A Trip to the Sciquarium

We used to have to go all the way to the coast to visit an aquarium, so we were so excited when the Sciquarium opened up in nearby Greensboro.  For one of our summer adventures, we headed over to Greensboro with a bunch of Evan and Ben's friends from preschool.

The great thing about the Sciquarium is that it's a part of the Greensboro Science Center, so there are tons of other things to do there too.  We started off at their outside zoo because it was going to be a hot North Carolina day so we wanted to do the outside activities before the heat forced us inside.  It was a great zoo because it has a lot of animals that the NC zoo doesn't have.  We saw giant tortoises, tigers, an anteater, and more.  By the end of our zoo experience, everyone was getting a bit crabby so we decided it was time to get out of the heat and have a bite to eat.

So, we gathered the whole crew at one of the big tables and ate the lunch that we had packed.  After one mild moment of panic when one of our kiddos disappeared upstairs, we ate the lunch in relative peace.

Then, it was the moment that all of the kiddos were waiting for, we headed to the Sciquarium.  It was a smaller aquarium, but it had all of the big attractions of the bigger ones.  The boys loved seeing the penguins who were happy to jump and swim around right next to the wall-so, close to us that we could read their nametags.  Then, Ben saw the polka dotted sting rays which we had to head back and look at twice.  Evan on the other hand was enamored with the anaconda in the neighboring tank--ick!

There was also a tank filled with big sharks.  It was so cute to watch all of the kiddos pressed up against the tank watching the sharks swim laps.  They would wait and wait and wait and then ooooooh and the sharks swam right by them.

The biggest highlight for everyone was the tanks in the middle of the room filled with sting rays.  The kids could walk right up to the tank and pet the rays.  At first they were nervous because they had to stick their hands in pretty far, but after a while, they got the hang of it and really enjoyed it.

We finished the day by making our official Sciquarium pressed pennies to take home.  By that point everyone was too exhausted that we just couldn't see the rest of the science center that day, but it just gives us a great reason to come back!

(tortoise enjoying the shade)

(Benny monkeys around at the zoo with our friends the Turners in the background)

(Evan and Jacob converse with the birds.)

(This is our only picture of the day with all seven kiddos and a monkey in it.  From left to right-Annie, Jacob, Abbie, Edmund, Evie, Evan and Ben)

(Jacob and Ben bond on the way back from the anteater.)

(Everyone is excited to visit the Sciquarium.)

(Hello, penguin!)

(Shark!)

(The boys pet some rays.)