A Big Trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium

So we hit the road and in what has been our longest stretch in the car at once, we arrived in Monterey about 4-1/2 hours later. We checked into our room, unpacked a bit and decided to strike out on the short walk to town. That seemed to go all right so we decided to jump into the Outlook and drive down to the ocean.One of the great things about watching a kid grow up is being reminded of how amazing - and scary - the world can be. The ocean is something that never stops capturing most people’s imagination or holding them in awe but to experience it through the eyes of a first time visitor is more than my tired mind can adequately explain at the moment. The uncertainty and vastness of it, needless to say, is intimidating. I’ve noticed that as Lola begins to encounter many of these “big” things such as the ocean, fish, a train or bus, they can be a little scary compared to what she sees on the TV or computer.We dodged the waves for a few minutes and climbed a few rocks but she didn’t fully warm up to the experience. From the beach we decided to drive back into town and get a bite to eat for dinner. But as we started to get everyone out of the car, I noticed that Lola was shivering and seemed a little out of it. We immediately aborted our dinner plans and drove back to the hotel. Fortunately Oliver had fallen asleep so Julie went to find some take-out and Lola and I laid down in bed. Her temperature had risen again and she was not feeling well. There was a period of panic as I began to question our decision to leave the comforts of home but we worked through it and after a dose of motrin and some food fell asleep for the night.The next morning everyone seemed to be fine again so we pressed on with our plan. We got to the aquarium around 10:00am and spent the next couple of hours wandering around in a mixture of excitement, wonderment, and weariness. I had not been to the aquarium in probably 15 or more years so it was an amazing experience to see the fish in those enormous tanks and, again, I think that Lola was not at all sure about how close those potentially dangerous animals could get. Even the almost- inert starfish were of questionable safety for her. When we got to the touch pools she stuck her hand in the water a few times to feel the fish but when I tried to lift her up and tilt her in such a way to touch a purple starfish she let out a blood-curdling scream that made even the jellyfish stop and look in our direction. (I have to admit though, it was kind of funny.)We took a break for lunch and a nap back at the hotel and debated for an hour or so if we should just pack up and leave that night, go back to the aquarium in the morning, or really push our luck and head back later that night. The aquarium has summer hours until 8:30pm so we decided to go for it again that night and head home first thing Sunday morning.Our second trip out was fairly uneventful and mellow but I began to reach another conclusion about Lola’s personality (and perhaps this is true for most two-year olds.) And that is, even though she is very hesitant with new experiences, and even outright resistant, if you give her a chance to observe the action, watch other people and children interact with the experience, and then slowly interact with it, soon enough she is having a good ol’ time.In the end, I think we made the right decision to go. It could have been a lot more enjoyable for everyone if she were 100% but, at the same time, there is only so much one can expect a two-year old to do in a day. And the lessons Julie and I learned about traveling, vacationing with children, and Lola’s personality were well-worth all the trouble and concerns combined.