Moody Gardens

In an effort to try and plan some kind of family vacation this summer, I thought Sea World in San Antonio would be exciting for Briena because she loves fish and sealife, but I was afraid that she might be too young. So we went for a trial run at Moody Gardens last Saturday. Our timing on the visit was due in part to a new exhibit they were opening, 'Dinosaur Live.' Briena is really into dinosaurs right now and I thought she would love it. All the dinosaurs were lifesize and animated. With the combination of the sound effects and background smoke it was kinda cool. It was a great learning opportunity to reinforce what she had been seeing in her dinosaur books. The exhibit was outside in a tent and since Briena is sweeter than sugar, she was eaten alive. Poor thing probably had about 10-15 mosquito bites. I read about the exhibit online but there was no mention of it being outdoors or I would have been prepared. We also went to the Rainforest where we got to see many different parrots. These two we caught kissing.

We saw many different types of plants. The signage was really interesting. They informed you on different uses for many of the vegetation, ie. medications, food, clothing, etc. I wanted to read many of them but a two year old won't stand still for that and really isn't interested in that. It's nice to know that we can come here again in a couple of years and it will be a different experience and another learning lesson at a different level.

The Aquarium gave Briena an opportunity to see in real life many of the different fish and sealife she could recognize from books and movies. She even had a chance to touch a starfish. She learned what a starfish was before she learned her shapes. So everytime she sees a star she calls it a starfish.

Even though we had a great deal of fun, I did discover she is too young for Sea World. She was not interested in many of the exhibits and it was a battle at times trying to get her redirected.
I really wish there was somewhere we could go at this age. If anyone has any vacation suggestions, let me know. I want something that will be fun for her.