Friday, March 04, 2011

Birthdays and Aquariums

Saturday was Claudio's 40th birthday!! I am just chuckling to myself at the first picture below...which probably should be a beautiful picture of Cla with his family or something and not a wallowing hippo, but I am a bit of a blogger dunce and that is just how it worked out LOL.

Either way I wish my dear husband a blessed birthday and another 40 (++++) filled with joy, health, happiness, and God's never ending blessings. I am so grateful for you and know that your little family loves you endlessly.

To celebrate Cla's birthday and Ben's birthday with the Salvucci side of the family Cla decided he really wanted to go to the Camden Adventure Aquarium.

I am for some reason mesmerized by the hippos. They are so much larger than I imagined and their eyes are almost human. And just a note, Sharyn took all of these pictures as my camera battery died.

My little daredevil pixie was actually quite anxious about the entire aquarium. She spent the entire day either being held or in the stroller. She would not stand or walk and she would only let you get within 3 feet of any tank. She loves fish. "Fishy" was one of her first words and she was excited at times to see the fish, but as long as she was at a safe distance.

Benjamin on the other hand was possibly at the most perfect age/stage to visit the aquarium. He watched the fish with such interest and delight. I think he could have spent much longer at each exhibit just observing every little thing and pointing out the things he knew and asking about the things he didn't know.

Look at those creepy hippo eyes!

















I absolutely love and cherish these pictures of Benjamin. Really capturing his personality and interest. And the ones where you can see his reflection in the glass........just beyond precious!!!




There are several exhibits where you can interact with the fish and feel them. This is the stingray exhibit and if you put your finger in the water they will swim by and brush against your fingers! There was also an exhibit to pet a shark and one to pet starfish, sea cucumbers, and anemones.









After the aquarium everyone came back to our house for pizza and a birthday cake for Ben and a birthday pie for Claudio.

One of Ben's favorite gifts was this stuffed kagaroo (with a little joey in its pouch) that he got from his aunt and uncle and cousins. He has been toting it around with him.

4 comments:

Katherine T. Lauer said...

I've never seen a hippo from that perspective! It's really quite astonishing how different they look, how their eyes stare out at the viewer. It's a little bit wonderful and a little bit creepy!

Jamie Carin and Claudio Romano said...

Katherine EXACTLY!!!!

And to see how buoyant they are....almost graceful! It is such a weird juxtaposition!

Jen said...

Happy Birthday to Claudio!

We should check out the aquarium too. Maybe wait a little longer since Anna wasn't sure about it and they are the same age?

We are taking a trip to Lancaster soon and I can't wait to see Ian's reaction to REAL farm animals.

Jamie Carin and Claudio Romano said...

Jen, I don't know. Ben was at the aquarium when he was about Anna's age (it was just before Anna was born) and was not scared at all, but he didn't really get much out of it either. Just sort of wandered aimlessly etc. Anna is usually so daring and up for anything so I was surprised how scared she was. So, I would say don't go by Anna's reaction, but don't expect Ian to necessarily be too into it either.