Sharks, rays, lorikeets, and DOLPHINS!

Our trip to California was obviously about Disneyland. Of course it was. But we wanted to do some other things, too. For our budding marine biologist, we decided to check out the Aquarium of the Pacific.

It was a lot of fun, mostly because of all the touch tanks. Seriously, all the touch tanks. 

Jellyfish, rays, sharks, sturgeons... 

Craig may have gotten splashed - salty water getting into his mouth - by one of the animals. 

It didn't ruin our attitude, though!

This ray was particularly fond of getting touched. 

Aside from the touch tanks, there were also lorikeets that we could try to convince to come see us.

Calista succeeded!

And there were plenty of big tanks to look at,

games to play,

and fun things to interact with.

Shark teeth!
And, of course, a gift shop.

And Caleb (or should I say, R2-Mouse-2?) found a plesiosaur, so he was happy.

We also did a bit of a gamble: we booked a whale/dolphin boat tour. 

I wasn't sure how it would go. It was possible the kids would hate it and we'd be stuck on a boat for 2 hours with grumpy kids. For a while, that's kind of what it looked like. Caleb didn't want to sit in the sun (understandable) and was hot and grumpy (also understandable). 

When Caleb was freaking out on the boat tour because the sun was too bright, all I could think was that he'd be miserable, we'd all be miserable, and there was nothing we could do to fix it. I mean, I can't change the sun!

And then I thought, maybe there is a seat on the other side of the boat, out of the sun. And there was, just a couple of seats, enough space for Kyler and Caleb. 

This thought wasn't mine. I had given up in my head. But there was an answer, a little nudge. And I am grateful.

And once the boat really started going, and the cool breeze kicked in, everyone was happy. Not just happy, thrilled. Craig told me that this boat tour (after we'd spent one day at Disneyland already) is what officially tipped the scales to making the drive worth it. 

This boat tour ended up being our favorite overall part of the trip. Part of it was how nice it felt to actually feel cool breezes. Part of it was being out on the open ocean. And a large part of it was seeing this massive pod of dolphins!

Our tour guide said there were probably a thousand of them, all around the boat. 

It was amazing. Definitely the best memory of the whole trip, for everyone. 

On the lookout with Grandpa for more dolphins.

We loved being on the water!

The children gave this boat tour, and the trip in general, a 10/10.

All in all, a pretty great vacation day!