a day on the pier

Today, we walked along the waterfront close to our apartment building. There are a lot of restaurants and shops built on the piers. It's also where the cruise ships and ferries are. We went to the Seattle Aquarium. We had a great time! The main attraction that we were interested in, was the feeding of the Giant Pacific Octopus (seen in the above photos). It was so cool to see the octopus.... because usually at the aquarium you can barely see them because they are holed up in the rocks... but these were awesome! They had 2- a boy and a girl. We learned a lot of interesting octopus facts- they have green blood and three hearts, they have about 200 suckers on each leg, and the suckers also act as taste buds- so an octopus can taste everything that it touches, the beak of an octopus is poisonous, they change colors based on emotion, they mate once during their lifetime, and the female octopus starves herself while watching over her eggs and dies once they hatch. We also learned that they are very territorial- the two are not allowed together in the same tank. They were really cool to see though.

We also got to see otters, lobsters, seahorses, puffer fish, flounders, and seals. They also had a tide pool touch area here.. so I had to touch the sea cucumbers! I love sea cucumbers! I also got a crab painted on my face by some of the aquarium volunteers. Oh! and it is pretty cool because the aquarium has its own fish ladder/fishery. They grow a lot of their own food for the rest of the fish in the aquarium. I think that it is a good idea!

After the aquarium, we went to a restaurant called The Crab Pot. It was pretty good. Everyone wears bibs! Also, Kraig was excited because they have something on the menu called a "feeding frenzy." They come out and dump big bowls of shellfish right on your table for you to feast on! You have to buy 2 servings at a time, and since I do not eat seafood.. poor Kraig just had to watch from afar. Oh well, I have seen this type of eating firsthand... when I see Kraig and his dad eat seafood at the farmhouse! I can't believe they still have all of their fingers!

We walked around on the different piers and had some ice cream. We also visited the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. It is this weird store that has mummies and shrunken heads. It was a beautiful day here.. around 70 without a cloud in the sky.. a perfect day to be by the water! All in all, we had a good day!