More Animal Fun (this time under water)

During our visit to Georgia (Atlanta to be specific), we visited the downtown aquarium. Apparently, it's the largest indoor aquarium in the world. We must admit, it was amazing and should be seen by everyone passing through Atlanta.

The sting ray petting pool...


Tanner and Carter pointing out something cool...


Carter, Caroline, and Tanner checking out some small creatures...


Two handsome boys...


Carsyn getting snuggly with Daddy...


"What do you mean 'turn around'?"



An albino alligator (which although seemingly rare


View inside the dolphin tank...



Not that we got a great picture, but the aquarium had a huge ballroom (that could be rented out for a wedding or whatever), and had like 30' wide view (at least) into the Beluga whale tank, where two beautiful whales kept making big circles and even grazing the glass separating us from them on their passes. It was truly beautiful to amazing to watch and was hard to walk away from...



A huge tank with a huge fish - a whale shark. The aquarium had 3 or 4 of them in the same tank!!!



The underside of one of the whale sharks...


Caroline, Carsyn, Carter, and Tanner just chilling out...


A big spotted stingray in the same tank as the whale shark...


Some nasty looking shark with even nastier looking teeth!


Another one of the kids...


Tanner and Carsyn getting a close-up view of something...


Literally thousands of fish!!!



The giant grouper fish - probably nearly 800 lbs!!!


Carsyn enjoying some some with Uncle Michael, ahem, her new boyfriend...



Another shark...


Amber and Tanner - mesmerized...


A neat little sea horse...


Some crazy looking jellyfish...

Day at the Zoo

On the way to visit Chris's brother and family in Georgia, we stopped in southern Virginia and planned a trip to a great zoo in North Carolina. We had a great time kicking off our mini vacation.

The kids excited to finally get out of the car...





We started zoo day with the alligators...


Saw a sleepy mountain (Nittany!) lion...


We spent a ton of time enjoying what had to be the most entertaining polar bear in the world. Willie was quite the performer. He loved playing with his garbage can lid toy and sinking ball. He kept coming right up to everyone at the glass look-through, kicking off backwards, and making big splashes. It was so cool...





Tanner, Carsyn, and Mommy taking a little rest...


The zoo had a carousal, so of course we had to go for a ride on the exotic animals...



A cure gorilla in deep thought...


The other truly awesome thing at the zoo was the giraffe overlook deck, where we were within a couple feet of the giraffe and were even able to feed them!



Tanner went right on into the feeding...


Carsyn, on the other hand, took a bit more coaxing, but before long, she was feeding one too...



Two recently hatched Ligettis...


Tanner and Carsyn partaking in one of the zoo's games...


All that walking made the kids HUNGRY. Here's Carsyn munching on Mommy's salad...



A bird (that's the best I can remember!)...


Tanner was so excited when he heard the black bears growl at each other...


Needless to say that by the end of the night, the kids were D-O-N-E!!!

Fourth Fest State College

We went onto campus for the Central PA Fourth Fest. It's a pretty big deal around here and the fireworks here are simply stated - AMAZING. Some say they are ranked in the top 3 or 5 in the country. Whether or not it's true, I welcome anyone to visit to see for themselves and try and dispute. What was really cool this year is that we watched the fireworks from the first baseline of the Penn State and State College Spikes baseball park. It was a really neat experience.

Carsyn giving Mommy and Tanner the best hug...


Tanner and Carsyn prepping for the boomers at the ball park...


Carsyn has been making a pretty big deal about sunglasses lately. She's looking pretty stylish here in Mommy's...


... and quite cool in Daddy's...



Hang in there, baby, they're just about to start...


Carsyn and Grandma (Nancy)...


Being silly with her glow-stick...


And the show. You should also check out our friends' blog to see a 3 minute clip of the show including the grand finale. Amazing





THAT WAS AWESOME!!!