aqwa (and the mermaids!)

a day at aqwa was just what the dr ordered, so off we went for the day with the kidlets to have some fun by the beach. it has been a breeze having the four of them together... other than their own personalities sometimes leading to a meltdown or two, they never argue or get mad at each other. yes! so easy. i love seeing them so happy together.

after making our way through the shipwreck coast and the smaller tanks as you wander through the aquarium levels, we came out into the open and took the kids around the touch pool. joseph wasn't so keen, but the girls were loving picking up the starfish and getting to be a part of everything. 

but by far the best part of the day, was when we got to see the mermaids perform in the adventure bay tank. what an awesome show! two women who are very talented free divers, who have full mermaid costumes and do a show (or two) for a bunch of lucky kids. after these two full holiday week schedules are over, they'll go back to "mermaid mondays" during the summer, but i am so glad we caught it by chance... we didn't actually know it was on. the women even happily pose for photos for half an hour prior to their show so that children can meet the mermaids before they watch them.

as you can see, it's a cool way for the kids to spend some time chilling at aqwa. 

we are loving having the milnes here and i know already we are going to be so sad when they leave us... here is one more of our kids, acting as normal as they can hahaha. ♥

aqwa with the pinkall crew

we hit up the aquarium earlier this week with some of the pinker crew and as usual had the time of our lives... lots of noise and laughs from the kids and non stop chatter from the rest of us.

madelines new favourite thing at the aquarium is the pineapple fish... and insisted on having some photos with them

then one pretending to look out to sea

before having some pics with her little brother in front of the whales tail.

i had a cuddle with the starfish (my favourite thing in the world!)

and actually managed to get my husband to smile.

we went for food afterwards and then had icecream at cold rock, where maddie swung a little too quickly on the chair and i got this epic photo of her. the kids are just too darn cute.

a day with the pinkers is always a good one! ♥

another trip to aqwa

we love the aquarium! we went for the second time on monday and had the best time... my best friends mother gave us some money for the kids for christmas and told us to get them something they wanted... but they seem to have everything (because they are so loved!) so we decided to do something, not buy something. we had originally decided on the zoo, but it had been an awfully hot week, so we asked miss madeline whether she would prefer the zoo or the aquarium and she excitedly jumped up and down and said, "the quarium, the quarium!" it's obviously indoors and by water, so it's a lot, lot cooler than the zoo.

baby joseph seemed to love it too and was looking at everything... trying to spin his head around at top speed in his pram, which after a while we tipped back so he could lay and look up at the fish overhead. aqwa (the aquarium of western australia) has an awesome set up, including a 3 million litre shark tank, filled with sting rays, loggerhead turtles, hundreds of fish and a few sharks. this tank has an automated walkway that goes around inside a tunnel that spans 98m through the shark tank.

there are also dozens of single tanks with so many beautiful creatured, like these jellyfish. i know they are dangerous, but they are so beautiful and peaceful to watch as they swim about.

madeline of course was obsessed with the clown fish, and insisted on having her photo taken with the "nemos". they are so cute, i can see why they chose to make a movie about them.

and of course, my favourite! i have to admit (not that it's ever been a secret, i would give most anything for a pet seahorse. they are just amazing. so delicate and beautiful.

we had a fabulous time at the touch pool, where you can stroke little miniature sharks, that feel like wet sandpaper and hold a starfish. madeline loved it and we spent a lot of time there... she was so proud of herself holding the beautiful starfish!

as was i... i love them a little too much.

but my absolute favourite part of the aquarium, is the living reef, what an amazing place to be. i could honestly sit and watch the fish for hours on end... all the coral and incredible colours are just indescribable, although this picture has captured it fairly well.

these sea dragons amaze me, looking exactly like seaweed, yet floating around. there are so many beautiful creatures in this world and i feel so blessed to love so close to the ocean and have somewhere that we can go to learn and explore with our children.

on our second round of the shark tank, joseph got a little braver and started to reach up to the glass, while doug held onto him. he loved the stingrays and kept waving to them as they swam by.

we had the best day... there is nothing like having time with your family. 

aqwa with the fam!

today we went for a family outing to aqwa at hillarys boat harbour... having doug's dad here we thought we'd do something fun - and being that i haven't been since i was in primary school, i really couldn't remember anything about it! back in the day it was called underwater world - and it really is just that. a huge tank with a circular tunnel running underneath it, with a rotating walkway, as well as the option of walking at your own pace. it's super fun, with heaps to see and do.

we started in the shark tank - and did a few laps, my favourite thing to look at was the stingrays, they always make me laugh, the way they look like they have a smiley face underneath! maddie was a bit unsure at first but ended up loving it and pointing things out to doug and i as we went along... joseph loved every second of sleeping in his pram as it rolled along the moving path. (he didn't wake up until we were in the gift shop about to leave)

outside of the tank there are various other exhibits (mini tanks) and then a huge one outside where in summer there is the option of participating in something called "reefwalking" where members of the public can get into a suit and go into the second largest tank and have a walk around and a squiz under the water! way cool. there was a youngish staff member in there cleaning when we stopped to look and maddie at the suggestion of her poppy started calling him "scuba steve". she was thrilled when he stopped to wave to her as she gazed through the glass and told everyone that would listen for the rest of the day all about scubasteeeeeeve.

and me? i could not resist taking a shark selfie. top that selfie queens! i'm pretty damn proud of it!

this little girl had a great time running around and pointing out anything and everything to us... look mum! look at the fiiiiiish! mum! mum! poppy and her had a great time together, i am sure she is going to miss him terribly when he goes home.

there is a touch pool in the outside area, where you can get up close and personal with a whole pile of different sea creatures. was the biggest highlight in quite some time for me, to be able to hold this starfish! as you all know (unless you're a complete random visiting my blog for the very first time) i am obsessed with stars and would very much like my own starfish to take home and cuddle whenever i want!

of course, no trip to hillarys with visitors is complete without a pizza from little caesars. their gourmet pizzas are all kinds of amazing, and the three of us and little miss madeline had no problems polishing these off  (clockwise from top left in picture below: tri-beca, janes addiction and vegetarian)