Monster Fish in the Desert with Nat Geo & Odysea Aquarium

When I first moved to Arizona, I wouldn’t have ever thought one of our favorite places to go would be an aquarium. Except I didn’t know how hot it would be in the summers, and how quickly dark would fall at night.

Now that we’ve been through a few summers and winters, I do.

Even still, if I let these yahoos stay out all day and night in the summer, they’d most likely do it, but the second dark falls, they are inside. So fall and winter are a bit tricky because we don’t leave the house much after dark.

But, when I said we have to go see the ‘Monster Fish’ in partnership with National Geographic at Odysea Aquarium at 5:30 on Friday, what do you think happened?

 

Of course they didn’t care that it was going to be almost dark when we went and pitch black when we got out, oh no! They were so excited to get to go to one of the attractions that we’d already been to twice this year already and Leila went to for her school field trip in the spring.

They couldn’t wait to go!

 

Finlee asked me every day leading up to going if today was the day… I couldn’t wait to tell her that “YES, today’s the day!”

 

I have to tell you, the excitement of them walking up to the location and going inside to see the fish in the tanks was enough to make my heart so hap

py. Then, them racing up the escalator, barely pausing enough to let it work, with zero time for a photo, with my husband clutching their little hands, was pretty precious.

 

It was nice to be able to go and not have to rush or worry about the time, or somewhere we had to go. We got to enjoy the exhibit and also our time together.

 

There were little (actually big) fish along the way with fun, interactive games for families to play, and of course the usual suspects made

their appearances sprinkled in with some new fish and sea life.

If you desire to go into the tank with the fish, they have a sea experience, which you get to put on a suit and get into the tank like you were diving in the open ocean with them. And let me tell you, as someone who’s done that, (see this video on Youtube), this seems MUCH safer and controlled. And these fancy helmets make it seem super safe.

 

The sting rays are always a sight to see, and in the open tanks, you can put your hands in and ‘pet’ them(supervised by a staff member of course).

 

 

 

Of all the times we’ve visited, we’ve never seen a penguin outside of their habitat, and for a second, we got to see one! We happened upon

it when they were getting ready to put her back up, and she did NOT want to go!

She wanted to come back and play with the kiddos, which was so cute and awesome to see.

 

 

We ended down on the lower level and finished the tour saying ‘Hi’ to ALL of the Nemos and learning about the different types of Clown Fish.

Finlee, to this day, still doesn’t understand that the Dory’s are in a different tank, and that we did see them. Alas, she still said bye to both Nemo and Dory when we left this area.

To be that innocent again…. I can’t even imagine. But I also don’t know how to break that in her? I’m open to all suggestions!

 

Then on to the Jelly Fish tank, which I thought maybe I was the only one fascinated by them, but it appears my entire crew shares the same sort of fascination as I do. I mean, look at them, you can see right through them – their organs, everything. Yet they have the power to potentially kill you. Anyone else think that is just amazing? And they are so graceful on top of it!

 

Last but not least, I got to see my favorite fish of all time – the Angel Fish. They only live in Salt water otherwise I might have started a fish tank full of them at my house.

I’ve always been amazed by these amazing fish. I can’t explain it, maybe it’s like Finlee’s obsession with the Clown Fish (Nemo). They are so graceful and most often, they don’t break that trailing thing on top of them, which I maybe envy a bit. If I were a fish, I’d love to be one of these Angel Fish.

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And we couldn’t escape without someone asking for a toy and trying to get a good picture 🙂

Finlee didn’t take a nap and it was a lot of walking for her, close to bedtime, so this was as good as it got! And telling her we weren’t getting any toys after the photo didn’t work in our favor either…. oh well! We got memories of going and spending the time together as a family.

 

Monster Fish was such a fun exhibit, we can’t wait to go back and see the big fish again and their friends!

Check out this quick little video I put together of some of the activities HERE.

 

Check their hours and grab your tickets ahead of time HERE to avoid the line and get right in the door. I recommend getting a yearly pass as it is MUCH cheaper if you plan to visit more than once (wish I would have done this the first visit 🙁 )