"wish! Wish! WISH!"

After a late night in Los Gatos watchin' all the lights, I woke up early, and packed up our stuff for a day trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium! After watching Lily and Noah stare in amazement at the fish tank in the Thai restaurant the week before, it was a no brainer that another trip to the Aquarium was in order!

After waking Noah up and getting him in the car with a snack pack of "yoi-yos" (cheerios) we headed down to Soquel for a breakfast date with Denise, Lisa, Jasper and Justine! Noah was a bit confused why were were up and out so quick and early, but was happy as could be to see all his Aunties and his buddy Jasper-Roo! We rearranged the furniture, had some great bagels, and probably made too much noise in the quiet little bagelry. Just as the babies patience started to wear thin, Auntie Denise busted out with some super cute Christmas gifts that kept them entertained a little while longer! You cant go wrong with Christmas duckies and crayons :) Thanks Denise!

Once we finished chit-chatting, we said good-bye to Denise and the rest of us made our way to Monterey! Thankfully, Noah slept in the car on the way down and was well rested for all the excitement to come...Jasper, on the other hand, was still wound up like the energizer bunny and rearing to get going! So after a quick diaper changed and packing of the strollers, we were off :) It was beautiful, sunny, warm and EMPTY! We didn't get bumped, pushed, or have to wait in line anywhere...the boys got to run wild and explore and we got to enjoy it. I dont know exactly why I thought it was a good idea back in July, but, I will never ever NEVER go back to the Aquarium on a weekend or holiday.

Anyway, we started upstairs at the outer sea exhibit and Jasper was in awe of the mass of sardines overhead. Noah could have cared less, but as he pushed the stroller into the next room, he caught a glimpse of tons of fish at eye level and took of running and screaming and laughing and shouting "wish! Wish! WISH!" while making the sign for fish. Noah and Jasper were both so excited! We moved onto the jelly fish (my favorite) and the boys were not so impressed, though Noah did freak thinking one was gonna get him!

When we got to the huge tank, Noah saw a few schools of fish and the yummy tuna and went running up to the glass. He pressed his nose against the glass and turned to tell me something I couldn't understand. I smiled and said "oh wow!," a typical response to indecipherable babble, and just as Noah turned back to the glass a enormous hammer head shark swam directly in front of his face! Noah quit breathing, stumbled backwards, trembling and fell just as I got behind him to catch him. The poor kid just about came out of his skin, he was crying and holding me as tight as possible. Noah thought that big creature was gonna bump right into him! The whole concept of glass and separation just didn't click. I was able to calm him down, sit on the floor a few feet from the glass and point out the fish with him seated comfortably, safely in my lap. Auntie Justine joined us and Noah was able to enjoy all the fish and sharks that swam by. His eyes were wider than I have ever seen and not a single thing moved in that tank with out Noah seeing it! While we sat on the floor, Jasper made his way up to the second level, stairs are just as fascinating as sharks you know?! He was running around with his mama, making friends and silly faces!

Next we made our way into a kids play area and had the whole place to ourselves for a good 20 minutes! The boys were running, climbing, coloring, playing with blocks and pushing buttons all over the place! For our entertainment, we kept encouraging the boys to push the buttons that made animal sounds; dolphins, seals, whales, and our favorite flatulent sounding elephant seals. Real mature, I know! The noise was pretty loud, and startling, but sounded like someone ripped a huge fart, and, his scared the crap outta the boys....especially poor little Noah. Jasper would keep pushing that button though!































We then made our way outside to the observation deck for some fresh air. Noah found a pigeon beggin for food, and he had a great times chasing it around before we headed down to the sea horse exhibit. Again, I think we were more awe struck by the sea horses than Jasper and Noah were, so we moved through it quicker than we would have liked, and headed to the cafeteria!




While Lisa and Justine got some food, Noah and I watched the pod of dolphins that were playing in the ocean just outside the aquarium...that is until Jasper managed to dump his pizza off the stroller & shatter a plate to the floor, scared the crap outta everyone and embarrassed poor Lisa. She handled it better than I could have though! We vacated quick as they cleaned up and we laughed about it over lunch. Noah refused to eat most of what I brought, except for the oranges and chips of course, but I did get some peanut butter and honey sandwich in him despite his fascination with everything other than me, and lunch!

We made our way quickly through the kelp forest, the octopus and sting rays, and spent some time at the touch pools. Noah found great joy in the seaweed :) and tried extraordinarily hard to figure out a hermit crab. At this point, I think, Jasper was melting down and managed to pass out cold in the stroller. I could tell Noah was sleepy, but he was far to excited to sleep, so we headed up to the splash zone!

The splash zone is usually loud, crowed and chaotic, but that day, it was actually pretty mellow and we had tons of fun! Noah got inside the famous clam, went through the tunnel by himself and then spent most of his time at the slide. The next 20 minutes looked like this; climb up the stairs, take a peek in the window in the floor to see which one of us was in there, laugh and giggle, go down the slide, avoid mom and aunties goofing off with the toys...repeat!! We eventually made our way to the water play, the giant blocks, and the penguins, and when Jasper woke up we started over but we didn't last very long. All of us were getting tired.














































































On our way back to the cars, we made a stop at a candy shop. Ya know the kind on the wharf, full of barrels of candy, jam-packed so tight you can barely fit in there? We went in with strollers and tired toddlers :) Jasper grabbed everything he could reach, which was everything, Noah caught on shortly after, so entertaining, for everyone else! :) The last stop was at Starbucks for a much needed pick me up for the drive home...luckily, after the diaper change and MASSIVE MELTDOWN, Noah was sleeping 5 minutes after I got on the freeway and it was a smooth drive home.

I love our outings! I love our friends! and think we need more days like this one!!