Field Trip to the Georgia Aquarium!

This past weekend we took a field trip to the Georgia Aquarium, which is the world's largest aquarium (although we went because it was the closest).  Ethan and I just started a unit on underwater life in the science curriculum, and Jim and I have been looking for an opportunity to take a field trip for some time, so it seemed like a good fit. 

The weekend ended up being really nice.  We drove down to Atlanta on Saturday morning and got to the aquarium in time for an early lunch.   After we ate, we walked through the different exhibits.    I have been to quite a few aquariums in my life, but there were several things that were there that I have never seen before.  Such as a...

...whale shark, which is the largest fish species in the world....

...and giant manta rays, which were enormous! According to the website, they are the only manta rays to be in a U.S. aquarium ever.   Pretty cool!

We saw these, along with many other sharks and fish, while walking through a large acrylic tunnel.  It was amazing!  Here we are in the tunnel (I am holding an info sheet so we could identify the different sharks and fish while we were going through the tunnel)

As you can see, even Verity enjoyed looking at the fish :-)

Before going to the aquarium, we learned about the different fins on a fish.  Here I am pointing them out to Ethan and Micah.  Looking at a picture of a fish is one thing, but being able to identify the fins in real life was so much better!

Here are some more things we got to see at the aquarium:

Jellyfish,

sharks,

...and all sorts of different fish and coral.

We also got to see a 4D movie (which is 3D plus special effects like water splashing on you during the movie) which the boys enjoyed, although the 3D glasses were too big for Micah so I had to hold them on him (Verity fell asleep).  After the movie was over, the kids were pretty much done and things went downhill fast, so we skedaddled out of there.  We went toward the hotel, went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner (YUM!), and then went to the hotel and enjoyed swimming in the warm pool.  After swimming, we watched part of Finding Nemo, and then went to bed. It was a great day, and we enjoyed every part of it!  Thank You, God, for the opportunity to gaze on your creation and for the great memories!