An aquarium afternoon with Grandpa!

We were long overdue for some Grandpa Braden time so when a perfect Saturday afternoon presented itself a couple of weeks ago, we immediately made plans to head to the aquarium in Boise. I admit, after following the legal troubles in the news, I was a bit wary of the aquarium but it's now under new, law-abiding ownership and it was really nice and well presented.

 Clyde was SO into all of it - and of course it helps that my dad is a total fish/sea creature/water buff (he's always had really awesome fish tanks and has explored and snorkeled in a lot of the ocean on different cruises he's taken) and could thus explain what everything was and help Clyde know how to touch and hold a lot of the little creatures and such.

Will loved to look at everything and touch them at least once, but definitely wasn't as gung-ho as Clyde.

 Jack takes after me and liked looking at everything while staying pretty much hands-off. I think Clyde and Will's favorite part was the rays and feeding them little pieces of krill; I think they talked Grandpa into buying at least two cups of it to distribute into the tank.

 

 After a solid couple hours at the aquarium, we picked up some food and headed to a nearby park to carry on the fun. The boys played and snuggled with Grandpa and told him stories and used his fancy new phone to sing along (and in Will's case, dance along) to their favorite songs and be comforted with cookies when they tumbled off the picnic table bench (Jack).

The boys had a great time and Dad and I got to talk and talk and it was a splendid afternoon! 

Of course, while we were there Jack randomly became obsessed with the porta-potty and couldn't understand why I kept heading him off every time he'd run that direction. It'll probably come back to haunt me in a few months when I want to ditch the diapers - "Sorry, Mom, that day at the park was your chance. I was ready; now I've rethought the matter...."

And the timing worked out perfectly; the boys were just winding down when Chuck got off work, which was right next to the park so he got to load/buckle/drive home the tired boys while I opted for a tranquil drive home alone in the Saturn :).

Thanks again Daddi-o, we had a great day! Love you lots!