Clearwater Aquarium

Last Tuesday Ryan's parents came to visit us! We were so excited for them to come. I wish I had Cannon's reaction on video because it was priceless. Cannon and I picked them up at the airport and we waited at the bottom of the escalator for them. I saw them and they began to wave to us. I pointed them out to Cannon and he was yelling, "Papa! Grandma!" As they got closer and he saw them better he yells out, "PAPA! Mom, I found Papa! Papa! PAPA!" He about jumped out of my arms to get to them!

That night we ate dinner at a place called Cafe Cibo in St. Pete. It's an Italian restaurant and it was pretty good. They were out of spumoni, so we had to eat ice cream at our house.

On Wednesday I took them to the Clearwater Aquarium. I just bought an annual membership on Groupon, so we all got in for free. This was our first time going too, so I didn't know what to expect. It's definitely smaller than the Tampa Aquarium, but I think it's just the right size for little kids. Plus, this one has dolphins, which are my favorite!

All the animals at the aquarium are there because they need help. They are able to offer rehabilitation and release back in to the wild (when it is appropriate). That made me feel better since the animals there aren't just for show.

Cannon was too freaked out to touch the sting rays! They are actually really friendly and I love to pet them.


This dolphin is Nicholas. You can't see it from the picture, but he has scars on his back. When he was a baby they found him and his mother with third degree sun burns. His mom was too sick to survive, but they were able to help Nicholas. Because he was so young when they found him, he was not a candidate to be put back in the wild.


This is the famous Winter the dolphin, the star of the new movie Dolphin Tale. As you can see, she does not have a fin on her tale. They were able to make a prosthetic fin, but she wasn't wearing it that day.


Next to Winter is her friend Panama, who is deaf.