Monterey Bay Aquarium

Trek got a 3 day weekend in October so we took the kids to the Aquarium here in Monterey on his day off. I had only been once before, & Trek had never been so it was a fun trip for the both of us. And the kids LOVED it, of course.

Our little "Barnacles."

Bladen was totally fascinated with the sting ray. He loved reaching into the water as it swam by. It didn't let any of the kids touch it, but Bladen got close.

Lorien is my total hands on kid. She had her hands in everything that they allowed you to put your hands in. She was touching snails, crabs, eels, starfish, you name it. She is FEARLESS.

They also have this really cool room where a real ocean wave crashes over the top of you. The room is made of glass so you can feel the pressure & see the craziness of the wave. It scared poor Bladen to DEATH.

My favorite exhibit is always the jellyfish. They are such BEAUTIFUL animals. This aquarium has SEVERAL tanks full of them. They are SO fun to watch.

I love all the play areas in the aquarium. The kids really have a blast there. I love my little dolphins. . .

I think it's a requirement that every aquarium has a NEMO TANK. Bladen never wanted to leave. The kids found every character from the movie inside this ONE tank. It was FUN.

All of our favorite part is the play land. There are SO many things for the kids to touch & play with. We spent a good hour just playing with everything.

They even have a baby play area. Craiger LOVED the waterbed. He was rolling all around & would laugh every time I made a wave for him. It was ADORABLE.

Bladen & Taya spent most of their time playing the the water with little plastic fish. Who knew water could be so fun?

Okay, so I'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of both

"Lord of the Rings" & "LOST"

so imagine my surprise when I turned around & Dominic Monaghan was sitting there with some friends. He was "Merry" in LOTR & CHARLIE in LOST. Charlie was one of my favorite television characters of all time. I was SO excited. But I was a good fan & didn't bother him. . . I just snapped a bazillion photos without him noticing. ha ha ha.

I got a lot of shots of "Craiger & I". . . . with Dom in the background. I know, I'm nuts.

And we finally ended our trip with a step outside onto the deck area. The ocean was beautiful that day. It was SO MUCH FUN.

It was a GREAT FAMILY DAY.