Thursday night is Mom’s night off. This was a tradition that we started a couple of years ago and there are times when I am convinced that it is the only thing keeping Jill sane. (Jill here: Yes. Truth.)
No joke, there are days where Jill will say to me “is it Thursday yet?”
This Thursday, I decided to take off work a little early and go take advantage of our Member Passes™ at the Georgia Aquarium.
Now, I hear some of you asking: “Jonathan, is that wise to take five kids to the aquarium all by yourself?” There are times, yes, that it does feel like a bit of a stretch. But I also really enjoy being out with the kids and they are generally pretty good (if they’ve had naps).
Anyhow, we left around 4 PM and when we arrived at the aquarium, we made a beeline for the Ocean Voyager entrance to find the Tiny Door.
We felt like insiders, knowing that it was there.
The aquarium was SO EMPTY. Seriously, Thursday afternoon is the time to go. (Jill here: This kinda makes me wanna cry. Every time I’ve gone, it has been a madhouse.)
The kids were fascinated by the people diving in the Ocean Voyager tank (Clara has made me promise on pain of death I will take her scuba diving someday).
Also, Evie stole my phone and took many pictures. Here are some highlights
The kids were fascinated by the people diving in the Ocean Voyager tank (Clara has made me promise on pain of death I will take her scuba diving someday).
We got awesome seats at the dolphin show (just outside the splash zone, but close enough to see really well).
The River Scout section was blissfully empty and we got check out a whole bunch of the creatures that had previously been hidden behind crowds.
Then we wandered over and did the Sea Lions show …
… and then went to the Reef Diver section.
WE HAD THE PLACE TO OURSELVES!
We also had the Cold water section to ourselves as well. The belugas were snoozing, but the otters were in full swing.
And then as a final bonus, we got to go pet the sting rays and didn’t have to make way for anyone else! And the biggest sting ray (named Ethel) just chilled in front of the kids and and let itself be pet for like 20 minutes.
For those of you keeping score at home, that’s the entire aquarium minus the small upstairs sections covered in 2.5 hours. And it didn’t feel rushed at all.
By this time, it was about 7:30, so we headed out to the car, where I realize why we were having such an excellent evening: we were parked in the πth parking spot. (Jill here: Well, now I know what I’ve been doing wrong!)
The kids and I then grabbed a pizza from Little Ceasars and brought that home, where we had a VERY late dinner (it was like 8:40 when we started eating) and finally shuffled off to bed.
Clara turned to me at several points during the evening and said “This is not like most Mom’s nights off!”
