Aquarium

So we had a long day yesterday! We were up at 4:30, out of the house at 5:30 and on the train about 7:45. The train ride was about two and a half hours- it was fun though! The kids did extremely well- well, for most of the time. Corbin had a meltdown after I won two games of Uno and then a game of Go Fish in a row- he had a meltdown and said he only wanted him and Josh to play and I wasn't allowed anymore. So obviously that meant games were gone until he could remember what good sportsmanship was all about. He tried to do a little bit of pushing buttons (turning off Brian's video game since he couldn't play it- trying to throw the cards) but luckily it only took about five minutes of ignoring for him to stop.

We became quite friendly with a family in front of us on the train and it happened they were going to the aquarium as well so we walked with them to Quincy Market- they stopped there to eat first but we decided to keep on going to the Aquarium. The boys were so happy to be out in the fresh air and Corbin was dancing along, repeatedly yelling at the top of his lungs, "I LOVE THE CITY!!"

We arrived at the aquarium to discover a half hour long line to get in! We now know next year to buy your tickets ahead of time and you can skip that whole long line- oops. But again, the boys did amazingly well with this process!

The aquarium was so much fun. Brian was mesmerized by the seals, the turtle healing in the medical area, the penguins. The Boston Aquarium has a four story tall tank with sharks, sea turtles, moray eels, and so much more in it- the building and all the rest of the displays gradually go up and around the tank so you can always see the big tank and when you reach the top you can look down into the big center tank. Brian did pretty well until we reached the touch tank area. That was our first meltdown.

He decided he wanted to peel all the starfishes off of the rocks and throw them off a little waterfall they had in the tank- being autistic, I couldn't just get him to stop- because he had already started and you can't start something and not finish it. I had to carry him out screaming.

At that exact moment Josh's neice called us and said she was outside. She was in Boston for the week visiting her father and we had told her we were going and she could meet up with us if she wanted. So we walked back down- another big ordeal as we were backtracking before we reached the end. Brian would only be carried now, he didn't want to walk.

When we got downstairs I found a room with strollers. Perfect!! I could rent a stroller. I went over to the window and I said, "I'd like a stroller please!" The guy gave me a weird look and then said, "This is for people dropping off strollers." I felt like such an idiot and apologized. Then the guy said, "You know what? We have a couple of strollers over here that we are just going to throw away- nobody has claimed them in a while- do you want one?" He even went out of his way to find one with cars on it for Brian. I thanked him profusely and told him we'd return it before we left but insisted not to even worry about it and just keep it. Thank goodness for little angels on earth like him because we would not have survived the rest of the day without the stroller.

We finished out the aquarium with no more meltdowns- Brian was so content to be in the stroller- I have found time over time that it really helps him to have his own space like that. I never learn though and always think, let's try it this time without a stroller.

Corbin did quite well in the aquarium. He became obsessed about our turtle passbook we were given. There were six different stations in the aquarium with different turtles and they had stamps set up- you had to try to get all six stamps. I really feel this hindered him from enjoying a lot of the exhibits because he was all about finding the six stamps and not stopping until he did lol.

After the aquarium we went and saw an IMAX movie, Under The Sea. I was very worried about this for Brian. We found some great aisle seats and sat down with our 3D glasses- Brian was soooo cute! He was trying to grab all the stuff coming out of the movie at him and he would continue to peer under his glasses every now and then to try to figure out how these sea creatures looked like they were coming out at him. It only held his attention for fifteen minutes and then he sat on the floor next to me and ate popcorn- he was able to stay in the theater for the entire 45 minutes though- which is a big deal!

He fell asleep almost immediately after. Emily's Dad met up with us after the movie and we decided to walk around a bit and take in the sights. We ate lunch at a sports pub on the North End by the Fleet Center (where our train left from)- Brian slept through lunch- we took up two booths as I layed him down in the one across from us.

The train ride home was loooooong- we were all exhausted but Brian woke up right before the train of course, so we couldn't all nap. Then our train had communication troubles so we had to stop twice and wait to make sure the tracks were clear. We ended up being a half hour late. Thankfully Josh was driving once we got back to Portland- no way I could stay awake any later- we returned home about midnight.

All in all it was a great day, a couple bumps in the road- but no more than I expected. We learn from our mistakes and hopefully we'll be brave enough to try it again next year- next time to go to the Childrens Museum in Boston. That is if we don't move there before then, as we all have decided unanimously we love it there! ;)