Day Two in DC: The National Aquarium

It started raining as we entered the first museum of the day and we sort of hoped it would ease up while we were in the building, but alas.  It was a wet walk to the other side of the mall to the National Aquarium (which isn't part of the Smithsonian, but we wanted to check out anyway).

Unfortunately for us/the aquarium, we lived in Chicago long enough to visit the Shedd Aquarium not once, but twice while we were there.  This whole aquarium was only about the size of one small part of Shedd...but Kendra was still excited for some fish.

However, the very first habitation was set up for a special guest of the aquarium.  There are only 100 in the world, actually.  An albino alligator--they get killed off very easily because they're so easy to see, so they often don't survive into adulthood.  Kendra was quite taken with it.

So, we stayed and watched the alligator for at least 15 minutes...long enough that it was even worthwhile to let Elliot out of the stroller and let him have a good look, too.

Eventually we were able to stroll through the rest of the room and see the other tanks as well.  Kendra liked the seahorses.

And of course, the tank with Nemo and Dory and in it was also a big hit with all the kids.

So, it was short and sweet, but it was pretty fun.  On our way out, we stopped for our favorite souvenier--a smashed penny.  We get them pretty much whenever we see the machines in a place we visit.

Fun stuff.  Unfortunately, it was still raining when we left the aquarium, but our walk to the next stop was very shot.