the New York Aquarium at Coney Island

After dealing with sick sisters off and on since getting back from our camping trip a stinkin' month ago, we finally made it on another field trip.

This time we headed to New York on a day trip to visit the New York Aquarium at Coney Island, part of our Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx Zoo) membership. Location #3 out of 5! The aquarium is really, really small right now, due to all the damage it sustained a few years ago in Hurricane Sandy. The new buildings should be ready next summer - we'll have to come back then. Basically, the only things we saw were the shark tank (and check out the sign over Sunny's head - that baby tiger sharks eat their siblings while in utero - eewww!!) and the sea lion show. I don't know about the girls, but I'm finally remembering the difference between sea lions and seals. It was a fun show to watch, and we were done with the whole thing in about an hour. Given that it took almost 3 hours just to get there ... good thing we were at the beach! 

Seriously foul. That is so gross.

The view of the beach from the bleachers at the sea lion show

The aquarium is literally right on the beach - we walked out of the aquarium gate onto the Coney Island Boardwalk. We'd packed the swimsuits and towels, and went for a swim. Sunny, Posy and Birdie have been doing swim lessons at the city pool this month and their confidence in the water was so much better than it's been in the past! For all the tactile experiences that the sand and salt water provide, any trip to the beach counts as a school day for my scorecard.

And to end the day, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's apartment in Queens to have dinner and give Grandma her birthday gift. Aunt T and I made her a reversible kitchen apron, because she'd forgotten all of her aprons in Idaho when she came out to the East Coast.