When we first got there we walked around the gift shop a little. While Casey's nurse and I kept showing her stuffed animals, toys, etc Casey kept finding the jewelry section. Every time she got excited in the gift shop it was when she saw sparkly bracelets. My little diva. After some shopping, Casey saw her friends coming in from the parking lot. She got pretty excited when she saw them. I love when she gets to spend time with her little friends.
The aquarium is really close so when they had half price passes we bought a family pass for the year. We had hoped to go much sooner, but Casey has just not been up for it. Its a very small aquarium, but just right for Casey. I think a big place would be too much for her. They had a good assortment of tanks with different types of fish, birds, snakes and lizards. They only had 1 turtle out when we were there, hopefully there will be more turtles next time. The octopus was not out this time either. Casey liked all of the different fish exhibits, but she didn't seem to care about the reptiles and she is officially NOT a bird fan.
The let the kids come into the bird cage. While Casey and her friends waited their turn Casey was very excited and you could tell she wanted to go in. At first she was fine. We would hold the birds so she could see them up close. After a little while one got past her nurse and I and landed on Casey's head. She kind of freaked out. We got out of the cage pretty quick and she calmed down. I don't think she will be revisiting the birds anytime soon.
They had 2 big tanks. One tank had sharks and the other had manta rays (as well as other fish in both). Casey LOVED watching the manta rays. They would come right up and smile and splash around. We had to drag her away from that tank. She liked the star fish and jelly fish too, but the manta rays were by far her favorite.
They welcome kids to touch the fish and feed them (at certain times). One of Casey's friends was very brave and touched most of them. Casey and her other friend were both in wheelchairs, so they were not able to get to the fish to touch them. One of the staff members was nice enough to bring a star fish to them so that they could touch them as well. That was pretty cool. The place was easy to get around in the wheelchair, the exhibits just didn't really convey to people that could not bend/climb over. As long as the staff is willing to help those that can't get there it's all good. The lady that helped was very nice and more than happy to bring the star fish to Casey and her friend.
As we would take Casey from tank to tank she would yell at us to take her back if she wasn't done looking yet. Next time we will have to take her food and let her just sit at the manta ray tank all day.
The pool crew took most of this past week off. The weather has not been cooperative so they have to wait for a dry patch of days to do the concrete. Hopefully they will get back on track this week.
In other updates- Casey had a doctor appointment last week and she has officially hit the 40 pound mark. We finally got her chair fixed up too. New handle bars and a storage tray make it SOOOOO much more usable. Casey's seat is still the same, but to her entourage it's a big deal. Her nurse and I were so excited to take it out for the first time and Casey thought we had lost our minds.
It's spring break and SXSW this week. We will NOT be going anywhere near downtown. Casey's Cappy (my mom) is going to come in for a few days later this week. Casey is looking forward to her visit. Other than that we hope to just keep her well and hope the nasty winter is behind us. Here are a few pictures from her fun day- enjoy :)
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| Casey watching the manta rays |
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| More manta rays |
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| Touching the star fish |
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| "In" the tank |
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| Casey's nurse petting the manta ray |
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| Before the bird mad her mad |
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| Watching the sharks |
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| Checking out the jelly fish |
