Galveston Part 2

Part of the reason we rented a beach house and stayed the whole weekend (besides multiple days at the beach) was to go to Moody Gardens.  They have quite a few different attractions, but with the kids we just went for two of the bigger ones.  First up was one of their three pyramids, the Aquarium Pyramid.

The kids had fun running from one exhibit to the other, while we fuddy-duddy parents wanted to look at the boring fish some more.

They did really like watching the eels open and close their mouths.  The aquarium is pretty good, they have big exhibits with seals and penguins, and little exhibits for things like seahorses and lionfish.

I think the best part was the tunnel / room where they had sharks, fish, rays, and this big sea turtle.

We left to get some fast food then came back (did I mention this place has free parking?  I was shocked) to check out the Rainforest Pyramid.

You start off seeing some interesting insects (and arachnids) like this bird-eating tarantula.

Then it opens up into the inside of the pyramid, which is full of rainforesty plants and little streams and waterfalls.

Olivia had fun throwing leaves into the streams, while Carmen was content to get dirty.

I took the opportunity to play with my new camera a little and do one of the effects I'd often seen, but never tried -- the soft waterfall look.  Compare the first normal picture to the second "soft" picture.

The Rainforest Pyramid wasn't as cool as the Aquarium, but they're in the middle of making some renovations, and I think there were supposed to be birds in there that weren't there (too early in the season?).  But it was still pretty cool to see some interesting plants I'd never seen before.  I think this was my favorite.