Okinawa Aquarium

Beautiful, but hot, day to visit the Okinawa Aquarium about an hour north of where we live.

The buildings and everything were absolutely beautiful! Cool statue of the whale shark, for which this aquarium is famous for.

The Japanese school children are adorable! Look how cute the are in their uniforms and sun hats! We couldn't get Cooper and Mackenzie to look at the camera for our photos because they were so busy checking out the Japanese kids.

The surrounding area is breath taking. I can't wait to explore the beaches here!

Tide water pool where you can touch and pick up the sea life. Of course, Cooper reached in and took a starfish out of the water and got in trouble! Ha ha! The lady working there pointed to a sign that showed the sea life should not be removed from the water :)  She was very nice and polite about it.

There were two whale sharks swimming in this HUGE tank that had tons of sting rays, sharks, and many other fish. We could have sat and watched this all day!

Whale shark and spotted sting ray

We had so much fun watching the fish and sharks that we grabbed a table and ordered some food. Cooper and Mackenzie really enjoy all the different types of "juicy" they have here. This one was a Passion fruit one.

Enjoying our lunch of curry rice, Mexican rice, and ice cream.

I am so excited I actually got a photo of one of the whale sharks with its mouth open!

I thought I would include a photo of a map of the area for anyone interested :)

Having fun playing in a whale's mouth. They were hilarious, putting on a show for the Japanese people! So many people smiled and talked with us while we were here, we were one of the only American families in the aquarium today and we definitely stood out!

A sweet woman asked if she could take a photo of her daughter with our kids :)  We did this again later as we were leaving. I noticed a few people pointing cameras our way, but it wasn't too bad. They LOVE Cooper's hair and the fact that Cooper and Mackenzie are twins "futago". There are not many twins born in Japan, so find it very interesting.

Saying hello to the turtles, we told them it was Gary and Harry from their sea turtle book.

Bye turtle, we will be back! Mommy and daddy bought an annual pass because this place is great!