Our first stop in Maryland was to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore! We went to the National Aquarium first. Carson loved seeing the warships along the pier.
There were tons of sharks for us to see. The kids love seeing them from behind the glass.
Next up, Mom's favorite...dolphins! The trainers talked to the audience a lot about how to keep our environment and the ocean's clean and safe for dolphins. They didn't do an actual show, but the dolphins showed off lots of fun tricks...including splashing us....ok actually soaking us! Carson really wanted to sit in the splash zone and he was a little grumpy when the other side of the arena got splashed...minutes later he was all smiles and we were all dripping wet.
I could have stayed here all day and just watched the dolphins.
If you look close there is a crocodile behind Carson above him and to the left of his head.
The coolest thing was when we saw the spitting fish. A worker held a stick with one cricket on the end of it over a tank full of these fish. Almost immediately the fish swam over and spit water about 4-5 feet up into the air, knocking the cricket off the stick and into the water where they ate it....and getting fish spit water all over Laney! It was AMAZING! Then she held the stick out above the tank with no cricket and the fish didn't even pay attention to it. That's how good their eyesight is even feet above the surface.
Laney was all about touching everything in the touch tank....Carson not so much. Per the usual!
There's a HUGE sea turtle swimming up behind Laney and Patrick here. He only had one front leg and was ENORMOUS! That was really cool to see too. Carson learned a lot about how there are too many jellyfish in the oceans right now due to the sea turtles becoming endangered. He wanted to know all about why they were endangered...and he really wants fishermen to make sure they don't accidentally capture any turtles in their nets! He got really into the sea turtles.
After the aquarium we got a bite to eat and some good dessert. What? The kids are SHARING a milkshake? Quick take a picture to show proof!
Next stop....Nana's House! The kids were so excited to get there and see her. They thought for some reason she was going to be at the aquarium so they had to be extra patient. I'm so mad at myself because I didn't get any pictures with Nana. But she was with us the whole trip! Carson remembered all the lightening bugs that come out at Nana's house at night. So with Grandpa's help they got to hunting! Laney would just catch them and hold them between her fingers while they lit up. Carson quick made a cage using tupperware with holes poked in the lid, and he tried to catch them in the tupperware without actually having to touch the lightening bugs.
I loved doing this as a kid. It was fun to watch them loving it too :-)
The next day we headed out again, this time for Aunt Roxie and Uncle Jeff's house on the water. We made a pit stop where Aunt Roxie works at the Calvert Museum. We had been there the year before so we wanted to check on the sea otter and other sea creatures they have!
The sea otter was sleeping when we got there, but Aunt Roxie told the kids to knock on the window and wake him up. Sure enough, it worked! It was like he had been waiting for them all day. He started playing and showing off all over. Carson left the museum with a stuffed animal sea otter and we are on day 8 without him letting that otter leave his sight. He even sleeps with him. And you guessed it, his name is "Carson".
Kayaking with Dad!
Laney loved to kayak too!
And the CRABS!!! Laney of course showed very little fear here...but I will admit the crab she is holding was most likely dead already. That's why it didn't end up in the pot. She enjoyed eating the crabs with Mom as well. A little too much maybe, because I don't really like to share.
Fun times with a bucket and our second cousin Jackson!
Jet skiing with Dad! He says he got his boaters license in 8th grade....hmmmm.
The kids both loved riding the four wheeler. They were constantly going around asking everyone and anyone if they would take them for another ride.
First on the tubing adventure was me with Carson and Laney. Laney liked it but surprisingly it made her a little nervous. Both kids were on guard because they know that there is always the chance of jellyfish and other sea creatures in salty water.
Carson tubed with everyone, he never got off the tube. He tubed with Amanda and Jackson, then with Grandpa, and then one more time with Amanda and Jackson.
Look at these two...having there little conversations. Laney said to Jackson, "How was it?". And Jackson looked at her and said, "Good, I hit a bump!". Little people having big conversations :-) Jackson is two years old so they can really relate.
Grandpa and Carson on the tube.
Laney was getting nervous when Grandpa and Carson were tubing. She was really afraid they might fall in and she was worried Uncle Jeff was going too fast. She knew from her ride that by putting her thumb down the driver of the boat would know to slow down. If you look close she has her thumb down in this photo because she thought that would make Uncle Jeff slow the boat down...I'm trying to explain how this all works to her but she was pretty frustrated that her hand signal wasn't working. On the very last run with Amanda, Jackson, and Carson, the tube did hit a wave and flip. Everyone was just fine. Carson was pretty panicked thinking he might get stung by a jellyfish. As the boat pulled up to the three of them, we were all cheering and trying to make sure the boys weren't scared, but Carson was panicking anyways, feeling like the boat was moving away from him (it wasn't). So one little yell for Grandpa and in he went to save his Carson! Carson recovered pretty well all in all. And Laney was ok too. I'm actually really glad it happened, it was a good lesson. I mean falling off the tube is a big, fun part of tubing after all!
Both kids kayaking with Grandpa.
Sunday morning I got to take a stab at scooping the crabs off the line while Carson watched from the front of the boat. We couldn't stay out too long because the heat index was 110 degrees, but Carson was ready with his crab gloves on and I think he really liked watching the whole process. I was really sore the next day and Laura would probably rather had someone else scooping (I may or may not have dropped a couple big ones), but I had a blast and was really happy to get to help !
Amanda and Carson watching me do all the hard work on the back of the boat!
Oh yeah and Laney can do the monkey bars by herself!!! I caught the tail end of one of her runs below, but she's done it several times.
Here's a clip of Carson, Laney, and I tubing. I'm pretty much on top of Laney.
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