Aquarium

For the past solid week and a half it has been raining, and we have spent WAY too much time inside the apartment. So we decided to meet some friends at the aquarium last week. It was so fun to get out and see all the fish!
First of all, I have never posted a picture of the aquarium (and Kristi I am so sorry, I ripped off this one from your blog because I can never remember to take a picture of it…). It was an anti-aircraft tower in WW2. There are a bunch of these all over Vienna, because they can’t destroy them without wiping out all the surrounding buildings. I don’t know if the others are being used for anything, but this one is a very interesting 9 story aquarium (that happens to have reptiles and monkeys too…)
On the first floor is a pool of fish that you are allowed to “pet”. What really happens is you stick your fingers in the water and the fish suck on them. Elora LOVES to let the fish “kiss” her fingers. Oliver thinks it is creepy and won’t stick his fingers in the water, he just watches the fish swim around.Today the monkeys were all running about, and this one got really close to Elora. Our friends the Mitchells came with us, and it was quite an interesting experience trying to keep track of all five kids. I have to say that the hardest to keep track of was the one missing in this photo… Oliver kept running off to go find is favorite exhibits and to climb the stairs (with nine floors, there are lots of stairs…) Here is an area with large tortoises and birds that is always a favorite for the kids.I think seahorses are the strangest animals… kind of creepy actually…Pretty much Zach’s face right here says exactly how I feel about seahorses too… they are fascinating to watch though. There is a large tank that is two stories high that has sharks, colorful fish, and the biggest sea turtle I have ever seen, and of course can never get a picture of. This is my favorite spot in the aquarium, and today Oliver learned a new word: shark. Now when he takes a bath with his shark bath toy, he touches the shark’s teeth and says “shark sharp! Ow!”Elora making her best fish face!I can’t believe that I got a picture where you can see the faces of all five kids! I actually got three! But this one was my favorite. Here’s another though, because Oliver and Ellie look cuter in this next one:
The kids loved looking in this fishtank, while Brooke and I tried to figure out what all the fish were called. Elora was so excited to learn the names of all the fish. It was nice to go out with our friends in this crazy rainy spring!