Leap Day Fun at the SC Aquarium

Yesterday Nana came down for the morning and we headed to the aquarium.  This is only the second time Gemma has been (well, plus a trip to Ripley's in Myrtle Beach) and it has been quite a while so I knew she would enjoy it much more this time now that she is so much more aware of everything.  Also, she is pretty much obsessed with the movie Finding Nemo right now, so I knew she would love getting to see some real fish.  As soon as we walked into the main level, she immediately ran to one of the big tanks and started yelling: "Water! Water!"  She was SO excited!  (She even tried to kiss some of the fish through the glass a couple of times.)

 

We saw tons of really cool fish and birds and LOTS of water (which was apparently very exciting) and Gemma even got to pet a tiny baby alligator!  (I didn't get a great picture of this because she pulled away pretty quickly - she obviously wasn't too sure about the whole alligator-petting-thing.)

I tried to get some cute pictures of Gemma while we were there.  Unfortunately there was this really obnoxious lady who kept cutting in front of people in line and elbowing her way to the front of the exhibits so no one else could see, so wouldn't you just know that the second I have Gemma posed for a super cute picture on the sea turtle, Obnoxious Lady would show up and just plop her kid down right in the picture, totally not caring that she was ruining it?

When we were finished looking at all the water inside the aquarium, we enjoyed looking at a bunch more water in the harbor.  Gemma and I posed for a picture together on a bench next to a large, strange frog.  (I'm trying to love this picture for how cute and sweet Gemma is all cuddled up with me while ignoring how large and gross I look.  I am really not sure I can survive 5+ more weeks of being pregnant - I have already been going nuts for about the past month.)

 

Gemma had so much fun at the aquarium.  I am hoping to get a family membership for us sometime soon although I figured I might as well wait a bit as I really don't see myself hauling Gemma and the newborn around downtown for a while.  But we will see.  Anyway, it was a fun outing for us yesterday, especially since we haven't left the house much lately since we've all been sick off and on for about the past month.