AQUARIUM AT LEGOLAND

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine invited us to take advantage of her membership at Legoland and hit up the little aquarium with our babies. I've been wanting to incorporate more actual outings (as opposed to just errands) so that Henry can experience some fun stuff other than Target and the grocery store. So naturally, I agreed, and I learned two things. First, Henry is very fascinated by the glass room. He would not look away. And second, most marine animals give me the heebie-jeebies, and I'm pretty sure I have a near-phobia of at least three of them (octopi, eels, and stingrays). All the typical physical signs of fear were present. My palms were sweaty and my pulse quickened and I felt afraid, obviously. But as it goes with these things, I couldn't look away. Weird. The octopus was the worst. If one ever clung onto my leg in the ocean, I'm pretty sure everyone in the vicinity would die. Or at least go deaf.

Some animals I'm not afraid of: sea horses - have you seeeeen a seahorse give birth? It's wild. Also plain old fish. Anyway, my friend brought her 2-year-old and her 5 month old, and we all had a grand old time. There were these clear domes under some of the fish tanks where you could crouch and see the aquarium from the inside. There were turtles and shellfish and jellyfish and starfish (some you could even touch, but I didn't because I'm a wimp/I didn't want my hands to be all gross for Henry).

Here's a weird/funny/mostly related story. After we made our way through the aquarium, they spit you out right at the cafeteria where everything is shaped like sharks or starfish and is absurdly overpriced. There's a little lego play area for the kiddies, and the two-year-old went to play while I tried to nurse Henry. It was a disaster. He was super distracted by the noise and fun and people, and I'm pretty sure everyone in Carlsbad saw me with my shirt lifted up after he yanked the blanket down. So. You're welcome, Carlsbad.