Aquarium Adventure: Oregon Coast Camping Trip Part I

This past weekend we camped out on the coast with the Farner clan at Devil's Lake Area, Lincoln City. Since it was so close to Newport, we decided to go a little earlier on Friday and spend the afternoon at the Oregon Coast Aquarium with Grandpa, Uncle Corby and Aunt Mary. It was definitely worth it!

We ate at the aquarium's Hawaiian-themed grill. Here Zoë is showing why Uncle Corby is her favorite - he always lets her play with his keys :) Then we headed straight for the premiere exhibit: the shark tunnel!

 So cool.

 Nice sharky...

"I can...almost...reach them!"

Corby and Mary with a lovely shark backdrop

 Zoë really seemed to enjoy it :)

Then came the seals, sea lions and sea otters, planking on the rocks and swimming through the water. These were even more exciting than the sharks and elicited many squeals and giggles!

          

Even more so than the seals, Zoë had a blast watching the puffin strut his stuff in the aviary. He was something else - this little guy put on quite the show!

"Aunt Mary, what is that funny looking thing???"

"Look ma, I can swim upside down too!"

Near the end of our time, Zoë and I stumbled into a baby's paradise - a special aquarium section just for kids! There was a submarine playhouse, a boat slide, fishing poles and fish to catch, beautiful tropical fish and, Zoë's favorite part of the whole day...a sandbox.

Zoë's first taste (literally) of sand

And she loved every bit of it. (bleh!)

Coming up next - pictures from our camping trip and Zoë's 

discovery of the life-sized sandbox at the beach :)