Odysea Aquarium

After butterflies and mazes it was time to explore the aquarium! This aquarium is magnificent, it's  the largest aquarium in the Southwest United States! It holds more than 2,000,000 US gallons of water and spans over 200,000 square feet. There are over 30,000 animals and 500 different species in 50 exhibits.

When we were buying our tickets, we were told to make sure we visited the lobby bathrooms. Even though we were slightly confused, we all made sure to take a peak inside the restrooms and we were so glad we did! There is a giant window into one of the exhibits right above the sink, we got amazing views of sharks and fish while we washed our hands.

Then we were off to explore all the exhibits and animals!

This was is a sleeping baby sloth, all curled up in it's cozy little basket.

Ben and V are the best of friends. Ben loves to take V's little hand and lead her to something he thinks she will like. He is so sweet and gentle with her, and she absolutely adores him.

We spent a long time watching the otters, they were being so silly and playful! They were running and swimming all over their enclosure, at one point it looked like they were playing a clumsy, slippery version of king of the mountain. It was so fun to watch, I seriously could have stayed and watched them for hours.

This aquarium is full of interactive exhibits that all the kids, and adults, loved!

Penguins!

One of all our favorite parts of this aquarium was the Living Sea Carousel. OdySea's Living Sea Carousel, with its five 114-seat moving auditoriums, conjures memories of a similar rotating ride featured in the 1993 blockbuster movie "Jurassic Park," where visitors first learn about dinosaur DNA. Walt Disney World's Carousel of Progress ride also follows a similar format.

The ride lasts 20 minutes and takes it's riders through 4 different exhibits, Open Ocean, Sea Turtles, Sea Lions/Seals and Sharks. I haven't ever experienced anything like this in an aquarium before, it was so unique and cool.

I love watching the Burton boys interact with each other, they are such sweet brothers. The older ones take such good care of the littles and the littles adore their older brothers. They are such a sweet family.

I got to ride home in Ricky's new Tesla, I hadn't ever ridden in one before. I was surprised to see it had seats in the back, just like our station wagon did when I was growing up! The little boys love riding back there, these were their excited faces when we loaded up the car at the aquarium ....

... And this is what they looked like when we got home, they were all tuckered out from all the fun we had! If you live in Arizona, you definitely need to check out the awesome Odysea Aquarium!