GA Aquarium #1

The GA Aquarium is #1 in the nation, but it's also #1 on our Summer List of Things To Do Before Chandler Starts Working

I had mildly fretted about going after school was out, I don't like crowds or noise or lines.  But I love Disney and there are all of those there, so I figured I would live.

Happily, it was not packed, the only thing I had to wait for was some Nemo-obsessed mother/daughter pair to quit pointing 'him' out to the younger brother who gamely held a stuffed clownfish and said nothing, no matter how many times they screeched.  I imagine he knows as well as I do that Nemo is animated and a real clownfish is not.  That wasn't Nemo-you stand your ground, kid.

We drove over and back in the same day, Atlanta is just under 4 hours away, making it a LONG day trip, but doable.
Alex is going twice a month to an allergy specialist who has had great success in helping with food allergies.  He has a peanut allergy and has to have an epi pen at all times.  The 'cure' won't magically and with Alex wolfing down PB&J, but over time he can build up a resistance to them so that he can be exposed and not end up in the ER.
I think of it as the Dread Pirate Roberts Plan
So anyway, they are in Atlanta often, so we tagged along!

I am sure we have seen these before, but I don't recall nose fish.

I'll say no more.

Jump in, Esther, ssssswim with usssss

We watched the whale sharks being fed

Chan blocked part her face in nearly every 'posed' shot.
I don't know what my kids are doing, they made silly faces in most of our family vacation shots too.  It makes me sad.

Inde is MAGIC

I sneaked this one to avoid face-hand syndrome

We went to see the Niafish

ham

The beluga bite each other and leave scars.  They seem so happy all the time, I don't know if it's playful like Nia and Murphy beating the crap out of each other or if it's serious.  They seemed to really like clamping down on tails.

We went to the dolphin show, which I really enjoyed!  The trainers seem crazy about dolphins and the dolphins seemed happy and willing.  The jumps were amazing, but not surprisingly, them riding around being pushed by a dolphin was my favorite.  There was discussion afterward with the trainers about dolphins as rescue animals, which is totally doable as far as training goes-they would go get people and haul them back to shore.  I decided they would have to be wearing a sign or something, I can't imagine being near death and BAM, a huge dolphin comes up and starts snouting you.  They are SCARY.  I would not want to be out in the wild with one.

No photos during the show, but we were seated in the correctly named 'splash zone'.  We got wet, but the middle section in the dead center was soaked through.

 Another sneak shot

This no longer fools him, the selfie with accidental Ben capture

We got to the aquarium around 12:30 and left around 6 to get some food, then Katy talked our way back in and we stayed until they closed and were nearing 'poke with a stick' mode to get us out.

We spent at least an hour during the day just watching the whale shark tank.

We went back up to see the dolphins in their play pen area outside the performance tank.

Cichlids

These guys were enjoying rolling on the carwash strips so much the whole area was stinky with musk, it was kind of creepy!

It takes nearly all the kids to make the biggest ray!

And it does take all of them to make a dolphin!

ice wall

Alex can jump a 17 foot alligator in 2.5 leaps, Ben in 3
I can do it in 17 jumps.

two foot, standing still launching forward, they can clear 6 and 7 feet at once!!
That requires belly muscle

FINALLY, an open touch tank.  We hit them ALL DAY when they were on breaks.

Art from beach debris

Emma loves fun!
Ben...well...

Full of food, we head back in!

Tired people, moving floor...

We got back home around 11, I zonked right out!  Looking forward to a possibly rainy day in which laundry and Netflix are my major considerations.  60% chance!  It would be the first time in 3 weeks, so we need it.