Georgia Aquarium

In November, we had the opportunity (thanks to a great Groupon deal and my Mom!) to go to the GA Aquarium.  I had been twice before-once with a field trip as a chaperone and once as a SUPER SWEET Christmas party where the whole place was closed to the public and our small group were the only ones there. That was by far the classiest and coolest Christmas party ever! It is probably the sweetest perk I have ever gotten from being a real estate agent. Mom was my "date" for the evening and there were times that we were the only ones in the exhibits and tunnels and you could hear the silence of the fish and the water. It was so awesome! They had an elegant dinner and fruit and chocolate desserts set up around the aquarium.

Dale and Justin had never been to the aquarium before.  Jennifer had been once when her class went to the field trip.  I thought it was really cool because it was behind the scenes tour and we got to go to the top of the huge aquarium and walk out on a catwalk over the aquarium (We had a little emergency when one of the little girl's barrettes fell in the water and they were VERY concerned that one of the fish would eat it. That set up all kinds of alarms but thankfully they were able to get it out). We also got to go in a room and pet different kinds of marine life. I thought it was a great trip, but Jennifer wanted to see all the stuff that the public saw. So, after waiting 5 years, she was finally able to see the public's side. 

We didn't tell the kids where we were going on Election Day, just that we had a surprise for them.  They guessed all kinds of things. We headed to Atlanta, and when we got near the parking garage, they both yelled "THE AQUARIUM" wiht such excitement in their voices.  I told them "no...we are just parking there".  And then smiled and said "YES- THE AQUARIUM!"  They were so excited and I was glad that we had done it as a surprise.

The cool thing about this Groupon deal was that it was for a back stage tour -kinda like what we had on the field trip- and the pass to the Aquarium to see everything else.  We were the ONLY ones on our private tour, so it was really neat to be going behind the scenes with just our family and the tour guide which was really nice. She answered all kinds of questions and told us all about the different fish and animals.

I apologize up front for the amount of pictures, but I only put up a fraction of what I took, I assure you.

 Justin and Jennifer petting the sharks and sting rays

 We feel like our kids are growing so big-so fast. But they look small here compared to a life size whale.

 This was our tour guide and us on the top part of the aquarium.

 I don't remember her name now, but she continuously swam by us checking us out. She was really cute!

 All the big guys came up to see us.

 This is the view from the top!

 Isn't she pretty?!?

 Jennifer and Justin crawled in with the penguins and were able to stick their heads up in a hole and feel like a penguin.

 THE TUNNEL

 This scuba diver was in there with all kinds of fish, including sharks.

 She found a shark tooth and was showing it to us.

 We even got to go to the 4-D movie.

 We had fun playing with our 3-D glasses but Justin didn't want his picture made with his glasses on. The funny thing is that he wore those 3-D glasses without the frames for the next few days.

 This is another touch and feel spot where you can pet all kinds of things, including shrimp.

We had a great day at the aquarium, and saw all kinds of neat and awesome things that God has created! 

20Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."

21God created (A)the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:20-21