The Newport Aquarium

One cold winter day when we were bored, I managed to talk Caleb into a long weekend getaway.  I was really hoping for 3 glorious days on the beach but we decided upon a couple of days at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason (aka Cincinnati) Ohio.

The Great Wolf Lodge was great.  Both Isaac and Zoe loved swimming and playing at the pool.  The wave pool was the unexpected hit at the water park.  And I already have plans for swim lessons for both of my little fish this summer.  Unfortunately when there are only two adults, a very excited 3 year old and a very active 10 month old, you don’t get any pictures or video of our water park adventures.

But I guess you are all probably wondering what any of this has to do with The Newport Aquarium.  We decided we couldn’t spend all of our time swimming so we planned a morning to visit the aquarium.

The first exhibit we encountered was a touch pool.  There were a variety of different crabs, star fish, and sea urchins available to touch.  Isaac wasn’t too sure about touching the sea life but after a bit of coaxing and after seeing Zoe not hesitate, he finally warmed up to creatures.  The aquarium staff were great with both of the kids and answered a ton of questions.

Check out the bad boys below.  These spider crabs were huge and very spider like. That’s Isaac’s hand in the picture.

About half way through the aquarium there was a great exhibit for the wee ones.  If you haven’t guess from the picture, the exhibit was based on frogs.  But the great thing about it was it gave Isaac and Zoe a chance to stretch their legs and play.

In case you’re wondering, yes I’m in the play structure and no I didn’t fit well.

Throughout the aquarium there are a number of tunnels.  It’s a neat way to get a different perspective of the aquatic life.

We happened to encounter divers in the tanks during our visit.

Caleb and I felt we could have spent more time a bit more time at the aquarium but the hungry kiddos won out.