Trip to Georgia Aquarium

Today we took much anticipated trip with my mom and Liv and Tim to see the fishies at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia. I've been talking it up quite a bit to Ethan and telling him we were going to see fish (as I'm signing fish). As soon as we entered, he was immediately pointing and grunting. He was just as excited as we were to see all the swimming creatures.

We visited the Ocean Voyager exhibit first, complete with a moving sidewalk that you can stand on and view all the fish as they swim on both sides of the tunnel. It contained deep sea fish like sharks, manta ray, and grouper. My favorite was a large viewing room that you could literally sit on the floor and come face to face with the fish. Ethan just sat down and took it all in.


Next we moved over to the Cold Water Quest which had beautiful beluga whales, octopus, sea otters and Japanese spider crabs. Then it was the River Scout exhibit, which was my personal favorite. It had turtles, alligators and Ethan's favorite, Asian small-clawed otter. The otters were so funny and friendly. Ethan and I had a great up-close spot where we watched them jump in and out of the water and even pose for pictures. They must get a lot of onlookers throughout the week! Also, this was pretty cool exhibit because you were surrounded by fish swimming above you and it felt like you were underwater with them.




Next we headed over to the Georgia Explorer which had more local fish that you could touch, if you really wanted to! They had one pool with small sharks and sting rays. They also had another pool with shrimp, which Ethan and I splashed around in. They also had a huge playground with tons of slides so Ethan and I went down the whale slide. He was in desperate need of stretching his legs after being cooped up in the stroller or being carried around.



Last was the Tropical Diver exhibit which showed tropical coral reefs. There were beautiful colorful fish, jellyfish and these weird, but interesting, garden eels. We also found Nemo in this exhibit! This was the perfect ending to a long day because everything was just relaxing and beautiful.


Last but not least, we had our picture taken with Deepo, the aquarium mascot. Ethan wanted to take him home, but got something better instead ...


... a Loggerhead turtle from Mawmaw! Pooped after a long day, Ethan was ready for a nap! YAAWWWNN! Poor thing. He was such a good sport after we toted him along on a 3 1/2 hour trip, being at the aquarium for almost 4 hours and then another 3 1/2 hour trip back home. He has had a fever for the past two days, PLUS he's getting his back molars in so as you can imagine, he's not a happy camper. He's awesome for putting up with all of this hoopla and still having a good time!