Baltimore Aquarium

Kurt has been excited to take Emma to the Baltimore Aquarium since we moved back to the area last year. We made plans to meet some friends at the aquarium and began talking it up to Emma on Friday and Saturday. We told her all about the fish and that we would be meeting her friend Morgan there. This morning, while I was getting Emma breakfast, I asked if she remembered what we were going to do today. She looked a little puzzled and I told her we were going to see the fishies. She got a very concerned look on her face put her hands out and said, "What about Morgan?" (It wasn't quite that clear, but that's what she said.) I quickly assured her that Morgan would be there as well and Emma got very excited!

Emma was very excited by the waterfall as we walked into the aquarium and Kurt and I both thought, 'Wow, this is going to be a great day!' and were very excited to move inside to show Emma some fish. Emma was very excited and was busy dancing and running around and pretty much making herself at home. She loved the bubble tubes which welcomed us into the first part of the aquarium and then  looked down into the the sting ray and tiger shark tank in awe. Then we went up an escalator...and Emma decided they were the coolest thing since peeled clementines (I was going to say since sliced bread, but she's not a huge bread fan. :) ) All she wanted to do from that point on was go up escalators, watch people on escalators, or put her hand on the moving rail of the escalator. We made her look at a few fish along the way, but most of the time was spent on the nifty escalators. When we made it to the rain forest portion of the aquarium, she did forget about the escalators for a while and had a lot of fun playing in the water on the ground. She got to see a bird up close as well as a tarantula while we were in the rain forest. They had a lot of fun with some shells and sand in the play area. She and Morgan also had fun running down the ramps on the way out of the museum and stopping to share some snacks along the way.

It was definitely a successful day. Emma was very well behaved and had a lot of fun with Morgan. The girls even did very well during lunch. We'll definitely take Emma back to the aquarium at some point, however, I think we might stick to the mall for escalators and head to Bass Pro next time we want to introduce Emma to some fish.

We weren't able to take many pictures because of the lighting, but here are a couple from the day:

Emma dressed for the day in her froggy sweatshirt. (Thanks Aunt Katie!)

This is what Emma loved most about the day...escalators!

The girls playing in the sand

The girls and their Daddies. I love how excited Emma is in this picture!