Aquarium Adventure with Twins

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This weekend, I decided it was time to go on an aquarium adventure with the twins. I’ve always loved visiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and I have waited for the perfect time to introduce my kids to it. This weekend it was pretty cold here in Maryland. So, I thought it would be a great chance to visit the aquarium and do something fun indoors. If I’m being honest, I was really looking forward to getting out of the house during the day on a weekend. I’m usually alone with the kids on Saturdays and Sundays and it’s hard to get out and do activities on our own. Here are some tidbits and tips I learned from our aquarium adventure.

It pays to do some research.

My twins are 18 months old now and they walk/run pretty well on their own. I went into the adventure thinking that I’d bring the double stroller so that I could push them along if they didn’t want to walk. I was also thinking that I could fill the bottom of the stroller with all of our extra “mom stuff” like diaper bag, water bottles, wipes, Cheerios and extra clothes.

Unfortunately, I made a HUGE mistake and didn’t check the aquarium’s website to make sure strollers were allowed inside. As it turns out, strollers are allowed inside…but they can only go as far as the coat/stroller check area. My first tip for anyone thinking about taking their young kids to the aquarium is to check the website ahead of time so that you know what you’re getting into. We had a lot of fun and the kids seemed to really enjoy looking at the fish. But, they also didn’t want to walk too much so my arms were incredibly sore by the end of the trip. Carrying a 25-pound toddler around for hours can have that effect.

Plan your time at the aquarium wisely.

While I didn’t look up the stroller information, I did take a look at the aquarium website to figure out when the ideal time to visit. The National Aquarium website is really great about including information on their most crowded hours, so I really appreciated that. The twins nap around noon everyday, so I decided the best time to visit would be around 10:30am. We were running a little late so we didn’t make it to the aquarium until about 11am, but that was ok. I planned for us to get to the aquarium and walk around for an hour or so, and then to grab a bite to eat downtown before heading back home for a late nap time.

If you also have young kids, you know it’s crucial to plan activities around nap time. Routine and schedule are really important for kids, and for my twins, they need their nap. I made the mistake of scheduling a doctor appointment during nap time once and it was a disaster. Screams and tears everywhere.

My plan for the aquarium paid off. We walked around for about an hour and a half. The aquarium was a little crowded, probably because it was a holiday weekend. But despite the crowd, we managed to see a lot of fish while we were there. My daughter really enjoyed the shark area, so that was fun to see. After walking around, we grabbed lunch at the cafeteria in the aquarium. The cafeteria didn’t have the best selection of food, standard fast food items, but it got the job done. And then, after lunch, we got back in the car and the kids were asleep before we got home.

If, and when things don’t go according to plan, enjoy the smiles.

I think this is becoming a theme in my twin mom life. Becoming a mom with twins has taught me a lot of things. One of those things is how to accept that kids don’t always stick to a plan. They don’t always care if you’re late or if you want them to eat certain foods. So when we were late to the aquarium, I tried not to sweat it. We made it there and everyone had fun. When I had to carry a toddler the entire trip, I ignored my aching arms and watched my kids smile at the colorful fish swimming past their faces. I didn’t get to take as many photos as I wanted to. But I gave my twins an adventure at the aquarium, and that was the most important goal for the day.