You guys know I talk a big game about getting out and about with the kiddos on my own. And I really do walk the walk.  I’ll go most anywhere with them by myself.  Out to lunch, to the mall, to the playground, to gymnastics or music or whatever.  But one notable exception, for the time being, is the aquarium.

We have a membership, which totally pays for itself by maybe the third visit, and the kids love it.  But it’s not a short drive, parking is expensive, and it’s dark and frequently crowded.  The kids want to be up and walking and checking things out, but of course have no interest in checking out the same thing at the same time. Maybe in another year I’ll try it as a solo outing, but for now, it’s generally saved for a special treat when we have visitors in town.

And visitors, indeed, we had!  My cousin and her family were in town for some kind of conference.  While she was in her workshops, I met her husband and their four kids at the aquarium.  And it was one of our best outings yet.

Not only are they (my first-cousins-once-removed, if you want to be technical about it) really just nice people, they’re also the perfect ages.  Ranging from about 8 to 14, they’re old enough to be quite self-sufficient, but young enough that my kids found them both fascinating and accessible.  Rebecca, who can often be pretty reserved with new people, was holding hands and walking off with the oldest cousin within about two minutes.  Daniel was fascinated with all of them and kept talking about them long after we left.

This made me happy on so very many levels.  For one, my cousins were sweet and helpful and generally made my life a whole lot easier by happily tending to my kids.  The older kids thought my toddlers were cute, and my kids loved the big-kid attention.  I also was so happy to see how quickly my kids made friends with their (second) cousins, as I’d like to think it bodes well for the family reunion that’s coming up in less than two weeks.  The number of people in attendance will be way more than four (think 65+), but it gives me hope that they’ll really have fun.  And, of course, all of this just made me feel even more like I want to move back to Chicago. I would really love it if my kids were able to spend more time with my (huge) family and get to know them better.  Having grown up with huge gatherings, I know how much fun it is and I would love for my kids to have that.

We’re only halfway through Memorial Day weekend, but we’ve already had a bit of fun and a bit of tantruming.  Both of the kids are having some rather defiant days, but hey, what can you do?  We’re also enjoying the good weather.  Friday was another hot day, so afternoon snack was a “special tweet!”: popsicles!  What a mess.

But we were having so much fun outside that I decided dinner would be an impromptu backyard picnic.  While M isn’t a huge fan of eating amongst the bugs, he humored me.  Mmm, bratwurst…

There was practically uninteruppted playtime out in the yard from the time they woke up from their nap until we hauled them upstairs to the tub.  Yay for nice days!

Yesterday was a cranky day, but we all survived.  Today there was a threat of rain, so we decided to hit the aquarium.  It was not exactly deserted, and I was ever so glad to have our membership and just skip right past the long lines.  (And not feel bad about leaving quickly when meltdowns occurred.) It’s really hard to get good photos in the very low light of the indoor aquarium, but I managed a couple of good ones with the much beloved jellyfish exhibit.

And the kids enjoyed saying hello to the turtles in the first aid area.

Now they’re sleeping, I’m going to hit the sewing machine, and we’re going to hope that the threat of severe thunderstorms doesn’t ruin our afternoon barbeque plans with friends…. fingers crossed.

One tiny benefit to being delayed this morning is that I get to share the story of yesterday’s activity.  We took the kids on their first trip to the New England Aquarium!

M had one of his periodic very late night work things on Friday night/Saturday morning.  So as much as he loves the aquarium, he was in no condition to come with us (he got back home at 6:30am).  Thankfully, his two friends were staying with us and wanted to go.  The ratio of three adults to two toddlers, as it turns out, was just right. We had the stroller, but the kids wanted to get out and walk. I was more than happy to have them explore, but right there you need at least one adult for each kid, since they’re definitely not at the age to exactly listen and follow directions.  And then, with both kids out and running around, you still have the stroller and other stuff to manage, so the 3rd adult was important to have.

Overall, the aquarium was a big hit. The kids liked watching the penguins and turtles and fish.  We were there early enough that it wasn’t hideously crowded, so they had some ability to run around and not be too much in other people’s way. There’s even a hands-on exhibit on the top floor where the kids can put their hands in the water, touch some starfish, and see a hermit crab up close. Rebecca was all over it, Daniel was not so sure.  It was pretty loud and still a lot of people, though, so we did have some amount of overstimulation and typical toddler melting. Strategic use of the stroller and snacks helped, and then a hasty exit when I could tell they’d had all they could take.  Definitely worth going back, and for the price of adult admission, possibly worth getting an annual membership so you don’t feel like you wasted a single-day admission ticket.

Getting good photos was really difficult. Most of the aquarium is quite dark, but then, of course, the tanks are lit from within.  Low light, backlight, and moving toddlers made it tricky, but with some major light adjustments in editing, I got a few of them to turn into something decent.  Enjoy!