Last year Hamish and I would spend most Fridays on a mom & me date exploring new places or finding new adventures.
These moments have become extra special as my workload increases and he gets older.They are times where, the focus is truly on just us.
I try to choose places I know he will enjoy and we make a full morning our of it.
First 2020 date
We started our first Mom & me dates quite late into January this year, and on Friday I decided we needed an outing to our favourite place ….Two Oceans Aquarium
We both enjoy nature and could spend every day at the aquarium given half a chance.
There is always something new to see or discover.This year I’ve promised myself, I’m buying membership as I visit so often.
Our morning started off with me rushing to get a few things done in order to leave.
I don’t drive so we travel by Mycity bus and it’s an almost hour long drive into the city. Hamish enjoys the drive, chatting to the commuters and looking out the window to see the view.
Just before we were ready to get out the door, a courier dropped these adorable mom and me matching shirts from Fabulous Finds Botique . We quickly changed into them and started our adventure.
The aquarium
The aquarium is always exciting and we headed to the penguins first. They are just the cutest.
Not only does Hamish enjoy seeing the African penguin in it’s rocky shore environment but he also loves to watch the others dive and swim in and out the kelp forest.
In the penguin exhibit, there is a row of penguin cutouts that name several penguin species and tell you their height.
Each visit I take a photo of Hamish next to the penguin he is as tall as. He was thrilled to find out that he is now as tall as a king penguin.
Did you know that there is a fairy penguin?
Let’s play
After a visit to the penguins we headed to the I & J kiddy area where they have set up an amazing yellow submarine for the kids to be able to play in and watch the fish.
Hamish spent some time building Lego, drawing, doing magnetic puzzles, enjoying the sand pit and putting on his own puppet show for me.
We had our snack and headed back to enjoy the exhibits but not before following the cute trail of fish on the floor.
Learning
Our first stop was the fossil dig, where Hamish became a junior paleontologist and discovered a giant coelacanth fossil.
Next we went over to the touch pool and felt the sea anenome, kelp, sea weed and sea stars .
For the first time Hamish was interested in the microscope exhibit and he got to touch shark and skate eggs, called mermaid purses. Afterwards we went over to the stingray tank to see if we could identify the skate among them.
Sharks
We strolled around looking at all the tanks, and I realised we never saw an octopus so that’s on our list to find next time.
But Hamish can now identify easy sea creatures like sea stars, sea anemones, sea weed and coral. So, as we looked into the tanks we discussed the items in the background that we found.
Eventually we found the sharks.
These powerfull creatures almost glide in the ocean.
Of course my three-nager couldn’t resist singing Baby shark.
Kelp forest
I think to me personally, the kelp forest is the most beautiful exhibit.
With it’s giant fish swimming past the tall kelp, penguins diving through the green tinged water and the sun shining down casting light.
I always find a reason to linger longer, look a little closer and stare up through the waters towards the surface.
Nemo
Lastly, before ending our visit and heading home, we stopped by the nemo tank and Hamish climbed under to get a photo.
As we sat on the bus going home, Hamish looked at me and without missing a beat said “I love you mom” and we both knew, with hearts full, it was an amazing day.