VIRGINIA BEACH AQUARIUM

I've been trying to write this post for DAYS now and here's hoping that today is the day I finally get 'er done. We got back home Sunday night from the beach and we are a little pooped, reeling from a great time in Virginia Beach, frustrated by our first floor still not being back to normal, and trying to get back in the swing of things nevertheless. 

And besides, I have pictures to share! Things to say! Declarations to make! So let's get to it. One of the things we did last week was visit Virginia Beach's aquarium. Sloane and I had been watching Planet Earth earlier this summer, and had hopes that we would be able to see some of the animals we learned about, so it was thrilling to walk up to the building and immediately see these beautiful seals swimming by us in a tank and jumping out to get fed. 

And then we walked inside and saw....dinosaurs?!  They were having a dinosaur exhibit with these huge robot-like dinosaurs that moved and made rawr-ing noises, which even I had to admit was a little scary. Sloane recently had shown interest in dinosaurs and had picked out a T-Rex toy at Target the other day, so she was really excited...until she realized she was actually scared, and then she was not so excited.

On the way out of the dinosaur exhibit, she spotted this sticker of a smaller dinosaur (Velociraptor?*) and exclaimed that it was probably a friendly dinosaur because it was smaller and similar in size to her T-Rex toy dinosaur. Here she is having them meet each other.

*As we were walking through the exhibit, I pointed out each dinosaur and to my surprise each of their names came to me all of a sudden, as if out of the ether. I haven't said the word, "Stegosaurus" in who knows how many years but there it came, out of my mouth.  I didn't know what this one was called, so I had to look it up, but I do remember these from the movie, Jurassic Park. When I think about,  probably the only reason why I know the names of dinosaurs is because of that movie, and also The Land Before Time, which I remember to be really good. I don't remember what happens in that one anymore, but I remember watching it a whole bunch of times, and I can't wait to watch it someday with Sloane.

Note: T-Rex nibbling on my mother-in-law 's neck.  It's a friendly dinosaur, but it still gets hungry now and then.

There were people swimming around in the big tank and Sloane was primarily concerned with why on earth there was a person in there.

That's her telling me that if you touch the sting rays they might sting you. 

And this is her explaining to grandma that if you touch the sting rays, they might sting you. The way she explains things to you as if she is telling you the most important thing ever, using her hands, and her eyes big and round, is so excellent. 

And these sea turtles were probably our favorite thing there. They were huge, majestic and beautiful. And as Sloane pointed out, "They're flying!!!"

We did it! We love you! Goodbye!