Monterey Bay Aquarium

As is their way, the boys woke up early and we had to get out of the hotel before their stampede bothered the neighbors. We had breakfast at a nice little place in the outlet shopping center and then ran around the mall area for a while. There were a bunch of little rides, so the boys were entertained.

Then it was time for the aquarium. Alex and Zachary got bracelets with our cell phone number. Just in case.
The boys entered the coral reef and became the newest display. Then they were eaten by a giant clam.

Checking out the ghost jellies.

There was a little cave for viewing the sea turtles. It was (obviously) at kid level, so kids would just disappear into it and it took a while for the parents to realize where they went. Alex and Zachary really liked being in there. Then they cozied up to an Emperor penguin.

We saw the African penguins being fed, many sharks, touched some sea stars, and explored the wave tunnel. Then we returned to the hotel for a rest before returning to the aquarium for a couple more hours. We were able to get a table in the aquarium restaurant, right by the window. They have binoculars and a wildlife identification chart which was really fun. Alex and Zachary really enjoyed using the binoculars and I think they may have even seen something through them. We definitely saw a bunch of sea otters playing by a big rock. After lunch we watched the indoor sea otters being fed, and explored the pink flamingo exhibit. Then we got our own sea otters to take home. We had to cross a sky bridge to get to our part of the hotel, and the boys liked to sit in the windows and watch the traffic. I think they were starting to fall asleep. You can just make out the aquarium at the end of the road.