Aquarium

Ok, I'll just come out and say it. Rory loves Sea World. Like loves it, loves it. My mom would practically cry every time we even brought up Sea World as a kid--she could hardly stand to think of the beautiful fish and animals caged up where they can see the ocean they belong in but can never be a part of. I know. So sad! So, we're somewhere in the middle here in the Starks' house--love the animals and learning, hate the captivity.

Hence our visit to the local aquarium. I laugh every time I say the words "local" and "aquarium" in the same sentence. We live in Arizona! No local fish culture to speak of, right? Well, turns out the Salt River and oceans in Mexico do have some pretty fascinating swimmers. We ended up having a lot of fun learning about them (we even got to touch a starfish which Dia was not impressed with one bit) and watching them swim (yes, in tanks and yes, I did voice my concern to Rory and Dia about the injustice of it all). Dia was thrilled with the stingrays and every time she put her hand on the glass, they would all clamor to lay against it (you can kind of see it in the first pic up top). She literally jumped about and banged her hands with excitement!

Some memorable pics: