Our Trip to the Aquarium by the Bay

It has been way too long since my last update. I can say I have been really busy (which is true), but not too busy. So this past weekend, Mia was out of town, so that meant one thing; an Avery and daddy adventure. On Saturday morning, she woke me up at about 6:45 and then we got ready to go to work. My office hours on Saturday are 8am-10am, so Avery knew we were going and she was ready to go.

While at work, she was supposed to sit quietly and watch her movie, but she could not help but talk to our practice members as they came in and sat in the waiting room. She was even able to tell a patient when she walked in, "my dad said he will be right with you."

I knew I wanted Avery to try something new, so I thought about going to the Oakland Zoo via Bart. I had the directions ready to go but there were too many variables and potential long waiting times at transfers and bus stations. I also thought of going to San Francisco on the Ferry from Vallego and our good friend and practice member, Doug, said that it would be fun day since the weather was so nice. While there, we would visit the Aquarium by the Bay.

So off we went. We had plenty of time until the next Ferry departure, so we stopped off in Vacaville for some snacks. We arrived at the Ferry building with plenty of time to spare. We took some pictures and got some coupons for the Aquarium.



Avery was excited to be on her first boat ride. I thought that she was too young for the "this is how your Lola came to this country" story.



The only place to sit outside was on the back of the ferry. It was windy, but we had a great time out there since the weather was so nice. There were roughly 40 sailboats that we passed on our way out there.

"Daddy, is this a sailboat?"
"No..It is a ferry"
"It's going to fly?"

I really wasn't sure how far the Ferry Building in San Francisco was from Pier 39, but I saw a guy on a bike with a bench (shown above) and ask him, can you take us to Pier 39? He said, "yes" and we were off. Avery said, "this is another thing that I haven't done before!" Come to find out, Pier 39 was a bit of a trek and I knew it was better to ride it now because walking both ways would have been something else for those little legs.

We both had a chance to touch a few things; Young Stingrays, Leopard sharks, and starfish. It was amazing how calm these fish were with people touching them all the time.


The starfish on the glass in the first tunnel.


One of the first tanks we saw when we walked in the Aquarium.

Ham!

I was mesmerized by the school of Anchovies they had in the first tank. The tanks were walk ways that were encased by 7-inch thick acrylic so the fish are swimming around and above you. The first take were smaller fish that you would see in the lower water levels in the Bay. The second "tunnel" were different species of sharks and sting rays.



The seven gill Shark is very intimidating.



Avery petting the Leopard Shark.



We did get a chance to have one picture together. The backdrop is the Bay Bridge; this is right before with left San Francisco. The sun was about to set and it was a perfect end to a perfect day!