Spending the Day at Mystic Aquarium

We've been to the aquarium many times through our homeschooling journey.  My boys had gotten bored with going but since it had been a long time since our last visit I thought they might like to go again.  Knowing we would get in free this month with our Science Center Membership I figured this was the perfect time to go.  The boys were so excited!


It's always a fun day at Mystic Aquarium and other than the wind we had an amazing time!



There have been so many changes and we had a great time exploring the new exhibits as well as interacting with the animals.

We arrived in time for the beluga whale feeding and listened
to how they train their whales to help out with their veterinary care

We headed over to the sea lion show and found that it too was new!

Getting to see a sea lion up close 


  They have a new exhibit area called Exploration Wild and they set up areas of the room to resemble the rain forest, the North and South Poles, the ocean etc.  Each area had fun toys, facts, and interactive computers.  It was SO MUCH fun! Evan and I spent an awful lot of time reading all the signs depicting the differences between the arctic and the antarctic; perfect for his report!

Exploring the rain forest in a jeep 

Posing with a polar bear 

Trying out a sled dog sled 

Alec quizzing himself on facts about arctic animals 

Evan quizzing himself about rain forest animals and their features 

"Aaahhh! A shark!"

This was the neatest sand table ever! As you moved
sand around you made a new topographical map.
You could make it rain by waving your fingers over it
and then the rain accumulates in all the valleys.  

Making an island and a volcano 

Visiting the penguins 

Evan likes to get right up close 

The underwater viewing area is lots of fun 

Petting sand sharks.   

Alec made such an impression with his knowledge about animals
that the docent started talking to us about volunteering when he's
older! 

Jellies!  

Upside down jellyfish 

Not the best picture but the octopus was moving all around in his tank;
right in front of us!  We aren't allowed to use flash photography
 and the tank was dark, but that did not stop us from seeing so many details! 


Moray eels 

Checking out a hermit crab up close; this
was perfect and good practice for Evan who
would like to get one for a pet one day 

Holding a spider crab 

Evan FINALLY got to touch a ray!  They usually swim away from
him and he was so thrilled that they were all swimming up to him today 

The rays were very active today


There was another new mini exhibit all about birds that the boys enjoyed too. We read about birds that are commonly found in our area and we could push buttons to hear them and see them light up around the exhibit.  They had interactive screens where the boys could learn about and listen to more than 500 other types of birds.

Learning about local birds 

Checking out the bird sounds

Look at all those birds to choose from 

coloring bird pictures 

Alec's peacock picture 

Eating snack while saying goodbye to the beluga whales 

They come so close to the glass! 

Linking Up With:

Comments

  1. Raising SamuelsMarch 8, 2016 at 8:12 AM

    Hey, Mother of 3! Saw your post and am visiting from Chronically Content today. What a fun adventure! We are thinking about doing the science membership also for the free days and discounts at other places. Thanks for sharing such a great day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3March 8, 2016 at 1:27 PM

      Once I saw all the other places we could get into for free it seemed like an amazing deal... now I just have to make sure we get to them all!

      Delete
  2. Lisa EhrmanMarch 9, 2016 at 8:15 PM

    What an amazing trip! Thanks for sharing at Together on Tuesdays :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jaime WiebelMarch 10, 2016 at 10:06 PM

    What a beautiful aquarium. This looks like such a wonderful place to visit. Visiting from Together on Tuesdays.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3March 11, 2016 at 8:22 AM

      Thanks for stopping by. We are rather lucky to have such a nice aquarium so close by.

      Delete
  4. Jen AltmanMarch 26, 2016 at 9:48 AM

    looks like a great place! pinned it! thanks for linking up!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Teresa KindredMarch 8, 2017 at 11:21 AM

    How fun is that! My grands would love it. Love for you to link up with me at http://nanahood.com/barns-houses-and-scenery

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3March 8, 2017 at 2:37 PM

      Thanks; we love getting out for field trips! The aquarium is always a favorite.

      Delete
  6. Tammymum BlogMarch 10, 2017 at 4:40 PM

    Ah I took mineto an aquarium for the first time a few months ago and they really enjoyed it. They are a little young to get the most out of it but they certainly liked it and I can't wait to take them again. It looks like youabll and a great day, which is lovely to see. You have some fab photos too! Thanks for sharing at #familyfun

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3March 11, 2017 at 6:53 AM

      We always have a great time at zoos and aquariums.

      Delete
  7. Tash @BoundForSomewhereMarch 14, 2018 at 5:03 AM

    Wow, what a great day out. We haven't been to an aquarium since the one in Norway a couple of years ago... After reading your post I want to take the kids again! #explorerkids

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3March 14, 2018 at 6:47 AM

      We love the aquarium and I often find myself wishing we could visit more often.

      Delete
  8. Dara @ Not In JerseyMarch 15, 2018 at 9:03 AM

    I have actually been to Mystic but I don't think we went to the aquarium. I love aquariums! #ExplorerKids

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3March 15, 2018 at 5:13 PM

      It's a pretty small aquarium but they really pack a lot in. It's also just about the only aquarium around us.

      Delete
  9. Ethan.n.EvelynMarch 17, 2018 at 8:11 AM

    What an amazing aquarium -n I love the touch pools! #ExplorerKids

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3March 17, 2018 at 8:54 AM

      I love touch pools too! My boys are getting quite adept at handling sea life.

      Delete
  10. Sarah StockleyMarch 19, 2018 at 8:28 AM

    The aquariums in the UK are not that huge so we tend to have things like turtles, rays and some species of sharks. It would be amazing to see beluga whales! #ExplorerKids

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3March 19, 2018 at 11:35 AM

      They are so fun! We've been a few times when we could paint on their tanks or one docent told us to hold our cell phone to the glass and they are so curious that they come right over to inspect what we're doing. One used to "play" with the kids and he'd get up close to the glass and open his mouth. Most little kids would squeal and I'd swear that whale smiled. If he could have he would have been laughing.

      Delete
  11. Annette, Four Acorns / Quatre graines de chêneMarch 20, 2018 at 1:07 PM

    This looks like a great aquarium! Beluga whales, wow, my gang would love that!
    #ExplorerKids

    ReplyDelete
  12. Joanne March 9, 2020 at 3:26 PM

    They definitely are peaceful.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Favorite TV Shows Growing Up in the 80's and early 90's

Image
Do you remember the TGIF lineups on Friday nights? I can remember planning sleepovers and time with friends around TV Show lineups of our favorite shows... or else trying to set the VCR to record our favorite shows if we weren't going to be home. And through the years I had SO MANY favorites! Growing pains aired in 1985 which put me around age 8 and it stayed on the air until I was 15 or so; I'm pretty sure most people in my age group watched mostly for Kirk Cameron and all his antics.  I still have a soft spot for family sit-coms!  The Facts of Life aired when I was just 2  and stayed on the air until I was 11 so I'm sure the episodes I remember so fondly were either some of the later ones and then reruns shown later on when I was old enough to watch from the beginning. I think everyone would have loved an Edna Garret in their lives.   Benson another sitcom that began airing when I was just 2 and was done by the time I was 9 (another one I must have watched mai...
Read more

Things That Make Me Laugh

Image
I loved the challenge of this week's list for our 26 lists link up.  I don't know about you but I really need to laugh more lately.  It's such a great stress reliever. 1.  Books-- I love a good funny book that makes me laugh out loud.  I haven't read one in a while but if you have any recommendations I'm all ears.  The last book I can remember making me laugh was the Un-Honeymooners. 2  The boys being silly. 3.  Watching shows like America's Funniest Videos or Family Feud. 4. My husband.  Most people don't realize it but he's actually pretty funny and often makes me laugh. 5.  Whenever my sisters/ family get together and we get to reminiscing (particularly if my Aunt Elaine is around) we end up laughing so hard at all the old family stories that we are all in tears by the end of the night.  It's fabulous. 6. Movies like Mom's Night Out, Christmas Vacation, and Grown Ups make me laugh out loud. 7.  When my ...
Read more

Making Gift Card and Money Holders Using Scrapbooking and Cardmaking Supples

Image
I don't tend to keep a lot of crafting supplies on hand so when I saw this month's de-stash challenge I wasn't sure what I was going to make.  I finally realized that with so many of my Christmas gifts being cash and gift cards this year that I needed to make up some fun paper crafting/ creative ways to gift them.   I still want my nieces and nephews to have something to open so I pulled out my papers and stamps and made up some cute little money/gift card holders. They were much easier to make than I thought.  The first one I worked on was to hold some oversized Nintendo gift cards.  I made a standard sized card and folded down one corner of the card front.  Then I ran my double sided tape along the bottom an 1/2 way up the side creating a cute little pocket.  Finally I added some cute embellishments and ribbons.   Voila! A simple and easy gift card holder for those larger sized gift cards.  The bulk of the tweens and teens on my list j...
Read more

Dollar Store Candy Cane Wreath

Image
Today I am linking up with some fellow bloggers for a Dollar Store craft challenge.  I don't often participate in these challenges since I try to stay away from our local Dollar Stores; I find they can be quite dangerous for me!  I knew this was the perfect time to find some inexpensive holiday decorations though and I just LOVE how my wreath turned out!  I hope you stop by and see what the other hosts are sharing. Meet this month's co-hosts! Across the Blvd | Purple Hues & Me This Autoimmune Life | Our Unschooling Journey Domestic Deadline | Sew Crafty Crochet Stone Cottage Adventures | Sum of Their Stories | Two Chicks & a Mom I bought the candy cane wreath base and a few rolls of mesh (not knowing how many I'd need I bought waaay to many; I only ended up using one white roll and one red roll. Using some chenille stems I already had on hand I attached the mesh to the wreath base trying to alternate the whit...
Read more

Making a Sugar Cookie "Gingerbread" House

Image
 Alec really wanted to try making his own gingerbread house this year without using a premade kit.  We talked about how we never really eat the house since they don't taste very good.  Years ago we gave up on the frosting that comes in the kit and began making our own so we thought perhaps we should try making our our house too. Only problem is that no one in the house likes gingerbread.  We talked about trying to make the house using a sugar cookie recipe.  Alec was so excited at that idea since he just LOVES sugar cookies.   He found a recipe online for a simple sugar cookie recipe and mixed up the dough.  He rolled it out an cut it to the size of our cookie sheets-- we had read that it's easiest to cut the house pieces out after the dough has been baked and is still warm and soft because then you don't have to worry about any of the pieces losing their shape while baking. I had picked out a simple cookie cutter set on Amazon and as soon as the ...
Read more