google.com, pub-8087192757053655, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 Director Jewels: The Octonauts at SEA LIFE Kansas City Aquarium

Monday, August 25, 2014

The Octonauts at SEA LIFE Kansas City Aquarium

Disclosure: I received press tickets for my family to tour the attraction highlighted below. No other compensation has been received and all opinions are my own.


It's a grand day for an adventure here in Kansas City, and I know just the place to have a pretty unique experience: SEA LIFE Kansas City, the beautiful aquarium at Crown Center. SEA LIFE is pretty amazing on a normal day, but now through August 31 you will find some extra special sea-faring guests waiting to greet you: The Octonauts!

We're big fans of these loveable animals who have a knack for rescuing creatures under the sea. Lincoln and Addie would literally watch this show all day long if I let them. We have two DVDs featuring their stories and I have both sets of episodes almost memorized. For the upcoming birthday season, I am happily welcoming additional Octonauts collections so my brain can have a little break from the cookie cutter shark, the narwhal, and the others.

So, you get it that we love the Octonauts. Let's move on to our own adventure! We were able to stop by SEA LIFE last week to get a peek at this super fun exhibit. The kids were really excited to go see the Octonauts and fish (or "Noctonauts and fishies" if you ask Addie). We have been to SEA LIFE a couple times this year - once at Lincoln's birthday and then again earlier this summer, but this time was definitely our best experience as far as the kids' attention span.


We brought my mom along (the kids call her Bun), because I'm not brave enough to tackle a character meet and greet with two toddlers alone. I'm crazy - but not that crazy. Lincoln and Addie were quite excited to show all of the fish and sea creatures to their grandma.



The highlight of the experience, of course, was seeing the Octonauts, so we headed there first. We stopped by when Captain Barnacles was out to say hello! Lincoln nearly passed out from excitement. It was really adorable - he covered his mouth with his hands, opened his eyes as wide as saucers, and bounced his way over toward Barnacles.


And...then he stopped, a couple feet in front of him, fell on the floor, and generally freaked out about having had a super cool experience. He wouldn't give a high five or hug, but he did whisper hi.


Addie, although feigning indifference here, was pretty excited about this whole experience too and spent much of the time waving and saying "hi Captain," gaining smiles from people all around us. She's a charmer.


Trying to give Lincoln another opportunity to have a fun meet and greet experience, we came back for the next meet and greet segment, this time with Kwazii. It went pretty much exactly the same, but we did manage to get him (sort of) in a photo, at least.

Both kids were very content to just sit on the floor and color the Octonauts coloring sheets with provided crayons, and play with the Octopod play set. I was informed after the adventure that "Mommy, we need a Octonaut toy too!"

The meet and greet is designed well to keep any potential line moving quickly, and with the kid-friendly atmosphere, it's no wonder the event is a success. This is the second time the Octonauts have visited SEA LIFE this year, and they'll hopefully be back for more fun later, too!

You can catch Captain Barnacles and Kwazii (alternating hours) daily now through September 7. They meet and greet every hour (on the hour) between 11:00am - 6:00pm (no appearance at 3:00pm). Since this is a popular event - especially with the preschool crowd - it is recommended that you purchase your tickets online before you visit. Check out SEA LIFE's website for more info and to purchase your tickets!


The Octonauts were just part of the fun for us on this trip! Both of my kids were really interested in all of the fish and other creatures (way more attentive than they have been in the past). I partially credit their love for Octonauts and their fascination with the show for this - they love learning about new creatures now! The touch pool was an especially big hit for Lincoln.


We easily spent close to two hours touring the aquarium and no one was grumpy or bored when we left. This makes me so happy! I think they would go back every day just to visit the fish - whether the Octonauts are there or not.


My mom had never seen the aquarium, and she said over and over that it was such a neat experience for the kids! I can't wait to use SEA LIFE to supplement our homeschool studies on ocean life in a few years.


We had a blast, SEA LIFE Kansas City! Thanks for being so awesome - and we hope to come back soon!


Disclosure: I received press tickets for my family to tour SEA LIFE. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

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