Second year in a row makes it a tradition, right? Sure it does! Today we headed up to the always fantastic Vancouver Aquarium to catch the Magic of the North Holiday Show.
One of the highlights was Scuba Claus. As his sleigh took a test run over the Strait of Georgia, a sleigh bell fell in one of the tanks so Scuba Claus had to go diving for it. Always fun to watch...
I'm including this photo to show one of the octopuses - I thought it was octopi but technically octopuses, octopi, and octopodes are all correct! - who joined the show. The Aquarium staff were a bit surprised to see this - octupuses are nocturnal and it's unusual to have one moving about during the day, and especially when there's someone in the tank. One of them slithered (that's the only word I can use to describe what she did) out from a rock and she was completely white - we learned that octopuses are white when they first wake up - then she quickly changed to her usual brown-orange-red color. This is called "coloration" which means they can change color and create countless intricate patterns on their bodies to blend in with their surroundings. We stayed after Scuba Claus left and watched her slither back under her rock. Couldn't even tell she was there once she settled in.
One of the highlights was Scuba Claus. As his sleigh took a test run over the Strait of Georgia, a sleigh bell fell in one of the tanks so Scuba Claus had to go diving for it. Always fun to watch...
I'm including this photo to show one of the octopuses - I thought it was octopi but technically octopuses, octopi, and octopodes are all correct! - who joined the show. The Aquarium staff were a bit surprised to see this - octupuses are nocturnal and it's unusual to have one moving about during the day, and especially when there's someone in the tank. One of them slithered (that's the only word I can use to describe what she did) out from a rock and she was completely white - we learned that octopuses are white when they first wake up - then she quickly changed to her usual brown-orange-red color. This is called "coloration" which means they can change color and create countless intricate patterns on their bodies to blend in with their surroundings. We stayed after Scuba Claus left and watched her slither back under her rock. Couldn't even tell she was there once she settled in.
After Scuba Claus and the octopuses, we watched the beluga show and also caught the dolphin feeding.
Then, on to the highlight of the day! Polar Express in 4-D was awesome.
Our seats rumbled with the train, wind blew through our hair, we smelled hot chocolate and pine trees. It was fantastic.
The other holiday feature was the Christmas tree which had lights powered by an electric eel. Seriously. It was pretty neat. However, Alice later informed us that it didn't live up to her expectations. She was expecting a brightly glowing huge tree inside the tank with the eel.
After all the holiday magic, we happily strolled through the rest of the aquarium. These strawberry anemones were beautiful.
A perfect Henry look.
I'm not sure what was going on here. But this is such an Alice look. The "I don't like what you just said" look.
And, the jellies. I can't get enough of the jellies.
They were absolutely mesmerizing. I wish I had a tank in my living room. I could sit there all day and watch them.
Then it was time to go home. After almost four hours, we had seen all we were going to see and we were ready to go.
And this. Well, this is my failed attempt at a family Christmas photo. We stopped at the Lions Bridge overlook and I was determined to get at least one great family photo. Let's sum it up by saying that today was a bit off kilter. And when you're a perfectionist... that ain't gonna cut it! Maybe we can try again next week.
Oh well. A great day at the Aquarium and we're all in the holiday spirit.
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