Last night Allison texted me and asked what we were doing tomorrow. I did not know that it was a holiday and that everyone was going to be home. When you work weekend overnights for as long as I have then you are bound to forget that the rest of the word has holidays and days off and things like that. So we talked it over and decided that we would go down to the Biomes Marine Biology Center. We went and visited this place four years ago in July and had a good time. It had been long enough that everything was new to the kids so we decided a trip back would be in order. Plus, it was supposed to be a wet and rainy day and who wants to go pick apples on a day like that.

As it turns out, Andrew wanted to go apple picking very much. When we got out of the car at biomes he was upset that we were not apple picking. He wanted to pick Golden Delicious because that is his favorite apple (news to me) and they can’t get it at the store (false, he’s never asked). After discussing it with him and getting to the root of the issue we went inside so that he could make the best of it. We got there just in time for the puffer fish demonstration. That was pretty cool to see and I think it turned Andrew around almost immediately The puffer fish fills itself with air and water. When it lets go of all that it is a crazy thing to see. Andrew still wasn’t that into the touch tanks but he did pay in a sand table sort of tank with the toys they had.

It has been a while since I’ve written much about anything beyond a toy review or something like that. We’ve gone on fun family adventures and I need to start writing more about those. Biomes is a fun place for the family to have an adventure. Eva is a bit scared of sharks and so she was quite brace to put her hands into the several touch tanks that they have at Biomes. She touched the Dogfish and the chain cat sharks. She also fed them and fed the horseshoe crabs and skates. Andrew did this also. Once he started touching the live animals in the tanks you couldn’t pry him away, except to play Ocean Bingo.

There are so many different animals to see and there is great information around each one. The whole center talks a lot about conservation and what we can do to help. I couldn’t believe some of the fish that were caught locally that end up in these tanks. The Lion Fish was particularly interesting. Back when we visited four years ago they had a very tiny one and now they have two rather large ones.

It was worth the trip down to enjoy the family time. I had gotten a bit of sleep so I was not too groggy. Always a danger after a weekend of work. But seeing the kids have such a fun time together and be so excited was the best ever. Eva was thrilled just to be there even before we went in and they did everything that they did. Feeding he animals was their favorite activity. I captured some video of that.

Feeding the Skates

Feeding Horseshoe Crabs

Of course, after a day looking at sea creatures the only place that you want to go for dinner would be to a seafood place. So, for the first time ever we made our ways to Iggy’s Doughboys & Chowderhouse in Warwick. This is a place that I’ve been dying to try out and just never got a chance to in the past. It was a wet and rainy day so it couldn’t be crowded, right? Wrong.

Iggy’s is a Rhode Island institution and so many people go there all year round. It is right on the water in Warwick and there is a special way of doing things. You place your order at the window and then take it to go and sit along the water or sit inside the restaurant. Today we started in the outside line but it started to rain so they let the line inside. It wasn’t a super long line but there was a wait. I cannot imagine how it is in the height of the Summer. That has to be nuts.

Speaking of nuts, the kids were all sorts of silly at our early dinner. We had a seafood platter, chowder and clamcakes and of course, the famous doughboys. Eva couldn’t get enough of the powdered sugar and Andrew dipped his doughboys into his chowder and also ketchup. They were little silly ones. But that is what a day like today was all about being together as a family and having all sorts of fun, including silly fun.