Penguins!

Every since seeing the movie Happy Feet, the girls have been acting and dancing like penguins. Mackenzie was especially fascinated by them. So after going to the library and getting books about penguins we decided the next thing to do was to go visit some real penguins at the New England Aquarium in Boston. I convinced Dom to take a day off from work (It is school vacation week) and we invited our good friends the Beikmans to join us. Unfortunately Tom couldn't get the day off from work but Annie and Audrey joined us. We had a great time and learned lots of stuff too!

Just outside the aquarium is a huge tank with Harbor seals and we arrived just at feeding time, so the seals were very active. Several kept swimming right in front of us upside down! We later learned they do that so that they can see whats underneath them. We also saw a interesting presentation on starfish. Did you know that starfish can actually throw up their stomachs to eat something and then swallow them again? Or that not only can they grow back an arm if they lose one but they can grow back an eye too?? Very cool! Then there was of course the penguins which were a big hit. Some of the penguins were very noisy and one kinda sounded like a donkey! There were rockhopper penguins like Lovelace, if you've seen the movie he's the one that has the funny feathers sticking out of his head. An several other kinds of penguins. The touch tank was a big hit too. The girls got to pick up starfish, sea urchins and snails. It was lots of fun!