Welcome to life in the House of Harris!: Seattle Aquarium

Yesterday I surprised the boys with a trip to the Seattle Aquarium! I had worked the night before and when I got home, I was DEAD. So I took a nap on the couch. While I was napping, they played so nicely and played video games together. I woke up and told them to get dressed because we were leaving. They asked where we were going but I wouldn't tell them. As we drove up I-5, Ethan began shouting out things like "the art museum" and "the Space Needle". Nope. Uh uh. Finally, as we got closer, he said, "the aquarium" and I said, "ding ding ding!" They were excited. Unfortunately, I parked a little far away, but it wound up being a good thing. We were able to walk along the waterfront and enjoy all that the Seattle waterfront has to offer!

I have to admit, I went yesterday because one of our local radios stations, KMPS, was offering a promotional coupon on their website for $1 admission. Now I have to admit, I don't listen to KMPS. Um... I can't STAND country music. But I will drop them a thank-you note anyway because it was an awesome deal, especially considering that without it, it would have run me nearly $40 for the three of us to get in!!

We had a GREAT time. We got to see all kinds of sea life in different environments. Although I've lived in Washington for 11 years, it was my first time going. I've been to the Point Defiance zoo and aquarium several times, but never the Seattle aquarium!

Here are some pictures from our day:

Even with its signature gray skies, Puget Sound is indeed a site to behold!

Ethan was a little put out with my picture taking. They get tired of it, but one day I just know they will thank me for it! (Well, at least their wives and children will!)

This gorgeous wall of fish is what you see when you first enter the aquarium. It's so beautiful!

This is a wave tank. It's pretty awesome. I wasn't able to get a picture of the entire tank because it was very crowded (remember, $1 admission - half of Seattle was there!) But it's a clear tank so you can see a side view of what a wave looks like as it goes by. I think we all have the concept in our heads, but it's different actually seeing it.

There was a touching area where the kids could touch all kinds of star fish, sea cucumbers, and other things. It was fun. I braved it and touched a sea cucumber... squishy and gross!!

Silly! And SO cute!

Look, it's Dory... twice!

This puffer fish was so cool. It's huge! Ethan kept trying to tap on the window in an effort to get it to blow itself up, but to no avail. He wasn't the least bit interested in us!

Outside, there is a whole area dedicated to shore life. There are nets which cover everything overhead and protect the wildlife from predators but it still allow the air, sunshine, and rain to come through. It was really neat out there.

This is an outdoor salmon run. It was fun to see their salmon exhibit. They had a tank with salmon fry in it (no, not FRIED salmon... salmon FRY... it's the term used for babies) as well as a tank with salmon that were about a year old. It's not currently the season for salmon to be returning so there were none in the run. But still neat to see it.

It was amazing to look overhead and see all these fish!

The underwater dome:

Silly Ethan!

These lovey dovey river otters were adorable. I just wanted to reach out and give 'em a squeeze!

The following pictures are just random shots around the Seattle waterfront:

And finally... as we were walking back to the car, I spied the Red Robin and decided to take the boys in to share a dessert. I was thinking mud pie. Red Robin makes a delicious mud pie that has no coffee ice cream in it all! So we got in and were seated near the window. I LOVE that Red Robin... you basically get to eat in a restaurant with a waterfront view (it looks like you are sitting right on the water) and yet you only have to pay Red Robin prices (as opposed to high end restaurant prices). As we were seated, I asked for a dessert menu. The waitress handed me one and said, "And I should tell you that we still don't have any mud pie." Talk about a let down! So we wound up ordering a hot fudge sundae and sharing that. We were able to have a nice dessert in great company with a waterfront view for a mere $7 including tax and tip. Not bad for downtown Seattle!