living the freeman life

This morning was very exciting!  We all had a great night’s sleep last night and woke up around 7am. We got ready, ate breakfast, showered and headed out to catch the shuttle to the Aquarium.  We got there about 5 minutes early, but they let us in out of the cold while we waited for the museum to open.  Very exciting!  Here’s a picture of Caleb while we are waiting!

 

The first exhibit we were ushered into was the butterfly exhibit (I know, not much related to aquariums, but hey, it was included with the purchase!).  A sweet lil’ butterfly landed on Caleb’s backpack/leash almost immediately and stayed there till we had to leave. 

 

 

 

Next, we saw and petted some stingrays (okay, okay, just Eric did).  He even got to feed them some raw shrimp for their lunch!!  A video of the ordeal is below. 

 

 

Then, we moved on to a bunch of…*gasp* FISH exhibits!  The following are just a few of the pictures I took!

 

 

Below is a picture of Eric and Caleb inside a Plexiglas tube inside a tank of fish and crabs.  Caleb never wanted to leave!! It gave him a true “up close and personal” look!

  Great video of Caleb watching the fish!! Notice the huge shark that comes to say hello!!

 

 

 

We found Nemo!

 

 

 

 

And his friend, Gill!

 

 

 

This turtle made me (Emily) laugh so hard…if I was a turtle, I’d probably sunbathe like this too!

Here’s Caleb getting face to face (plus a few inches of Plexiglas) with an alligator! :)  After the Aquarium, (which was definitely worth every penny!), we came back to the hotel for Caleb’s nap (he actually took one today!).  When he got up, we went back out, had Wendy’s for supper (it was cheap and quick), then headed to the Creative Discovery Museum.  Eric and I had seen this in a brochure and really wanted to take Caleb there, but couldn’t fit it into the budget.  However, earlier today, one of our shuttle drivers told us that today from 5:30pm till 8:00pm, they were opening their doors to families for FREE!!  Thank you Lord for providing such a special experience!  I would definitely go back and make it an all day thing…there’s way too much to do!  Check out their website here.  I guarantee you will be impressed!! Caleb enjoying a water feature they had there, complete with plastic apron!

 

There was a section just for toddlers….and one whole area of just tools (plastic, of course).  Immediately, Caleb was drawn to them, thanks to our friend, Handy Manny. :)  Here he is, sporting a Lowe’s apron!

 

 

Overall, it was a packed, fun-filled day that wore all THREE of us out!!  Tomorrow, we are going swimming in the morning, checking out by 11am, eating lunch at a local favorite called “The Acropolis”, then heading to Athens, TN, to visit the Mayfield Ice Cream Factory!!  Will post pics later on!  Thanks for tuning in!