Aquarium

On Wednesday, Ellen, the kids and I went to the Aquarium in Camden, NJ.  It's right on the river across from Philly.  I really enjoyed it!   Some of the animals that were there surprised me... like the hippos.  There are 4 different sections but first we went to the cafeteria to eat lunch.  Ellen ordered WAY too much... 80% of it wasn't consumed.  This is what she bought... two soft pretzels, two pieces of pizza and 2 french fries for the boys.  Gabrielle had mozzarella sticks and shared the fries.  Ellen had a fruit bowl and onion rings.  I had a fruit bowl.  Then, they got 3 slushies and a bottle of water.   

After we were finished, we went to section D.  The first thing you see are the hippos! There were two of them.  Then, you see different types of jelly fish, an octopus, and tons of fish.  At the end of this section was the shark tunnel!  This is probably my favorite part.  You walk through a glass tunnel and there are fish and 3 different types of sharks swimming all around you!  It was very awesome!  There were also scuba divers in the tank with them.  They clean the tank every day.  After the tunnel, there is a cage dive video experience. You go into a "cage" and on a screen it shows you 

underwater and sharks are swimming with you.  The floor would shake when a shark hit the screen.  It was neat for the kids.  

It was getting close to 1 o'clock, when the Spongebob 4D movie started, so we went to Section A which was closest to it.  At the end of that section we could pet sharks!! I lied earlier... the best part of the aquarium was being able to feel the different things in the exhibits.   The sharks were smooth if you ran your hand down their backs and rough if you ran it up. It was really interesting being able to actually touch the sharks.

We got out of section A just in time for the Spongebob 4D Movie.  I assumed it was going to be the length of an actual movie but then I asked how long it was and his response was 15 minutes!  So, we got our 3D glasses and found our seats.  Gabrielle sat on the end, then me, Joshua, Ethan and Ellen.  Joshua was scared.  The first 10 minutes of the show was something about sharks.  We had air blowing at our heads and would get squirted with water.  A string would run across our feet and between the seats.  Then, it was Spongebob for 5 minutes.  He was making a crabby patty and the pickle got away.  So, of course, he went after it and that was our underwater adventure. It was cute for the kids.

Next was my brother and sister's favorite thing, the penguins!  They were outside in section B.  I must say, they were cute!! There were also seals and sea lions.

The last section we went to you could touch more sea creatures.  There 

were 

manta-rays, jellyfish, starfish, and various other things.  I was really surprised that some of the star fish were hard as rocks.  The water they were in was FREEZING because these ones were from Alaska.  It was really excited to be able to touch everything and see all the neat underwater creatures.  It was definitely a great experience!

That's the end of this weeks adventures.  The kids are off 2 1/2 days again next week, so we'll see what things I end up doing! :)