Aquarium love

Aquariums are in our top 10 favorite things to do as a family. We've done New Orleans a few times because it's fairly close to us. Their aquarium is a decent size and in the Quarter which is always fun. We especially love the Butterfly Garden there.

Last summer we went to Chattanooga's aquarium. I had never been there but Andrew had and he compared every other aquarium to that one. I get it. It's really cool and worth a trip if you've never been. The museum is actually divided into two parts. There is a "river tour" and then an "ocean tour." The greatest thing for us with little people and short attention spans is that they are in two different buildings. We actually did one building, went to lunch, and then came back later for the other part. Another cool thing about the river tour is the layout. You actually start at the top of the museum and wind your way down "the river" until you finish at the bottom. We loved it.

On our little Dallas excursion a couple of weeks ago, we visited the Dallas World Aquarium. They call it an aquarium but it's actually more like being in a rain forest. As you walk up to the building, you wind through a little tropical forest with bamboo and overgrown plants around you. The museum itself is like one huge warehouse.

You start by riding the elevator, or taking the stairs if you don't have a stroller, to the top floor. It opens up into a huge 3 story room. You literally feel like they have taken a chunk out of the rain forest and put it into this building. The entire walkway winds around this open section of the "rain forest" where there are all kinds of animals loose in the middle. Monkeys are climbing in trees, there are animals below in the water, birds are flying around. It's crazy.

We got there right at 9:00 when it opened because I heard that it gets really crowded. This place would be miserable if it was crowded. No joke, I would not go any later than 10 am. The pathways are only wide enough for a gigantic double stroller (which we had). Bentley Claire needed to eat so I toted around a bottle drinking baby while Andrew alternated between pushing the stroller and holding Elle (while pushing the stroller). Can you say trooper? 

Everyone was entertained and it was well worth it. There is an impressive collection of birds and there is an aquarium in the bottom part. There are actually 3 or 4 restaurants in this place too. It would be an awesome place to have an event.  

In the background of this picture is a sloth. There were sloths in a tree napping. We could have touched them but didn't because there was a sign clearly stating "Don't touch the sloths." It was tempting. Penguins, fish, birds, sloths, a jaguar, flamingos, monkeys...fun, fun, fun. Check it out here.