We spontaneously took a family trip down to the Aquarium of the Pacific on Saturday!

The day was so lovely and perfect. Baby R was in a generally happy mood. She was super excited to see all the “blub blub” (a.k.a. fishies!). Even we were pretty excited to see all the sea animals. It’s amazing how large the aquarium is and how many tanks are inside. We were not expecting to spend a full day there but found ourselves staying until almost 4:00! Truth be told, most of the time was spent at the kiddie playground. Baby R had a blast running around and playing with all the other kids. We have to admit, even we enjoyed playing at the playground with Baby R.

Jake’s favorite part of the day was petting the sting rays in the ray tank. Baby R was also really into petting the sting rays. She would get so excited every time a sting ray swam by and would reach into the pool to try and touch it. It made Jake so happy to see how brave and adventurous his little girl is. Cindy’s favorite part of the day was the hour-long stroll we did along the harbor. We left the aquarium for a bit, after lunch, so that Baby R could get a little nap in. She napped in the stroller while the two of us walked around, catching up, and soaking in the afternoon sun.

It was such a nice family day. For Jake, it was a welcome break from all the job market prep he’s been doing. He’s basically been thinking about economics non-stop for the past few months. Applications for many positions are closing in the next month or so, so Jake’s been submitting applications left and right. We’re not joking when we say he’s submitted 100+ applications!! On top of that, he’s finetuning his job market paper, attending seminars, prepping for presentations at upcoming conferences, scheduling interviews, and being an amazing daddy and husband. Jake’s pretty resilient, but even he has to admit this has been one of the most stressful seasons of his life. And we’re just about to enter the thick of it! So suffice it to say, our spontaneous trip to the aquarium was much appreciated.