Fish and Butterflys

We went to the aquarium and the botanical gardens two Saturdays ago and had an amazing time! The weather was perfect and the crowds were minimal because the State Fair is going on right now.

We went to the aquarium first and as we were passing by the pond to the entrance we could see tons of baby fish swimming around. Harris was fascinated! He really wanted to catch one but I told him that the water was too dirty and the fish would probably dart away before he cold catch one. So he settled on sitting at the waters edge and just watching. There were also a lot of bigger fish swimming around under the waterlilies that were in bloom. It was so beautiful and relaxing to just sit and watch. Side note: waterlilies remind me of my mom, she loved them...

While we were there they had a new interactive area where you could "pet" sting rays and bamboo sharks. The kids were so excited! They both touched the rays but there was no way Harris would touch the shark even though I touched it and explained that this kind of shark didn't have teeth. I guess some people don't find sharks as cute and cuddly as I do. ;)

After we finished with the sharks and rays we made our way through the rest of the aquarium with Liv taking pictures along the way. She did an amazing job and got some great pics!

Here we have a sturgeon, a rock fish, a needle nose gar and the most terrifying fish ever; a barracuda... He's looking at me!!!

There are 2 of these seagulls that live inside the aquarium. They are rescue birds and can't fly. They have "seaside" habitat next to the stingrays. They are so noisy! We didn't get a video though, maybe next time...

The moray eels. Very creepy looking...

A remora, tomato clown fish, sea horse, unicorn fish, and an angel fish.

We finally made our way through all of the little tanks to the big tank at the end where there are sea turtles and sharks.

When we are looking at the big tank we like to sit on the floor right in front of it and just watch. This time we sat for about 45 minutes. It is so relaxing.

When we were done with the fish we headed next door to the gardens. When we walked through the gate to the garden we saw a group of people taking pictures of a giant spider web. Upon closer inspection they were taking a picture of a GIANT spider! And not just one. There were 5 separate webs each with its own giant spider attached...

That "little" guy is about 5 inches in diameter. He was beautiful!

When we were finished gawking at the giant spiders we went to the castle for the kids to play in.

Awwww- hugs inside the castle.

The kids love the slide and the mazes inside the castle. It is fun to watch them run around inside the castle. :)

The gardens are absolutely beautiful right now! There were a lot more flowers in bloom this time than last time so it was like a totally new experience.

The thing behind the kids is a flower fountain. The water drips down from the top through all the plants and collects in a pool at the bottom. It sounded like rain. So very cool...

This is the wedding pavilion. In the spring there is purple wisteria hanging down everywhere. So pretty!

During the summer they open an area of the gardens called the "Butterfly Pavilion". There are hundreds of exotic butterflies that they raise there. Some of them they can let go but the rest just live their short lives inside the pavilion. It was fun to see how many different kinds we could find...

Here are a few that we could get pictures of. There were some that just didn't want their pictures taken and would only land for a second and then they would fly away again.

Right outside the pavilion there is a mini village that has mini trains that run through it. The kids can push different buttons around the village that make different trains go. For some reason they only had one train set up that day so we didn't hang out there for very long.

There are little ponds all over the gardens and there is one right by the village that is filled with waterlillies has a little bridge and waterfall that the kids like to look at. While we were looking at it we noticed several frogs peeking out at us.

It was the perfect day and I am so glad that we were able to go. I can't wait to go again!