Underwater Adventures & MOA

We took Cody to the Mall of America for the first time on Saturday.  We went right away in the morning before most of the stores even opened.  I love getting to places right when they open (stores, attractions, garage sales :)).  It has been awhile since we got to take him on an outing, because he has been sick with colds, coughs, etc. most of this fall and winter.  Finally he is feeling better (insert huge 'knock on wood' here), so we planned a little daytrip.  It had been even longer since we had him in the stroller; in fact, I think he still rode in his carseat in the stroller the last time we had it out.  Anyway ~ when we first got to the Mall, he just loved riding in the stroller and looking at all the people, bright colors, lights, etc.  It was pretty fun to watch him observe everything.

We headed to Underwater Adventures which is an underground aquarium under the Mall of America.  Gordon and I had been there a few times prior.  Cody got free admission (I'd hope so!) and Gordon and I paid about $35 for the both of us, after $3 off coupons.  Kind of expensive for how big of a place it was, but we enjoyed it and was worth it to us.  The beginning part of the attraction is a woodsy/forest area that has exhibits of fish and other animals.  It was dark and misty and we had it all to ourselves.  We leisurely went through it and Cody got to observe some different scenery.  

("official" photo borrowed illegally :))

After that part, the main part of the attraction is the actual aquarium which is basically like a tunnel that you walk in, and the water with all the fish & water-life is surrounding you!  It's a pretty neat experience if you've never done it before.  Cody really enjoyed just taking it all in and seeing all the fish swimming around.  It was hard to take photos because of the lighting, but we did manage to snap a few shots.  They're not great, but at least we have proof that we were there!

Here's a few pictures from the day:

(Ummm....that is a little close, Daddy!  There was glass obviously, but still!)

I *love* how this one turned out!  Eery.

Yay!

Like father, like son...

Stroller time!

We spent a couple of hours in the Aquarium total, and then walked a little bit around the mall afterwards.  We're not big mall people but we always have to stop by the Apple store ("just to look") and we walked through the amusement park since we hadn't seen it since they converted it to Nickelodeon Universe.  I didn't really notice a difference!

Sharky came across our path while we were exploring the mall, and he and Cody had a little moment.  It was really sweet.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready - shoot!

When we were walking around, I was checking Cody for something, and I noticed that around his belly and top of his pants were completely soaked!!   AHH!!  Who knows how long he had been like that, he hadn't made a PEEP so we were totally shocked.  We are so blessed with such a good baby...but it'd be nice if he at least let us know so we could take care of things :)  Poor little man!  Luckilly we had a change of clothes in the diaper bag, because EVERYTHING needed changing!  Oh well.

On our way home, we stopped for a yummy Olive Garden dinner and of course the obligatory trip to Target for "diapers and formula".  We always joke that if we ever get a Target gift card from work or a present, that it just goes towards diapers and formula!  Ahh, this is our life...

Anyway, all in all, it was a successful outing and we can't wait until we can take him out somewhere else that he can have a new experience.  We are counting down the years until we can take him on the motherload of all outings, Disney World!!!