Sea Life - Meet THE OCTONAUTS

While looking on the internet for things to do before we left England we came across the website for Sea Life.  That's where we discovered that the two main characters from the show THE OCTONAUTS were going to be there.  Alyssa and Asher have been crazy for this show the moment we moved here.  AJ was able to take Friday off and we drove down there to meet them.  A little girl in our car could NOT wait to get there an meet Kwazii and Captain Barnacles (oh and see all the fish too).  

Starting the aquarium tour looking at some fish in a mini tide pool.  

The shark aquarium.  Asher was very into this...

Still there.  We had to bribe him to leave the sharks.  It was cute though, every time a shark swam by him on the side he was not looking he would jump a little.  See the shark behind him, two seconds later he jumped.  But still we looked and looked and LOOKED.  

Do you think we found his passion?  I can see him in a little scuba outfit.  I think if we left him and came back a couple hours later he would have still been there.  

Alyssa got to relax a little while as well.  

Oh boy, the big shark tank.  Asher was in love once again.  The only thing that got us through faster was half of it was the see through floor and he was not a fan of that.  Every time he took a step he acted as if he was going to fall.  

THE BIG MOMENT!

First we got to meet Kwazii.  He is a pirate cat and Alyssa went right up to him and gave him a hug.  Later on Asher came to meet him but he wasn't so sure.  Alyssa helped out buy introducing Asher to him.  It was such a big sister thing to do.  

 Actually Asher wasn't scared of him and kept talking to him but didn't feel up to a hug.  Here is a good shot of the three of us.  Asher gave him a high-5 at the end.  

Next was Captain Barnacles, the polar bear.  Once again, Alyssa was very excited and gave him a big hug.  Asher gave out high-5's and was excited to see him.  It was a great day!

Audley End House

With the recommendation from a dear friend, Mallory Grover, we went to Audley End house today.  The weather was perfect and the kids were great (for the most part).  It was a great day to be outside and with the family.  Hope you enjoy our pictures...

This was one of the many great views of the property.  Here AJ and Alyssa are enjoying the river that runs through most of the property.  

Alyssa and Asher are enjoying the fishies of the pond.  Asher just loves fishies (I think because it is one of the few words he knows how to say). 

Meet Alyssa from 1880.  

She had a blast dressing up in their costumes.  

Surprise, Surprise!

We found their horseys.  A day out is not complete without visiting the horseys.  I sure hope they have them in Japan:)

More dressing up.  Here Alyssa got to wear a real crown.  It was SOOO heavy and was made from real silver.  I don't know how you would wear it all day.   

The kids loved going through the servants rooms because you could play with everything.  Here was the dairy room.  

Asher was not willing to go through the rest of the house, so AJ and I took turns.   Here Asher and I are playing around with the camera while we wait for AJ and Alyssa.  He was so into it. 

This was the front of the house.  I have changed the title page of this blog to the family picture taken in front of it (check it out).  

The kids were done taking family photos so we let them play while AJ and I got a shot it.  It turned out really good.  

After the Audley End house we went across the street to a mini-train station and play area.  Here the kids are enjoying the bounce house while we wait for our train ride.  I am so surprised that they are both still going, especially Asher.  They were SOOO tired.  

My cute family waiting for the train to get going.  Asher's face doesn't show it but he was so excited.  

"Hey, Mom!"

Whoever thought of this idea was a genius!  They put teddy bears in the forrest throughout the train ride.  Alyssa screamed "Teddy Bears!" every time she saw them.  

LOL LOL LOL!!

I seriously laugh so hard at this picture.  I shouldn't though because she is genuinely scared here.  There were two tunnels that were actually pretty long where there were a couple minutes of complete darkness.  I knew Alyssa was scared and I wanted to see her face so I took this shot (in the dark).  The camera was on my lap and I just pointed it in the direction I knew she was and hit the button.  Because I couldn't see what she was doing at the time, I about peed my pants when I hit preview on my camera.  She was completely fine when the tunnels were over so I can really enjoy this picture.  Once again, LOL!