Date Day Part Deux

Benton and I set off again yesterday for an adventure. Although Dave was off work, he had a project to finish, so he stayed behind. Apparently date days around here have been equated with junky food, because Benton's first request was to get frozen yogurt. We discussed a few other options instead. Originally I wanted to head to the zoo, but the weather was in the low 40s. That is too cold for us to enjoy walking around the zoo. After a bit of conferring, we stuck with the animal theme and headed to the aquarium for a bit of underwater life.

This was our first visit to the National Aquarium in Washington D.C. Last year when we were in the area, we focused on the Maryland venue of the aquarium. When we visited that site, we became members assuming we would make a few visits. The cost was not much more than the regular admission.  Wit admission card in hand, we headed downtown. This time the metro ride was uneventful. Benton was able to sit in the first seat and watch the tunnel and stops approach. All the kiddos love this spot on the train. After a quick walk we reached our destination. The aquarium is in the lower level of the Commerce building. It consists of tanks with aquatic animals from various locales. Benton led the way running at times from view to view. Often he would ask to be lifted up to see everything more closely. Another patron carried a small IKEA stool which would have been perfect for  the too high views.

His favorite tank was full of turtles and fish swimming around mock ship wrecks. He wondered about the "junk" in the tank. We talked about the Great Lakes and the many ships that sunk in the area covered by the display. He thought it was cool, because Gram, Pap and his cousins live in Michigan. After viewing about half of the Aquarium, Benton was ready to go. The siren song of frozen yogurt was too strong. The timing actually worked quite well, because I needed to get the older two from their class. With cone in hand we came home to daddy and told him of our adventures then off to pick up Eamon and Aine and hear theirs.