula the Penguin, who, we found out, poops 20 times per day. (nearly as many times as Karis)


Rachel's favorite part was "petting" the small sharks.


Malachi was just beside himself with delight at the little sharks. He even tried to dive in after one of them.


Rachel was a big help with Malachi . . . when she felt like it.


The Amazon tunnel, in my opinion, was one of the coolest parts of the whole experience.


Sting rays are such graceful swimmers - I could have just stood and watched them for a very long time. It looks like they are smiling from the underneath.


Relating with Jonah . . . except I guess he was swallowed by a whale, not a shark.


My view of Mr. Moo for most of the day (this and his rear end waddling toward forbidden exits)


I would love to know what's going through either one of their minds at this moment.





Off to explore another tunnel with Grandma


Six of the Seven cousins


The aquarium is part of a beautiful plaza overlooking the river. The kiddos thought the riverboats were pretty cool. Truth be told, Rachel thought she was pretty cool with her new "Littlest Pet Shop" sunglasses.



We packed our lunches, so we spent a grand total of $20 for all five of us. Not a bad little field trip. It's nice this time of year to have a day like this, and I'm pretty sure we're going to be hearing about different elements of it for the next 2 weeks!