Daddy's Day Out

 Daddy has been on the road a lot lately participating in many boring meetings, so we decided to scoop him up for the day and show him some real fun during Mommy's spring break.  We are lucky to be near the TN Aquarium and started of our day with a bird show, and then Mommy's favorite, the river otters!  There is one swimming behind us in this picture.

 Vi gets really up close and personal with the fish.

Vi is not scared of red-bellied piranhas!

 Just "taking a little rest" as Vi says.

 We took a lunch break at Mellow Mushroom and Vi and Daddy had staring contests.

 Vi did much better this visit about putting her hands in the water to touch the fish.  Mommy is a little scared to touch the fish, so it was good that Daddy was around to encourage her more.  The stingrays are very friendly, but we had much more fun playing with the "Dori" fish.  Daddy, as usual, is a regular animal charmer and could make her dance.  Our previous post during Christmas break shows him charming birds in an aviary.  He says that animals can sense his kind soul :)

Daddy the fish charmer

Getting a 360 view of giant crabs!

 I just really liked this picture.  Vi calls this spot her "room."

 We made a stop at Coolidge Park and took a couple of rides on the 100 + years old carousel.  Each "animal" has a plaque that tells who carved it, when, and the animal's name.  She wanted the cat.  His name is Beauregard.  We thought this was a funny coincidence since her Daddy lived in Beauregard, AL during college.  And it's also a town in France :)

 At the fountains

 Riding another animal at the fountains; the building behind Vi is the pavilion where they house the carousel.  I think this is an awesome potential birthday venue, but we will definitely wait until she is tall enough to ride alone so she will feel like a big girl.

Final stop: cupcakes!

We had an awesome family day, perfect in fact.  Days like these make me very thankful for my sweet and loving family.  We have so much fun together.