We went on an overnight adventure on Tuesday-Wednesday. I drove the kids up to Mystic, CT to the aquarium and then to Oakdale to The Dinosaur Place. We had a total, absolute blast. The drive was much longer than I had anticipated, but we still got to the aquarium around 1, in plenty of time. We visited all (or at least 90% of) the exhibits before having lunch around 3. J wasn't interested in the Balogas, although I was. He liked the sharks (he touched one!), the penguins, and the dang $2 boats that you drive remotely in a pond. ugh. The glow-in-the-dark fish, the jellies, and the sea lion came a close second for him. He also tried touching the rays, but the tanks were deep enough that they'd swim by, but too deep, him. We looked for frogs, tadpoles, and turtles in their marshland. J told me that tadpoles go through 'metaphoosum.' (oh, and we didn't feel the earthquake.)
We ate dinner at a local pizzaria. I think we all were beat by then, and I should have carried out. Next time. Our motel wasn't spectacular, but it was fine. E went to bed around 7:30 (on time), J played games on my phone and I read until 8:30, and we went to bed around 9. I woke up at 4am ready to party, though. The kids woke up around 8:30, so that worked out well. We had some fruit that I had brought along to hold us over until breakfast.
After checking-out, packing the car, and getting b'fast (Dunkin Donuts, oh well), we headed to The Dinosaur Place in Oakdale, CT. It's an outdoor dinosaur exhibit around a pond and in the woods. It was gorgeous. We walked the trails, and "life"-sized dinos were hidden along the way (see pix below). The have a maze, a playground, and a splashpad (of course, all dino themed). At the playground, E loved the old-school dino and seahorse rockers, and J (naturally) loved the 3-story rope climb (more gray hairs for me). Four dino characters roam (we found 3 of them). And, on the hour, their volcano, which is in the pond, erupts. We literally spent seven hours there! The kids ran through the splashpad with trepidation but lots of laughs (good thing I was in a suit too). Some of the bigger kids really annoyed me. J befriended an older boy, who helped him through the maze and who leeched on for the rest of the day. A strawberry ice cream topped off the day for us.
And, luck was on my side; I didn't hit traffic either way. amazing. The kids could not have been better. I'm energized to do more excursions now!
These pix should do our trip justice:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment