Here Fishy, Fishy

On Tuesday afternoon, the Flock spent time with schools... of fish.
We took the kids to the Long Beach Aquarium and they, especially Gracie, had a ball!

We had intended to take them for Preston's birthday (which is Saturday), but since John starts an eight-day stretch at work on Wednesday, it wasn't going to work out. Then, as it turns out, Gracie's class was scheduled for a field trip to the aquarium on Wednesday, but because I can't take Preston with us, she won't be able to go. So, we combined it all and had our own field trip and pre-birthday celebration on Cinco de Mayo!


Gracie not only enjoyed it... she loved it! It's nice and dark in there, so for our incredibly light-sensitive girl, there couldn't have been a better outing! The most exciting part of the trip was how much she signed unprompted... fish, water, jellyfish, lobster, light... plus much more after prompting. She also floored me by recognizing fish I'd named for her when we passed by a second time.


Preston enjoyed it, but not as much as his sister. He's not a big fan of the dark or really loud noises, so when the main area became dark and the booming voice came over the sound system talking about whales, he said, "All done... bye fish." We had to talk him into staying! Like his sister, he was eager to tell us all that he knew. He recognized so many fish before we even told him what they were - - starfish, jellyfish, octopus, crab, lobster, seal... it was unreal to listen to him and watch him sign.


My favorite part of the visit was when John held Gracie up to the window and they watched the otters play. One otter, in particular, seemed to perform just for Gracie. He would speed past the window and then come down to where she was and literally stop, "clap" a bit, turn, twist, put his nose right to hers, and then speed away, only to loop around and "play" with her again. She loved every bit of it... and it was such a joy watching her take it all in.