A Day Out At SEA...

The lovely folks at SEA LIFE Manchester invited us along to enjoy a day at their newest attraction, and being a big kid at heart I was rather excited!

My sister and I took along these 3 mini men who were equally as giddy to be there...

The paper 'glasses' were a great look (while they lasted) so after the kids decided to ditch them, I had to have try.

At the beginning we were told the story of the turtle which was held in a dark room with minimal lighting to add to the effect of the visuals on the ground. I thought it was great, however a young boy beside me did not. He was clearly scared of the dark and when his parents tried to take him back out of the room so his cries didn't disturb the others, the doors were locked! Eventually the host stopped her presentation to let the family into the next section of the tour (and into the light). Obviously other visitors didn't mind the pause, but perhaps there should be a contingency for children who don't like the dark? Surely he wasn't the first to get a bit teary, and no doubt he wont be the last.

Once everyone was through the main tour area the journey really began. The tanks were impressive and gave you the feeling that you were almost inside with the sea-life!

Here are the boys with face of wonderment whilst watching the stingrays.

Each tank was accompied by touch screen information making it really interactive as well as informative. The best bit being the Jellyfish! You could even change the colour of them :)

 On entry, the boys were given a booklet each in which we were to collect stamps on the way around. Shame we only realised this when we got to stamp number 7... of 9! Oh well.. there's our excuse to go all the way back to the beginning and see the shark tunnel again!!

Karen took this opportunity to visit the soft play area located near to stamp 7.... I told her she was a bit old for that, so she took Rowan and sat and watched him instead.

After a pit stop for Karen & I and a crazy fun time for the kids at the soft play area we completed the tour after giving a real life crab a stroke! Then we were off to collect a badge each in return for a completed book of stamps! But she didn't check it. Yep, that's right.. we went all the way back to the beginning to collect the stamps, and SHE.DIDN'T.CHECK.IT!

But who cares? We got to see the SEA LIFE twice as much as everyone else!

And as a souvenir I have a new headband. Thanks SEA LIFE Manchester :o)

It's usually £12 pp for entry and children under 3 go free, which if I'm honest, I feel is a tad expensive for kids, especially if you have more than 1 child, but if you've got the pennies - it's definitely worth a visit!