Dolphins & Sharks Field Trip

This post is a compilation of our two part field trip we took after Mikie finished reading The Magic Tree House "Dolphins At Daybreak" and the companion research guide "Dolphins & Sharks." The first experience led us to the Science Museum in Richmond where they currently (only until Nov 1st) have a shark exhibit where you can actually pet a shark. I wasn't sure if he would actually do it, but he did as you can see in this video:


Posing with his book, looking down at the exhibit from the second floor.

There were sharks hanging from the ceiling with their names on them. Mikie thought this was really cool.

On the sidewalk outside the exhibit hall, you could use sidewalk chalk to decorate a life size replica of a whale shark. It was quite cold this day so we didn't stay out too long.

Besides actually petting the shark, the best part of the field trip was digging for shark's teeth in the sand and then getting to bring them home.

It may look like my boys are trying to ingest something; but, they are actually holding the shark teeth up to their own teeth for the picture.

We (read as Tracy mostly) were excited to find the exact picture on a display board as the one in our research guide book.

Giant sand sculpture

In a shark protection cage.

During the IMAX movie about sharks, Mikie said some of the cutest things:

Mikie: "Are they real?"

Mommy: "No hunny."

Mikie: "But are they really here?"

Mommy: "No, it's just a movie"

And then about 5 minutes later I heard him say:
"Is anybody here?"

I didn't understand what he meant so I didn't answer. Then he said:

"Mommy, will you hold my hand so I know somebody is here."

He was so cute. He actually felt as if he was all alone under the ocean. That's exactly how I remember my first IMAX experience when I was young (I think it was in Vegas).
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I love this age!

For the second half of our field trip we went to the Baltimore Aquarium and had breakfast with the dolphins. We drove up on Friday night, ate at McCormick & Schmidt's, and stayed at the Homestead Suite Hotel where we splurged on a movie on demand in our living room while the boys slept in the separate bedroom area. Even though it cost as much as a date to the theater, it was almost better because we could lounge on our sofa bed and pause the movie anytime we wanted. The next morning, we wisely chose to eat the free hot breakfast provided by the hotel before walking in the rain to the aquarium. To save space, I only brought the single umbrella stroller which Zach rode in while Mikie walked. This was mistake #1. By the time we got to the aquarium, the back of Mikie's pants were soaked all the way up to the knees. I'm still not sure how he managed to kick up so much water behind him, but I was glad I had a spare pair of pants in the bag. At the "breakfast" (which consisted of a prepackaged danish, cereal, and a piece of fruit) the boys were given coloring sheets, crayons, dolphin pencils, and a dolphin information pamphlet. I was thrilled at the educational part of the experience, but lacked the same enthusiasm for the spread of food. Now you know why I wrote "wisely chose to eat at the hotel."

Mikie shows his information sheet. Next, we moved to the underwater viewing area and watched the dolphins for a few minutes.

Both boys really enjoyed watching them swim past the glass.

Mikie was busy doing more research. Next, we went inside the dolphin theater and listened to a dolphin trainer tell us about their behaviors, habits, training, and characteristics.

They gave us a guide so we could identify the different dolphins.

Mikie was chosen to go down to the tank and help the trainer get the dolphin to do tricks. Of course, as soon as Mikie went down Zachary started crying because he wasn't with him. As you can see from the picture above, Mikie wasn't the only volunteer but he was the smallest. I couldn't hear what the trainer was saying to the kids, but the next thing I know they are all jumping forward with Mikie trailing along behind. This was mistake #2. The jumping was a signal for the dolphin to swim at the surface and splash his tail in the water. As you can imagine, the water began to splash over the tank and since Mikie was behind the tail he received most of the water on his head and shirt. Now I had both boys crying! Luckily, I had a lollipop for Zachary and the fleece hoody in the stroller for Mikie. A quick change and he was dry and happy again. I thought it was funny that he wasn't wearing any of the original clothes I had dressed him in that day. When the training session was over, we explored the rest of the aquarium and came back for the actual dolphin show. Both boys loved watching the dolphins jump and flip out of the water.

I've been to many aquariums and this was one of my least favorites. I didn't care for the layout and the exhibits were hard to see because of the outrageous number of people squeezed into the building. It was time to eat, so we walked across the street to the Hard Rock Cafe (it was still raining but we put Mikie in the stroller and carried Zachary so no one got wet again). When we went to pay the bill, Michael realized he didn't have his credit card and I had left my wallet in the car. This was mistake #3. We thought about bartering one of the children so we didn't have to wash the dishes, but ended up finding an ATM instead. Really, I don't think either one would have fetched a fair price in their "way past naptime" state. Once we were back out in the rain, it was time to retrace our steps to find the missing card. Luckily, it was at the first place we looked: McCormick & Schmidt's from the night before. With 3 strikes against us, we headed back to the car for the long drive home. Field trip #9 complete!