Aquarium Adventures: Sea Life Grapevine

Once upon a time, I gave Phil a birthday present of a membership to the Sea Life aquarium in Minneapolis. We used to go a lot, often on a Friday evening, just to wander and watch all the cool fish and animals. Our favorite fish was the arapaima, a giant South American fish. Given our history of aquariums, I was surprised to realize we hadn’t taken Jaye since we moved to Texas and she’d actually be aware of what was happening. So last night, Phil and Jaye and I headed to the Sea Life Grapevine aquarium to check it out!

We started our tour of the aquarium with a little media preview of the Turtle Fest events happening at Sea Life from Friday May 23 through Friday May 30th. May 23rd is World Turtle Day, so the big exhibit Sea Life Grapevine is featuring right now is all about their sea turtles and the efforts they are taking to rescue sea turtles. We got to watch a trainer behind the scenes work with one of the turtles, who has been trained to follow a green target so that the aquarium can check on her and make sure she stays healthy! Did you know sea turtles love to eat lettuce and green peppers?

The next area we explored was the touch pools. Jaye loved touching the starfish. There was also a playground climbing area (socks required!) with tubes and slides nearby, but we stayed focused on the fish and sea animals.

My favorite was the octopus. While we were there, Jaye had so much fun in this little area with a cave next to a tank of sharks. She loved running through the cave and then up some steps where you could view the same shark tank from above. She did that route all by herself at least 10 times. Then she started reenacting her board book, “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” using the cave.

This morning, she told Mimi and Pops that her favorite animal at the aquarium was the sharks. Sea Life Grapevine has a cool tank tunnel, where you can see sharks and fish and sting rays swimming all around you, over your head and even below your feet! It’s so cool to get to see the rays from underneath. At first, Jaye was a little hesitant of this all around tank, but she warmed up to it. The more educational aspects of the exhibits were lost on Jaye, obviously, but I think an older kid would enjoy them.

We had a really fun night at the Sea Life Grapevine aquarium. I’m sure Jaye is going to be asking to go back soon. If you’re planning a trip to Sea Life, check out their website first, it’s usually cheaper to buy tickets online before you head out.