February Cousin Visit—Aquarium Fun!

Okay, peeps.

We ended our fun visit with little bro, his wife, and my stinking adorable little niece on a bit of a low note, with Chicklet falling ill with the same stomach virus that took Little Man down last week.

Oye.

One minute, she was swinging on playground equipment, and the next, she was emptying her stomach. :( And it kept going and going for a reallllllly rough night.

She’s kind of leveling out, and I’m totally and completely sending up prayers that we didn’t infect our visiting family. 

In the meantime, I’m rewinding to all the lovely quality time we had together—including a visit to the aquarium!

So.

We lived in San Antonio for 3.5 years before visiting this place, as it’s kind of under the radar in my opinion. But after a really amazing field trip there with Chicklet’s class, and now our own independent visit, I’m going to declare it an official hidden gem for families with young kiddos.

Let me count the ways…

First: it’s probably mislabeled as an aquarium. I’d call it qual parts indoor zoo plus aquarium—with some arcade thrown in, ha.

Second: it’s billed as being interactive and it totally is. For the equivalent of a token (a couple dollars) we had experiences with feeding sting rays, turtles, a porcupine, and some baby kangaroos. And some of those thing were entirely free. Better still: there’s an outdoor area that’s essentially a petting zoo with many of the animals wandering free.

And third: it’s small enough to feel manageable! As any parent knows, a major zoo or museum or theme park can be brutal, and this one’s just the perfect size to easily see everything in under two hours and not break the bank or feel like you’ve lost feeling in your legs and feet.

So…victory! The perfect activity to squeeze in before my niece’s nap time, and all were happy. :)

This porcupine’s name was Quill Smith. Haha.







































These little kangaroos loved the material of the kiddos’ clothing, tehe. They were nibbling on everything, ha.





And, lastly…I got to pull that heinous-awesomesauce aunt thing where I bought the giant sucker with the stuffed animal clinging to it, even though her parents didn’t want to. Muahahaha.



Okay…off to try to tackle a few things before the other two kiddos are home at lunch, thanks to one of those super-inconvenient early release days.

In the meantime…think happy thoughts for Chicklet’s ongoing recovery. She’s better but not at all great today.

Over and out.