Playing with Fish

Now that Jack is walking and talking, I have been really excited about taking him to a bunch of our area’s attractions. In fact, one of my 2014 goals is to take Jack someplace new each month. After weeks of tentatively planning to go to the zoo – only to realize that it would be 30 degrees outside and/or snowing that day – we decided to take a family trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

We had a lazy morning around the house and left for Baltimore as soon as Jack woke up from his afternoon nap. It was a little chilly outside, but we bundled up in layers.

Good thing we did, because on our way into the Aquarium we discovered this fun little park! I haven’t been to this area in a while, so I don’t know how long this park has been here, but we LOVED it! There were large xylophones that you could pound on to make music, hills to climb and whirligigs to play on. If the weather were warmer, we could have stayed there all day!

playground 1

playground 2

playground 3

Instead, as soon as our hands froze we continued on our path to the Aquarium. It wasn’t a CHEAP date, as tickets are currently $34.95 per adult, but luckily kids under 3 are free. We spent a few hours wandering around though, so we figure it was money well spent.

aquarium 2

Both Travis and I remember these bubble tubes from when we were kids visiting the Aquarium. So it’s kind of cool to think that Jack might remember them from our trip.

aquarium 3

Aquarium 1

I couldn’t believe how excited Jack was to explore and he pointed out lots of fish, sharks and turtles. He even almost made me cry when he told me a fish was “hiding” and pointed to a fish that was, in fact, hiding around the corner.

We had an AWESOME time hanging out as a family. Both Travis and I have been so busy lately, that it is a treat for the three of us to be together. Now that the weather is starting to warm up (fingers crossed), I’m hoping to be able to plan many more fun day trips. DC is less than 2 hours away, so I’d love to spend some time at the DC zoo and Smithsonian museums. As an added bonus, most of the attractions in DC are free, so we will only have to pay for parking!

Do you have any tips for fun places to take a 2 year old?

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3 thoughts on “Playing with Fish”

  1. Our city has an Antarctic centre with penguins. Boo loves it and talks ‘Pingu’ to them. They’re wonderful at showing off and come right up to him. At least these ones are behind glass – there are penguins at the Auckland zoo in an open area and I had to haul him back to stop him trying to go for a swim with them!

  2. Jack is so stinking CUTE! I remember the bubble tubes, too! They’re still one of my very favorite things about the Baltimore Aquarium. Funny how just air and water can be so mesmerizing.

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