Academy of Sciences

Today Ollie and I brought some friends to the California Academy of Sciences.  Ollie slept the entire time we were there, blocking out the sound of screaming kids and grown ups. (Funny that creaking floorboards in our house wake him up but he was dead to the world there.) My girlfriend's little guy is 2 1/2 and he LOVED it.
  

We started off by walking through the 4-story rainforest.  Each level represents a rainforest from a different part of the world.  Here there were frogs, bats, tall trees and beautifully colored butterflies and birds flying around.  Upon leaving the young man who was working the elevator asked everyone to make sure that none of the butterflies were stuck to their clothes.  And, "that there were no frogs in your throat and ants in your pants." 

Next, we walked through the impressive Steinhart Aquarium.  There's a 25-feet deep Philippine Coral Reef, a recreation of the Nothern California Coast, a Water Planet and more.  There were sharks, and piranha.  There were fish that looked glittery.  I can't remember what they were called but they were so very disco.    There were fish that looked like tree branches.  

I took some shoddy pictures with my camera phone:



It was really neat to be there with a two-year old.  I can't wait to take Ollie when he's older.

There were several (like 8!) old ladies sitting on a bench, across from what you see above.  It's so pretty and calming I totally get why they hang out here.  I plan on joining them again next week.  

Finally, we hit the African Hall, and here we saw the real live penguins. This was the highlight of the day for my girlfriend's little boy. He screamed with delight while watching the penguins, eliciting smiles from the adults around him.  

I still have yet to check out the Morrison Planetarium, which is the largest digital planetarium in the world.