So every year I don't have any idea what I want to do for my birthday. I don't want to impose of people's time or money just for me, but we made the decision to go out to Long Beach and check a couple of items off our bucket list. Our wonderful friends Mr. and Mrs. A and their beautiful daughter along with my mom joined as well. We made the trek separately so the baby could nap in the car. Once in Long Beach we had a quick lunch at Sharkey's, then made our way over to the Aquarium of the Pacific.
The line should have been an indicator of the mass crowds inside. The
first weekend of summer.....the place was swarming with people. I don't think I have ever seen a place like this so busy. Lots of excited children ready to see their favorite aquatic creatures. We wandered around every level, made our way to the touch pools, and even got to touch sand sharks! My mom's favorite part were the rays. I know where I get it from....the feeling of something alien on you skin is exhilarating! Baby A loved the seals, the penguins and the puffin fish. It was so cute experiencing all these things through new eyes. To see her excitement grow as she would clap her hands, smile and point in awe! My favorite were the jellyfish and the giant crabs! Such cool looking creatures! Despite the crowds the aquarium was very cool. We'll have to go back on a less busy day and really experience it.
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| Blue Whale sculpture |
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| Sand Dollars |
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| Coral |
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| The A Family |
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| Sea Lion |
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| Hermit Crab |
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| Du nu du nu dunudunudunu |
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| The Cancers! |
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| Kissy snack time |
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| Mom and the rays |
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| Me and Baby A with the Jellyfish |
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| So COOL! |
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| Daddy's girl |
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| Preview of what's to come! |
Once we finished with the aquarium, we made our way out to the shuttle to head over the the Queen Mary. The A's read a book about penguins on the bus stop and we enjoyed each others company. Once on the ship I was so excited. I love old ships and seeing how people lived in past times. However, we quickly realized how un-handicapped/stroller friendly the entire ship was. Stairs, stairs and more stairs. We read about different haunting experiences and wandered around the corridors. I pictured the people that would have been on the maiden voyage, and slept in the beds, ate in the restaurants and thought to myself what it would have been like to live in another time period. Unfortunately because the ship is a working hotel, we couldn't view the guest rooms or the ballrooms because they had several weddings happening aboard that day. So we just wandered and looked at the details White Star Line included in their ships. When we made it to the engine room we saw large scale models of all the ships from WSL. It was very neat to see the detail, and just how large each ship was. The engine room was a very cool area as well.....seeing the gigantic gears, the tools and the watertight doors that we grew to know in the Titanic movie. Heard some more ghost stories and then made our way out of the ship to head to dinner.....not before having a touristy shot with Mrs. A first.
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| Reading at the bus stop |
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| Ropes |
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| D with the big gun |
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| More reading |
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| The decks |
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| Life boats |
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| Gears in the engine room |
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| Tools |
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| Touristy fun shot! |
After we returned to the aquarium side we made our way over to Bubba Gump Shrimp. A restaurant that is themed all things Forrest Gump, including trivia and the infamous bench from the movie. Mrs. A did the honors of being Forrest for the evening, while mom and baby A played on her phone. We had our souvenir drinks with a toast to good friends, family and a great day. I tried coconut shrimp for the first time and it was to die for! So yummy. The A's made me a wonderful note board to hang in our apartment! I am blessed to have such great people in my life! Thanks for all you do and for making this birthday memorable!
