We spent the morning of Day 2 of our mini-vacay at the aquarium, in Newport, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati.
The aquarium was fantastic! It definitely rivals our favorite aquarium to date, in Chattanooga.
As still as I thought I was being to take no-flash photography, most of my pictures didn't turn out very well. Still, here are our favorite spots...
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| This is the best view we've ever gotten of an octopus. I could have watched this guy give "wobbly waves" [a line from one of our books] all day. AMAZING! |
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| I was also so taken with these Japanese crabs. They were enormous! |
I didn't take any pictures in the shark theater, but it was really nice. We were able to sit on a bench and enjoy the sharks and a ginormous tortoise swimming right in front of us, while we enjoyed a snack.
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| Meet Mighty Mike...the HUGEST 'gator I've ever seen! He is 15' long...WOW!!! |
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| I always love jellies, and the set-up in this aquarium was great. Here are Daddy and the girls behind a glass wall, on a plush couch, just taking it all in. |
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| We spent a long time watching the penguins. There was a video monitor with information about each of the six different types of penguins. It was fun to try to pick out which was which in front of us. |
After the aquarium, we decided upon a great seafood restaurant for lunch. (Sorry, fishies!) It was a bit breezy, but the girls had jackets and we decided to sit outside and enjoy a beautiful view of the river.
I love this picture of the girls on a bench on the boardwalk in front of the restaurant.
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| We walked down to the river's edge to check out the boats. The girls are showing off a plastic shark and penguin some nice lady gave them at the aquarium. |
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| LOVE this picture of my Baby A!!! |
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| LOVE this picture of my Baby B, getting a little help from Daddy!!! |
After a nap for Daddy and B, and quality time in the breakfast area for Mommy and A, we set out to explore downtown Cincinnati and the riverfront that afternoon.
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| Smelling the flowers (just before A fell into the flowers) in the gardens in front of P&G headquarters...it is such a gorgeous few blocks! |
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| We told the girls we'd look for an ice cream shop for snack. How lucky were we to find a Graeter's on Fountain Square?!!! |
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| Delight! |
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| We walked off our ice cream (who am I kidding???) at Riverfront park. We drove across this bridge several times, and then walked part-way across it. The girls thought that was pretty neat! |
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| Hugging a pig. :) |
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| So many gorgeous fountains...this was one of many! |
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| One last look...thanks for the memories, Cincinnati! |
We spent Day 3 at the Cincinnati zoo. Since I was juggling three jackets and bottles of water, I opted not to take my camera. I know I missed a few pictures, but it was a welcome break to experience everything alongside the girls, not from behind a lens.
The Cincinnati zoo was also really great. We got to see a manatee for the first time, and we were very lucky to happen upon a trainer feeding one of the elephants. We'd heard that the train ride was well worth it, and it did not disappoint...giving us a bird's eye view of several exhibits, and taking us across Swan Lake.
All in all, it was a splendid couple of days. What a great trip for Fall Break!
