We're Back!

October 26, 2012

Three days later, and Luke and I were back at the aquarium! But this time with Jeff in tow. It was his day off (you know, that spectacular every other Friday thing) and we were looking for something to do. We had seen a CityPass for Houston that included the aquarium and we (momentarily) thought we wanted to buy it for ourselves as kind of a family Christmas present. Luke had been begging to go on the other rides when we were there on Tuesday and I told him we could go on them the next time Daddy came with us, so why not now? Also, it was still Navy Week and if we were getting an all-activity pass, we could get into the exhibit to see the Navy divers do their thing. So off we went. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we came to the conclusion that the CityPass was not as good a deal as we thought it would be and it didn't seem worth it, but since we were already there, we couldn't just leave (Luke was SO EXCITED to be back and kept pointing out that Daddy was here now, so we could go on the ferris wheel), so we ended up paying a whopping $50 total for unlimited activity day passes for the three of us. A little pricey for a small aquarium and three rides, but at least we had fun ...

Gorgeous tiger hanging out right in front of us. Luke kept begging her to come out so he could pet her.

We were escorted up to the dining room by one of the men at the tent outside when we asked when the divers would be in the tank (apparently, they were going to be there in the next couple of minutes). And then, he crouched down next to Luke in front of the tank and pointed out what the divers were doing and helped Luke spot the only shark in the tank. What a wonderful man.

If I'm being honest, I was hoping for a little more of a show/demonstration from the divers. They really didn't do much of anything (I guess it was just meant to show us what they look like underwater with all of their equipment), but they told us outside later that they were loving doing it each day because they never get to dive in places with so many fish and sea creatures all around them. So at least there's that!

And they blew bubbles at Luke and gave him high fives, which was sweet.

With unlimited attraction passes, we got to ride the Shark Voyage train as many times as we wanted. Luke was thrilled!

We met a couple of familiar faces out front at the Navy tent, and a couple of new ones. We learned some more about what it's like to be Navy EOD, had some nice chats with all of the Navy men, and Luke got to drive the robots again, much to his delight.

Luke was an old pro this time! I was amazed at how well he did controlling the robots without help! All on his own, he figured out how to turn 360's and move the mechanical arm,s and the adults hardly even had to grab the joystick because he wasn't running into things this time. That boy is is father's son!

The camera on the glasses Jeff is wearing is showing what the robot camera is seeing. It was a little disorienting to try and watch it with just the one eye! The guy in the center of this picture is the charmer who gave me the flower a few days before. Luke remembered him, he remembered us, and he and the other guys were as sweet and patient with Luke this time as they were before. Such nice guys!

Heavy helmet.

One more round on all of the rides before we go ...

It was freezing on this day and overcast (Houston went from the 90's to the 60's without warning last week). Every time we went on the ferris wheel, I was just waiting for it to be over while I tried to ignore my feet getting numb and my arms and legs turning icy, but lucky for Luke, Jeff thought to bring him a sweatshirt, so he was perfectly comfortable and couldn't get enough of the ferris wheel! He thought it was pretty fun to lie on the floor of our little basket and look through the little hole he found down there.

Nap time fast approaching.

While we were waiting for the train to come back, we decided to do a quick ring toss ...

This man was all over the aquarium all day helping us and he was seriously one of the happiest, sweetest people I have ever met. He kept telling us, "just make yourselves at home" and giving us that big friendly grin. He was one of my favorite parts of the day!

We bought an entire bucket of rings and friendly man even gave us a whole bunch of extras, but we still didn't ring a single bottle! But lucky for us, it was the happiest, sweetest man in the world we were dealing with, so Luke got a consolation prize ...

A snake. He loved it!

He has insisted on napping with it every day since and asks where it is first thing every morning.

Sweet Jeff rubbing sleepy Luke's head on the Shark Voyage train.

These saw fish are amazing and that shark in the distance kind of gives me the chills.

Back up on the ferris wheel for another subzero ride. But Luke is as happy as a clam!

Fake laughs that turn into real ones.

We stopped by the Navy tent one last time on our way out so I could try on some gear. One of our new friends helped me get into the 45 lb. jacket and showed me how to hold the gun. Jeff said, "You can't smile when your wearing that stuff" so I tried to do my best serious face, but just before Jeff took the picture, the Navy guy, who was still standing next to me, goes, "yeah, warrior face!" and it was all lost. I fail at warrior face.

Running to the car. The snake worked just like a leash! Fantastic! And it's never hard to get Luke to go home these days because there is always promise of a movie in the car. I love our new Expedition! I don't even miss our Jeep a little bit.