Day 5: Christmas Party at the Aquarium

This is the first Christmas we've been members of the Vancouver Aquarium, so we were excited to see that they throw a members-only Christmas party every year. It's apparently quite difficult to get tickets, but for once I was organized enough to put it in my calendar and call the first morning tickets were available. And surprise - we got some! Amanda was so excited when she opened up the envelope, since the Aquarium is one of her favourite places in the world. As soon as we picked her up from daycare and asked where we were going, she knew we were going to a party at the Aquarium!

The party ran from 6:30 - 9 pm, and we weren't sure whether there'd be food there (plus we were rushing there from work), so we didn't eat first. Oops - no food...well, other than hot chocolate and cookies for decorating. The hot chocolate was a big hit since Amanda had never tried it before. We checked out the displays, which is even better when there are so few people around. It's neat to see the animals at night - the belugas were floating in the water (actually they looked kind of irritated at all the noise), and the seals and sea lions were out sleeping on the rocks. We ended the evening by watching a performance of Bobs and Lolo, a local duo with some pretty great music (we have a sneaking suspicion Santa may bring some B&L CDs for Amanda's stocking).

Being awful parents, by the time we got out of there, it was around 9 pm and Amanda still hadn't eaten anything other than cookies and hot chocolate. So Wendy's it was - in downtown Vancouver at 9:30 pm. (Nancy, if you're reading this, we're so sorry!!). I guess that's what happens around the holidays - at least we don't have too many crazy nights like that. But it's worth it to see how excited she gets!

There are lots of pictures...here are a few (click on any picture to go to the Flickr page with all our "24 Days of Christmas" pics)...

Decorating a gingerbread man:

This was a great activity - they handed out small ziploc bags with a cookie, a small tube of icing, and a handful of sprinkles and smarties. Much easier (and more hygenic) than letting the kids stick their hands in bowls of candies!

Santa!


The Aquarium mascot, Bee Bop Beluga:


Catching bubbles at the Bobs and Lolo show: