Dwayne had to go Canada for work, so I took the girls to visit their Aunt Michelle in New Jersey for a few days. We went to Adventure Aquarium, "the most touchable aquarium in the country." I think it must be true. I only took a fraction of the pictures I could have because my hands were too busy in the tanks the whole time!

Norah at the shark tank.

The penguins having lunch.

Shark

The underside of a shark ray

Sea Turtle

Seahorse

The smaller cow rays like the two in the picture below would stick their fins out of the water and slap them against the wall of the pool, splashing the people standing around. One ray seemed to hold his fin up toward me deliberately, so I put two fingers on his back to pet him but then on impulse I pushed down a little harder and drew a line from the center of his back to the tip of his fin... As I got toward the end, his fin curled up like the gesture was so ticklish he could hardly stand it. When I finished "tickling" him, he splashed me!

Norah and I were even asked to wade in the pool with the stingrays! We were given shrimp to feed them! I felt bad for the school kids who had to stand around the pool and watch us. They were on field trips with their teachers, so none of them were allowed in the pool because their parents weren't with them... Points for home school!

The stingrays behaved just like puppy dogs. They were very aware of us and eager to communicate. They "ran" up to our feet and sucked on our ankles and legs, seeking our attention (or maybe the shrimp we were holding). This leopard ray seemed to have a sense of humor and enjoyed getting as close to me as his big body would allow, just like an old, friendly dog. At one point, my foot was almost right under his (very large) mouth!

Southern Ray resting in the sand.

Giant crab

Queen Angelfish

Shark tunnel