Tuesday at Corpus Christi

We went to Corpus Christi today! First, let me just say that I really missed Josh today. I hate doing big trips without him. I'm glad we went, but I wish he had been there. I love you, babe! I've been wanting to go to the beach for quite some time now, but FINALLY the weather looked perfect so we were off :) It was only 85 (which is pretty chill here) and partly cloudy. I also figured Tuesday after Memorial Day would be perfect because it wouldn't be crowded. I was right. YAY! We left at around noon so that Noah could try and get a nap in along the way... and he did nap for about an hour. Such a good boy. Don't worry I moved that water bottle right after I took the pic.

When we first got there Noah was a bit afraid of the water, but he warmed up to it really quick. There were also tons of jellyfish washed up on the shores. You could see them all in the crests of the waves too so we kinda hung out on the sand for a bit. Eventually the tide took them back so I felt safe enough to get in a bit more. This is the only picture I was able to take of Noah near the water because we were in it the entire time. I brought his little inflatable boat and he was just lying back, relaxing, rocking in the waves. The water was perfect temperature. Neither one of us got cold. Noah commented on the jellyfish (and poked a few) and the big boats he saw. The USS Lexington is also on the beach. One day we'll go back and see it. Noah didn't want to get out, but I was hungry!

Well it turns out Noah was hungry too because he ate a sandwich and half a bag of chips. These crazy seagulls were stalking him. I seriously could have reached up and smacked them at one point. That was the same point where I stood up and swung my towel at them angrily to get them to back off. It worked for the most part. I tried to convince Noah that we should go check out the USS Lexington since we were already out of the water, but he decided he would rather swim. He would have swum all stinkin' day, but Mommy had better plans :) The Texas State Aquarium is also in Corpus Christi and I had been getting Noah all excited about it the entire trip there and before we left. We watched all the slide shows on the website and he was soooo eager to see the fish... until he got into the water haha. Mommy always wins, though.

The first thing we saw was the dolphins. We got there at 4:30 and the aquarium closes at 6 so all the shows were finished by then. Noah didn't mind. I didn't really mind either. He was absolutely mesmerized. I think he would have stayed in the underwater dolphin room for hours if I didn't make him move. I took a little clip of him chasing the dolphins as they swam by. I was so excited to see him so happy. You'll notice none of these pictures have his face in them haha.

We may have missed the shows, but we didn't miss the stingray and shark "touch and feel" display. I thought Noah would be more wary of touching them, but he went right in. He really liked the shark's fin. He was a little taken aback by the stingray because it was bigger, but he touched a smaller one as it swam past him. They were cool. The shark felt a little rough and the stingray were really smooth, almost slimy like the jellyfish. We hung outside for a little bit and caught another glimpse of the Lexington. Then we went back inside to see more animals.

Noah especially enjoyed the seahorses. They are such cool looking creatures. I think it was a toss-up between the seahorses and dolphins for him today. There was a cool little crab display and behind it was another "touch and feel" area with hermit crabs in it. Noah wouldn't touch the hermit crabs, but he wanted me to touch them so he could get a closer look. I was happy to oblige. I love me some hands on learnin'!

As we walked further down the halls the fish got bigger and bigger. We saw eels and sharks and sea turtles. Since we were there near closing time we also got to see a few divers taking care of the tanks and playing with their fishes. The divers tried to wave at Noah, but I think the weirdness of the equipment plus the magnification of the glass equaled a little too much for him to handle. He didn't mind watching them swim with the fish, but interaction was a no-no. We visited all the tanks, visited them again, and then had to leave because it was closing time.

On the way in we saw some great statues and displays, but didn't have time to explore them due to massive two-year-old excitement issues... and time constraints. On the way out we had all the time in the world to spend looking around. There was a cool otter fountain and a few whale displays. Anything with water coming out of it is fine by Noah. I finally got him to sit down and look at me for a picture... well sorta, the sun was in his eyes.

We stopped at BlackBeard's for some dinner before we headed for home. I had delicious fried catfish and Noah had fries and popcorn shrimp. He also guzzled a whole lot of milk. It wasn't until I was sitting in the restaurant that I started to really feel the sunburn I got from being dumb and not putting MY sunscreen on. I do have this nice "baby" spot on my side where Noah's sunscreen slimed off on me. Fun times. The 2hr drive home was a little uncomfortable, but I'm fine. Everything was timed so perfectly. We got home at 9 and Noah got his shower and was in bed by 9:30. He passed out right away. Now I am going to take a shower and do the same. I had to post first so Josh could read about our day in a few hours (time difference, you know). Goodnight all :)