Since I always try to learn from my mistakes, today I: 1) didn’t give the kids a choice about where we were going, 2) left immediately after breakfast to minimize the risk that they would lose the privelege before we could get out the door, and 3) took Norah to day care.
We got to the aquarium about a half-hour before the Imax movie started, and breezed right up to the member services desk past about 200 people waiting in line for tickets. Then we headed directly to the area where they let the bravest of the kids touch sea creatures because that area is always insane. We beat the rush and the kids had plenty of opportunities to traumatize the starfish and hermit crabs.
There was hardly anyone in the movie theater and I humored the kids by sitting in the very top row. I haven’t been to an Imax movie in YEARS. The movie was Under the Sea, and it was awesome! It was in 3D, and it was realistic enough that Aliya reached out at least 20 times as if she could touch something in front of her and Adlani almost peed his pants every time a cuttlefish ate a poor unsuspecting minnow. It was a pretty benign movie…the shark didn’t devour anybody and the most traumatic part was when the turtle ate the jellyfish (Aliya whispered, “Doesn’t that hurt the jellyfish?”).
After the movie we went back into the aquarium so the kids could collect all 6 turtle stamps in their passports…I swear they didn’t look at anything except the stamping stations. It was SO FRIGGIN CROWDED – I’ve never seen it that bad. When we left, the line was zig-zagged back and forth inside the tent in front of the ticket area, all the way down to the street, and then turned 90 degrees and extended another 200 people toward Rowe’s Wharf. It was unbelievable!
We had lunch at Legal’s and they sat us right next to the fish tank. We bought a few books at the aquarium (including “Los Pinguinos” for Aliya’s classroom), so the kids had plenty to entertain them. They were very well-behaved and we actually enjoyed lunch. I even got to make some calls on the way home because they were both passed out.
Now if only the little monster would begin her transformation into a human being, maybe I wouldn’t need to be medicated for family outings. A mom can dream, right?
A giant tanker in the mist and the loooooong line for tickets. I would pay the $100 for membership just to move to the front of this line!
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