yesterday morning, after breakfast, i ignored my messy house and took the kids to the aquarium in the city! yay! hiro and i got new passports (sadly, he is no longer free) and we went inside, but the kids only wanted to touch the stars (starfish) so we went directly to the touching pool. we were there for a bit, stars were touched, and then we went on our merry way. actually, they have built a new 'habitat' for the sea lions and seals, so we checked that out before leaving. it's quite pretty, very blue.









on our way to the aquarium, we saw the ferris wheel in the neighboring park, so the kids really wanted to go there. so, after the quick walk through the aquarium we headed over to the park. it was still morning, and the endless clouds we've had for two weeks cleared up. luckily i had sun block because we didn't have hats! after paying admission (for me) we went in the ferris wheel. hiro and sasha had a great time!







we saw some roller slides from the ferris wheel, so we went there next.



after a quick snack, we went to the toddler playground, which is right next to a toddler splashing pool. they headed straight for the water (my water babies!) and we didn't get to the playground. i took off sasha's shirt and dress, and hiro's pants, so they wouldn't get too wet....







there were also a lot of young people in costume. i assume it was a cosplay 'meeting' of some sort. i sooooo wanted to take pictures but felt funny about going around shooting them. these girls were near the splashing pool.



next we headed out of the park and HAD to buy some soft cream. then we drove around looking for a place to eat lunch. this actually turned into a drive since the two of them fell asleep! after a very late lunch we went home and waited for yoshi and tommy to get home. i am so glad the weekend is over!