Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies

A few weekends ago, we took the kids to the Gatlinburg Aquarium--we’d happened on to a half-price ticket special in February and waited till the weather improved to use them. Randy and I had gone there when it first opened many years ago, but hadn’t been back since. We’ve been to the Chattanooga Aquarium a couple of times (here and here) but enjoyed the differences of this one--the Shark Lagoon was definitely cool!

It was fun to watch Joshua’s reaction to the fish; he really surprised us by pointing at various displays and trying to talk. He’s growing up right before our eyes!

We expected Jenna to be really into the fish this time, and she was! It was fun watching her reaction!


Randy's caption of this picture: "Joshua doing his impersonation of a saw shark. Oddly enough, Joshua and the shark have VERY similar skin coloring!"
I love this picture of Randy and Jenna. Now that's a big crab behind them!

Here are some cool shots of the exhibits:



The Penguin Playhouse was a hit with Jenna. The penguins were each tagged with names, and Jenna’s really bonded with Leo; she loved to watch him while he was swimming by.





Do you think Jenna was starting to get tired of pictures by the end?

Her mood improved when she saw the Ripley's Candy Factory down the street! They definitely had lots of choices!

Joshua decided to act really silly with his sippy cup lid. We thought these pics were funny!