Trans-Siberian Orchestra

On the 15th, Dustin and I went to the Trans-Siberian Orchstra concert.  It was in Hershey so it took us 1 hr 40 mins to get there.  And what to do with the kids???  We had to get a sitter- someone we've never used before.  Gulp!  I'm not sure who I was more worried about- the kids, or the sitter!  LOL!  I got a good recommendation from some friends, and she is the sweetest girl!  The kids absolutely loved her and the first thing they said on Sunday morning was: can Enya come back today and play?  Always a good sign!  She was awesome, and did so much with them.  I felt bad because we were gone for over 7 hrs.  A very long day for anyone, especially a new sitter who doesn't know the kids.  Luckily, they behaved themselves. And the next day, I got a text from the sitter thanking us and hoping she can watch the kids again :)

 

And now onto the show....  It was completely new this year.  All new music and set.  This one was a lot calmer.  A lot more strong solo performances and not as much "special effects" like the lasers and fireworks.  I still enjoyed it because I know the music.  But it could've been considered more "boring" to those who weren't as familiar.  I don't think the kids would find it as interesting as the previous show.

 

The set was a giant chest in the attic.  And when it opened up, the orchestra, drummer, and keyboard rose from inside!



 

Here are some short snippets from the concert (they're short so I can post them).  Although not all are posting.  Guess they're just a bit too long :(

Adventure Aquarium

Yesterday was an awesome day!  I picked up Devan from school (it was a half-day), and surprised them by taking them to Adventure Aquarium (in Camden, NJ- lock your doors!).  This place was amazing!  I actually liked it a lot more than the Baltimore Aquarium, and it's a lot cheaper (but still spendy- luckily Lexi is a week shy of being 3 so she was free.  LOL).  Anyway, because it was during a school day, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  We were there for 3 hrs!  I loved it because it was so interactive, and they had 4 different touch tanks!  The sad part?  My phone died before we hit the end.  And that's where all the excitement happened :(

 

We saw lots of turtles.  This one had a super long neck.

 We watched the sea horses for a long time.  They are so interesting!

 Turtle!

 Hammerhead shark

 This tank was huge, and there was viewing from both floors in several areas.  Nice to see it from a different perspective.

Touch tank: sting rays.  These guys would splash you!  They are very slimy and squishy.  Of course, Devan wouldn't even try.  Lexi tried but the water was too deep and she got her sleeve wet even though it was rolled up.  So that was the end of that.  But I got to touch lots :)

 Baby alligator.  The crocodile exhibit was one of Lexi's favorites :)

 They sure loved posing on these statues.  But, I got some good pics :)

 This is a great one of Devan!

 Poisonous frogs.  They loved searching for them in all the tanks.

 Under the sea :)

Another touch tank.  This one had a bunch of sea snake things.  Not eels- they were bright yellow and black stripes.  I can't remember the name.  But, the kids had to avoid the snakes when they swam by.  I got Devan to touch a feathery anemone creature, and a starfish.  Next to this they had a bright blue lobster you could touch.  And another tank with a horshoe crab.  (One touch tank was closed to let them rest- it was a shark!  I really wanted to touch it but the kids didn't want to wait).

Another touch tank- this one was freezing cold water (like the west coast).  They touched 3 different kinds of starfish, a sea anemonae that grabbed Devan's finger (LOL), and a sea cucumber (those guys are really squishy even though they look spikey!)

Then on to the best part (in my opinion).  The hippos!!!  Normally they're bumps on a log.  But these guys were so active!  One trainer said it was because it was close to dinner time for them.  They were playing with a tire, and butting heads.  I could've stayed there all day!  It reminded me of that time at the zoo when the hippo climbed out of the water to reach a plant right in front of us.

 Around the corner you could see under the water and how big they actually are.  Amazing!

 And the awesome jellyfish.  I have NEVER seen a blue jellyfish before!  These were so cool!

And then by phone died.... :( :( :(

So, here's the juicy tidbits:  We saw an octopus that was "sleeping".  Right as we were getting ready to move on, he started moving.  He dropped a few pieces of food, and then a giant crab shell.  And then we were making a note of the plastic snowman in the tank and he dropped the snowman's hat!  It was quite big- about the size of the octopus's head.  How did he have that wrapped up in there???  And then he started moving.  He climbed all over the tank and we watched him change from orange to white, and then back as he moved along the tank (orange while on the rocks and white when on the sandy bottom).  It was almost instantaneous, the color change.  Amazing!!!

Then onto the sharks.  There was another big statue thing for the kids to climb on (and inside the shark's open mouth).  What a great picture that would have been....  Then the two-story shark tank.  Then the shark tunnel!  The kids were just amazed to be inside the tunnel.  They were laying on their backs looking up.  So many great photo opportunities.....  It was really cool to see the teeth and everything as they swam right over you.

Man, was that aquarium cool!  And starting this weekend, Santa goes scuba diving in the shark tank.  And they have reindeer and snowen to take pictures with (live ones).  And they do regular feedings of the hippos, sharks, pengiuns, etc.  But we got there too late for that.

Pirate Day @ Brandywine Museum

**First, I want to make a note.  I'm a month behind and we've done some really cool things lately, so I'm going to post out of order and do the most important things first (before I forget the details, and while I have time- the kids are currently sledding outside in our first snow of the year!).  So, things like Devan's school work and such will come later when I have time.

 

The weekend after Halloween, Dustin left for a long week.  It was a cold day so I took them to the Brandywine Museum for Pirate Day!  It was great!  So organized and they had activities spread out all around to help move the crowd through the museum.  This really helped with the "crowding" effect.

 

First, they colored and cut out a picture of their choice to glue onto the giant treasure map

 The map was pretty awesome, and it was neat to see all the different pictures that were added

 We made pirate hats and drew treasure maps

 

 

Downstairs was an improv-like play.  2 ladies from a local theater reinacted Peter Pan.  They had small props to change characters and changed their voices.  It was extrememly entertaining, and everyone in the audience was involved.  Lexi was awe-struck.  Now, I'm obsessing over finding a good play to take her to.  She absolutely loved it!

And, they had a treasure hunt throughout the museum.  The clues were in paintings all over the 3 floors.  It was a great way to make them walk through and look at the paintings.  Devan loved it because he could write in the answers.  And when we were done, they got gold doubloons :)

 And, I'm not sure if I posted this or not.  But this is the gang from Halloween night :)