Virginia Beach - Ocean Aquarium

Matthew and I are spending 10 days with my (Michelle's) parents in Virginia Beach, while daddy works in Florida. We made it through our first plane ride with flying colors. Matthew fell fast asleep the moment the plane taxied out on the runway, and did not open his eyes again until it was time to get off the plane. What an ANGEL we have!!

Matthew is sick again with some kind of nasty cold/flu bug (hurry spring!!) and it was cold and rainy outside, so we spent our first day indoors trying to beat his cold. Good thing Papa and Nana's house is so warm and cozy. We didn't mind hiding out for the day.

On Monday, it was off to the indoor Ocean Aquarium. Here is a photo of Matthew petting the sting-rays! Don't worry...their barbs are removed. No crocodile hunter moments here. He was perfectly safe, I swear!!

Matthew loves turtles, and he got a big kick out of seeing this huge turtle up close and personal. The turtle was playing along real well too, as he seemed to play hide and seek with us. Turtles this size are exactly why I am not a big fan of swimming in the ocean!!

He enjoyed learning all about the turtles after the exhibit...what they look like...how they taste:-) Good thing he's spreading his germs all around right? And I wonder how he gets sick so often?!?!

Next we headed to the alligator exhibit. We didn't dare to venture as close to these guys though. Matthew is just the perfect size for a nice alligator snack. Matthew found a stuffed Alligator in the gift shop, and gave it a hug...very cute!! He also gave it lots of kisses, which is why we bought the alligator for him to keep (you could ring it out when Matthew was done...yumm!!)

What aquarium experience would be complete without seeing the sharks? We tried to take photos, but the shark tank was too dark and creepy, so all you see is our red eyes and a big flash. (We would have had the shot, I'm sure, if daddy was with us with his fancy camera and stealth camera skills)

We did take a moment to experience what life would be like inside the mouth of the shark, with all those ferocious teeth...and yes, Matthew tasted those too...It was a great first day in Virginia Beach...stay tuned, more to come :-)