Day Two of the Birthday Extravaganza

Day 2 of the Grayson Cole birthday extravaganza took us to the Okinawa aquarium.    

We got an early start and headed out on the hour and a half drive.  It was a great way to get to see more of the island as we followed the coastline north.

The aquarium is located in Ocean Expo Park which also includes two tropical gardens, a museum, a huge playground, a beach, and an old time Okinawan village where you can participate in a tea ceremony.  We knew we wouldn't be able to do everything today so we ended up getting an annual pass.

Having the Expo Park located right on the water made our view from everywhere amazing.

We started in the touch pool.  Michael and I both touched a starfish and a sea cucumber (those black looking worm things- gross).

I think Grayson really enjoyed looking at all the fish, but listen to him tell you for himself. 

                                            

After looking at the big aquarium and all the smaller exhibits we got swallowed up by the Shark Research Lab.

We finally made our way outside to see the manatee, dolphin, turtle and sting ray pools and got a glimpse of the False Killer Whale show.

Okinawa is known for their soba noodle dishes. So we thought we'd try both the hot (the one in the broth) and the cold versions.  Very tasty, but not as filling as Italian pasta.

They also really like ice cream.  Grayson got to try his first ice cream cone.  What flavor?  Is it blueberry?  Raspberry?  Nope.  It's sweet potato, a very popular choice.  Pretty good and not as sweet as our ice cream.  And yes, the sweet potatoes in Japan are purple.

We finished the day walking through part of the gardens.  

The shark and the clownfish were our favorites.

We left wanting to come back and see more and with a very tired toddler as you can see in his new forward-facing car seat.  Happy birthday Grayson Cole.  We love you!