Mote Aquarium with Gramps

P loves our aquarium at Coney Island so we decided to try the Mote Aquarium too. Added bonus: Giant Squid. (Ever since the squid and the whale exhibit rocked his world at the AMNH P's been pretty fascinated with giant squids.) He teased BB all morning about how scary it would be, cackling at BB's every moan of anguish.

He breezed past all of the beautiful fish and headed straight to the squid. It was fairly grotesque, it's enormous body preserved in a large tank. He loves that none can be kept in captivity, that they (so far) require the freedom of the deep. He shoved Baby Brother at the tank, taunting him. "You scared, Baby Brother?" This squid was 37 feet long when found off New Zealand. P Really wanted to know why its shrunk to its current 23 feet, something I still need to google... He had more questions than the elderly helper had answers so I see a library trip in our near future.

After that were (of course) the beloved sharks, and more BB taunting. The tank contained Enormous (and ugly) grouper that made Phoenix a bit nervous, which he expressed through BB's thoughts. "I want Baby Brother to be scared the gwouper will break down the glass." Then the touch pool containing the much adored hermit crab - a creature that ranks amongst sharks and wildebeests in P's heart. We also stroked a chocolate chip sea cucumber, a sand dollar and urchins. You could attempt to snag a stingray (sans stinger) but they adamantly avoided P's hand.

After a lovely picnic with Gramps we headed to the manatee, turtle and dolphin rehabilitation center. P was really interested... until he saw the gift shop. I know they have to make money, but geeeeez. He didn't care a lick about the diving dolphins once he saw the plastic squids.

We went around the bend and dipped our toes in the breezy bay. P was tired, chilled by the wind ("No Blow!!) and blinded by the sun "I want some shade") so it was an unusually brief water affair. On the way home Gramps spied some ice cream - Ben and Jerry's (food coloring free!) mint to be exact. Quite possibly P's favorite food on earth. Ahhhh, a perfect ending to a lovely day.