A day with Nemo and Flipper...

With nothing on our schedule for Sunday, we decided to take a little family trip to Baltimore to show Adam the aquarium.  From the moment I told him that we were going to see fish ("Like Nemo?" He asked) and a dolphin show, it was all he could talk about.  Even the episode of "Octonauts" he watched as we were getting dressed featured dolphins.

The tickets were a bit pricey, but with Adam being under 3, at least we got him in for free.  They don't let you use strollers inside, which at first was going to be a deal breaker, but then they said we'd be able to use one of their back-pack carriers.  What a clever idea!  Once inside we quickly realized a stroller would have taken up way too much space in the exhibits and Adam wouldn't have been able to see a thing.  Riding on Daddy's back he was able to see into the tanks, get up close to the exhibits, and tickle Daddy's head from time to time.  It was perfect!

We had two hours to wander through the museum before the dolphin show and we were happy to find that there was plenty to see and plenty to keep Adam entertained.  We saw huge turtles, skates, sea horses, eels, blow fish, clown fish (Nemo!), starfish, jelly fish (eek! though I was happy to learn that the jelly fish I normally see washed on shore are "moon jelly fish" and don't really sting and if they do, it's not painful.  This was a life changing moment!), frogs, tropical birds, and sharks! Lots and lots of sharks! At times I felt I was trapped in Jaws 3-D, but luckily the glass stayed in tact, phew!

After seeing all the exhibits we found our way to a little play/activity area.  It was a great chance for Adam to get out and run around for a bit.  He had fun digging for seashells in the sandbox and putting on puppet shows.

Then it was time for the main event, the dolphin show! I remember loving it as a kid and couldn't wait to see Adam's reactions.  He was simply mesmerized, sitting there in awe of what was going on.  After the dolphins would do a trick he'd jump up and down clapping and cheering.  It was almost as adorable as the dolphins (oh come on people, admit it, dolphins are the cutest!)

Adam spent the car ride home talking all about the fish and the turtles and dolphins jumping out of the water.  He never even fell asleep.  That evening all he wanted to do was act like a dolphin, so we pulled out his shark costume that he was given for Halloween (and refused to wear, but let's be honest, sharks are scary) and told him it was a dolphin suit.  He couldn't have been happier!  Our little Flipper!