Aquarium

There was no school today so I decided to be brave and put the best interests of my girls ahead of my own sanity.  I took the girls to the aquarium!  To make it even more difficult I decided to forgo the stroller as we haven't used it much the last couple of trips.  I was meeting a really good friend who has joined us at the aquarium a number of times and I knew that if things got really bad she would help ensure that we got back to our car safely.

The day started off great...if you don't count Angel's meltdown in the parking lot because I wouldn't let her bring her blanket inside.

Excited to go into the aquarium:


I realized a few minutes after getting inside that I left my phone in the car.  Finding my friend might prove to be an issue, but it was early and I knew about what time she was coming so I decided to just deal with not having it and not make the trip back to the car with the girls.  We headed over to the first exhibits and all was going great. 




 
The girls are happy, talkative and engaged.  Just listen to Sweet Pea talk in this video...I love that she is doing more and more of this!  I think Angel's verbal prowess is helping spur Sweet Pea to do a bit more talking.



We move to a few other exhibits that are still in the main area because that is the easiest place to find people and it's about the time that my friend was supposed to join us.  Wouldn't you know that Sweet Pea decides that this is the time that she has to go potty!  (Side Note: Potty training has been a nightmare for us and just yesterday I called it off and put her back in a diaper.  I was fed up with what I thought might be a power struggle as I was clearly losing the battle and I was either going to lose my mind and temper or we were going to call it quits.  I told her that when she wants to go we will take her, but I'm not forcing her to go and she can go back into panties and pullups when she wants to, but for now she will be in a diaper.  Today she stayed a heck of a lot drier than she has the past few days and so maybe it really is a power struggle issue we are dealing with!)  We head off to the bathroom and she does actually go, but then her sister decides that she needs to go and just sits there.  After getting both girls redressed and hands washed I am just certain that my friend arrived and has no idea where we are.  I head back to the front entrance and ask if there is any way for them to tell me if another member has arrived and the lady asks if this is the person I'm looking for as she turns her computer towards me.  Sure enough...there was her membership photo.  Crud!  Off to try to find her and her youngest son "J"...

Of course, my girls decide that they are much more interested in the benches in the main walkway than finding them.  I know...shock of all shocks!  This was after all called the bench museum for a very long time for a reason! 

These aren't the benches, but these were photos I captured earlier of them enjoying some nicer chairs in one of the exhibits instead of caring about the fish.




As I try to get them to move a little bit closer to the exhibits I watch as huge group after huge group are walking through the entrance.  I'm not sure I will ever find her if this keeps up!



The fish really aren't the biggest attractions at the aquarium for my girls.  Between the benches, ropes, railings and the aquarium map book...it's amazing they looked at any fish.

Luckily my friend had seen my car in the parking garage and knew we couldn't have gone too far.  Yep, she has been with us enough times to know we make very slow progress anywhere we go!  She had taken J through one area in hopes of finding us and then came back to the beginning when we hadn't been there.  I was elated to see them!  Turns out her phone had lost all its contacts so she didn't have my cell number after all either.  We were quite the prepared moms!  Oh well...

Once we were all together it was quite fun...in between the tantrums and whines and fits that my girls would alternate performing that is.  J would try to get my girls to move on to the next exhibit and that never went well.  They really like him, but don't want to be bossed around by anyone.

They enjoyed monkeying around together!  I missed the shot with all 3 pairs of feet off the ground, but I got 2!


Fun "submarine" section according to J.


The penguins swim right over you when you are in this area and today both my girls were good going in there.  I believe last time Sweet Pea wouldn't do it and before that Angel didn't want to.  You never know what either girl will do...


I attempted to get a cute photo of Sweet Pea with the penguins in the background, but she thought this was the appropriate face to make.  Maybe she was trying to create a beak with her lips like the penguins behind her?


Mommy help me!  The penguins are about to attack me!


And my failed attempt at a cute sibling photo.  It's IMPOSSIBLE to get a cute photo of both of these girls.  Doesn't mean I'll stop trying though!


By the end of almost 3 hours at the aquarium, the kids were done...I mean, stick a fork in them done!  But, we had done it!  We ate a quick bite and got back to the car in one piece.  It wasn't a smooth day, but it was a day that the girls deserved and I am so glad we did it.

On a side note...this friend is an amazing friend!  J and Sweet Pea were born just days apart and so there are times when it is hard to see how different they are, but she never makes a big deal out of it and is extremely supportive when it comes to Sweet Pea...and Angel for that matter.  We can laugh and cry about our tribulations and enjoy each others successes and that means the world to me.  She is one of only a handful of friends that were there for me during that first horrible year and has never made me feel uncomfortable for the feelings that I've had through these last 3 years.  She is 100% supportive and for that I am extremely thankful!  If only she lived closer we would see each other much more often I am sure!  Thank you friend for everything!