A Little Underwater Break

One of the best things about living in New Mexico, in the Albuquerque area, is the wealth of excellent museums, parks and zoos all so close-by and easy to get to, even if you only have just an hour or two to spend exploring.
A membership is an invaluble tool and privelege to have as well. It gives you the freedom and takes away the pressure of feeling as if you must see everything all at once.
Our family knows we can focus on one fascinating display the entire time we are there, or we can stop off and touch base on a little bit of everything. We love it!

Yesterday, in between our Homeschool PE class at UNM and Jackson's Homeschool Band practice, we had about 2 hours to do whatever we chose to do. We decided to spend it at the Aquarium.

We all love just parking our butts down on the floor and studying all the animals in the largest Ocean tank. (Click on pictures for a larger view)
Rows and Rows of sharp jagged teeth. A dentist would run away screaming!
Watching the diver feeding the fish and cleaning the tank.
Moon Jellies!
"Swimming" in the Moray Eel Tunnel!
This curved window feels and looks as if you are actually inside the tank when you climb up into it. Cool!
Holding his breathe 'inside' the tank!
Jenna loves the rays. We spent alot of time just observing these animals. Fun!
Watching those amazing ray's being fed. We enjoyed talking with this friendly guy and having him answer all of our questions. We learned a bunch of new and interesting things today.
They were all over this guy! Hungry little buggers!
My favorite fish in the aquarium are the Jawfish, the little yellow guy up front. Talk about attitude and personality! We enjoy watching one of the burrows where two of them live inside like an old married couple. One takes little pebbles and shells OUT of the burrow and the other one picks them back up and places the pebbles and shells back inside! Too funny!
We like that there are live seagulls uncaged INSIDE the aquarium. It's also amazing to think that some New Mexico children may have never seen a real sea gull up close, if it weren't for the aquarium. Outside there are also pelicans, too. They make us smile and remember the flocks of pelicans that would fly over our heads and the Palmetto trees while we camped on the beach on Edisto Island, SC.
Jenna enjoys getting splashed by the rays.
Impressed with the sharks, fish and sea turtles.
Some eels in the eel tunnel.
This curious, cute guy could use a brush for his teeth. Eeewww!
Jenna exploring the CutThroat Trout exhibit.