Tampa

We made a trip to Tampa this weekend to visit the Florida Aquarium. Although Ben would have been happy to stay in the hotel and play with the coffee maker and ice bucket (aka coffee beans), he was soon happy that we convinced him to join us at the aquarium.

Since their father/son rafting trip down the Ichetucknee several weeks ago, Ben has been really into turtles and goldfish. The first thing he saw upon walking in was a giant turtle swimming in a tank full of fish and we knew it was going to be a great day!

Ben was beside himself with giddiness for most of the day. It was so fun to watch the joy and amazement in his face as he watched a gigantic grouper fish swim straight towards him or how excited he was when the sting ray "waved" to him.

This picture shows you how quickly Ben would move on to the next exhibit. Sometimes he would get stuck in one place and we'd have to remind him that there was more to see and he would yell "Oh yeah!", and then run (or jump!) to the next window.

It was nearly impossible to get a picture of Ben without his back to me the whole day. He was unwilling to take that much time to look away from the aquariums!

Ella did a great job on her first big field trip. She hung out in the Baby Bjorn with her Dad in the morning and took everything in. She slept on me in the sling in the afternoon and I appreciated the many rocking chairs and seating they had in the aquarium. She is getting to be a big girl!

Before leaving, Ben got to throw a few pennies in the fountain. I'm guessing he wished for a trip back to Tampa!