Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Great Smoky Mountains 2008 Day 3

The third day was our trip to the Aquarium. We first stopped at one of the parks along the scenic highway going out of downtown Gatlinburg. This detour is most certainly becoming a tradition in our family. We always make several family pictures. Here we all are minus my mom.
This is the first exhibit you see upon entering the aquarium. We we so glad we were able to use our free tickets. One of the best parts of the center is the shark tank. You step on a moving belt and spend 10-15 minutes following an enclosed shark tank, but there are many more fish besides the sharks. Scamp was freaking out most of the way through especially when we would go under the exceptionally long swordfish with their sharp beaks all plastered to the tunnel ceiling. It's really hard to take good pictures inside the tank, so I'm not going to post those.
There were a few mini aquariums where you could climb inside for a picture. Scamp and Bubby really enjoyed these. My mom, too, as you can tell!
This was the entrance to a miniature cave where all adults had to crawl inside. Scamp thought this was her own little clubhouse.
She really enjoyed meeting the "stuffed" shark. She gave him hugs. She would have been terrified this same time last year. She used to be so afraid when Chuck E. Cheese would come visit her!
We came back to the cabin afterward. The guys all left to ride the slick track cars while the ladies and kiddos under 12 stayed behind. Scamp and Bubby played hide-and-go-seek. I think this is just an adorable picture. Scamp loves her Bubby. That was the end of our stay. We left the next morning. I'll post our family pictures we took prior to leaving later since this is already a pretty long post.

8 comments:

Hyperactive Lu said...

I think we're headed up that way in August. I can't wait! Your trip sounds like lots of fun!

Anonymous said...

The miniature cave looks fun.


Mike
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Sonya said...

Great pictures! Makes me want to go back to the aquarium!

Anonymous said...

Fun, Fun!!

Jenny said...

Great pics! I love the last one :)

Angi said...

Looks like ya'll had a great time! The pictures are so cute - and the one from Day 2 with your hubby and Scamp - she looks like a mini you!

Stacy at Exceedingly Mundane said...

Great pictures and narrative. You know, as many times as we've been up there, we've never been to the aquarium. Looks like we need to go!

Love that last photo, too adorable :)

gail@more than a song said...

Great shots and fun trip; that last one is adorable but I love the first one with your family! Too bad your mom wasn't in it too! We seem to have lots of pics like that too, minus one person.