Today we had a chance to visit the Portland Aquarium for the first time. The kids and I joined our friends Will, Angela, Alex and Henry and had a wonderful time. The Portland Aquarium is fairly small but filled with fun and interesting exhibits.
One thing that I was particularly excited by was the number of touch tanks in which we were able to touch fish, sea stars, rays, sharks, and more. I'm not sure if Hezekiah actually touched anything, as he was fairly nervous. He even had a plan going in; if a shark came by, Hezekiah would tell the shark, "I'm a boy, not a fish," so that the shark would not bite him. Annaliese, on the other hand, put her hands right in and tried to see what she could touch. The rays did make her a bit nervous though, and I think the only one that she touched was on accident.
The tank with the rays and sharks is very large, allowing for a lot of people to view, touch, and even feed the animals. The rays beg for food and so will come to the edge, sticking their "heads" out of the water which made it very easy to touch them.
The Portland Aquarium also has a "jungle" room which includes frogs, chameleons, a large climbing play structure, and a bird enclosure in which you can feed lorikeets. The final room includes kids costumes which makes for some adorable photo opportunities, as you can see below. Aren't those the cutest hammerhead sharks you have ever seen?
If you go:
Website: http://portlandaquarium.net/
Address: 16323 S.E. McLoughlin Boulevard Milwaukie, OR 97267
Open: 365 days a year from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Tips: We were told that the slowest time of the day is after 3 p.m. They do not sell food. There are tables in two separate rooms but these tables can be rented out for birthday parties so they may not be available to eat at.
Time: With little children who have little patience, one trip through took us about one hour. Hezekiah was excited to go through again and we were there for over 2 hours.
Additions: They will be adding puffins and otters but I do not know when those exhibits will be up and running.
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