Cooper & The Aquarium

It was a hot and humid weekend. On Sunday we decided we would visit the New England Aquarium. Us and about a million other people- original idea to beat the heat by going someplace air conditioned and child friendly. Ben and I were a little nervous to go because the last time we brought Cooper to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago in January 07 it was the next day that Cooper was admitted to the hospital with bronchiolitis and pneumonia which began the official worst week of my life as a parent. Obviously we know his illness was not related to the visit to the aquarium, but it still brought back that bad time when he was so sick. The only picture from that day at the aquarium is here:
Anyway, we decided Cooper would enjoy seeing the fish and we would enjoy getting out of the house. Total understatement that Cooper would enjoy seeing the fish- he LOVED it. The whole time we were there I think he was trying to set a record for the decibel level for the whole aquarium- he was so excited. The first thing we saw were penguins- loved them.

Next we waited in line to participate in the shark and stingray pool- you could actually touch the rays and sharks (very small sharks)! Cooper loved it too- and could not stop talking about the "awesome stingray" and how he touched the "huge mongous ray". Here's a pic of Cooper and I waiting in line. No pics from the actual shark and ray tank since it was all hands on deck making sure Cooper was safe!

Last we stopped to observe the sharks in the Caribbean reef tank. I think this picture is funny because it reminds me of MST3K when they would show movies with the robot shadows in the corner. I don't know how well it shows up here, but you can see Cooper's mouth in an "Oooo" because a shark was going by.

We totally overextended him beyond his normal napping and he was a champ the whole way through. He's still talking about seeing the sharks, rays and penguins today!