Saturday morning we drove down to Monterey to enjoy the fabulous weather and the aquarium. It was Nikos' second visit to an aquarium (first was in Chicago this May) but first to the one in Monterey.

While we waited for Mel and family to arrive we let Nikos crawl around one of the piers and basically become a dirty mess. Kristin, apparently FAO cleans their floors a lot more regularly than these outdoor piers get cleaned! :)

Nikos investigates a lightpost.

On the hot pursuit of a feather...

In the spirit of feather-chasing, the Roberts family joins us for lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

This is also where Taki and I went to celebrate our one-year anniversary of dating in 2002. I'd dig up a picture of that and scan it but sadly, I think that was before Taki was willing to pose for pictures taken by strangers.

And off to the aquarium! One of the reasons that we wanted to go this weekend is that their Living Jellies exhibit is going to close next week and since Taki and I both like jellies we wanted to catch it before it ended.

This is Nikos by the Lion's Mane jellyfish. My parents just saw one of these when they were snorkeling in Alaska (yes - you read that line correctly) - but the one they saw was the size of a basketball!

Hmm, can't remember the name of these jellies - but maybe Mel can?

Take One for the four cousins pic - Kira the only one looking at the camera and Nikos looking huge since he is in the foreground (something I avoid at all costs - ha!)

Aww, look at our little pearl.

This was a fun exhibit featuring a lot of the same fish that we usually see when we are snorkeling in Hawaii. Of course, the pictures that we take in the wild don't usually end up as nicely as this one.

Nikos LOVED the fun activities in the toddler area. First up, basically a mini waterbed. Here's Mason entertaining Niko who was laughing hysterically. You can tell Taki shot the video since you only see Mason and I for a second and then it is all about Niko!

Next Niko worked on his standing skills playing with the water feature. I optimistically put the little waterproof apron on him but he still ended up soaked (as did anyone within splashing distance.)

We'll close with a picture of a seadragon, something we saw for the first time at the aquarium in Chicago - they are so cool looking!