Camden Children's Garden

On Saturday we went to the Camden Children's Garden which is adjacent to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ (definitely not a place known for it's lovely gardens). I was pleasantly surprised by this little gem of a garden and it's fairytale, Alice in Wonderland and Dinosaur themes. There were also a few rides and several activities for kids. What there were not a lot of were children and that was a shame!

(Love that hummingbird carousel creature above!)

A gorgeous pink azalea blooming in front of a vibrant yellow forsythia, color bliss!

I want this huge dino in my garden.

He's made entirely out of car parts!

Cherry tree blooming in front of Alice's tea cups.

The cougar is forever chasing the rooster on the carousel.

They even have a butterfly house!

Did you know that Walt Whitman spent his last years in Camden?

I didn't but here is his statue in the gardens and you can visit his house too.

"A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books."

Walt Whitman

A nice view of Philadelphia.

Adventure Aquarium

 I stood for quite awhile trying to get a good photo of a clown fish and the funniest thing is that everyone that passed me said, "Look, the Nemo fish!". Even people that spoke different languages:)

A perfect Saturday at Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. I think I prefer this one to the aquarium in Baltimore. Far less crowds, easy to park. One of the things that was really neat is that they played nice classical music as you looked at the fish. The two things worked very well together.

The face on the green sawfish above us was hilarious.

The jelly fish below was feeding I think. Click on the photo for a larger view. Looks like some small particles of food are caught in the hair like tentacles.

I love the leafy sea dragons, just wish I could get a better photo.

This one looks like he's been around for a million years!

I like this shark ray or bowmouth guitarfish.

Adventure Aquarium is great for kids, lots of touch pools. 

This ray tank was so much fun and the rays seemed to enjoy the interaction.

The hippos were really active today!

Biting an old tire. Look at those teeth!

Zoe found a great place to take a rest! 

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."

Jacques Yves Cousteau

Adventure Aquarium

My husband buys a ton of soda to stock the store in the teacher's lounge at his school. With the Coke Rewards points he's accumulated we were able to get two free tickets to go to the Adventure Aquarium in NJ today.
Now, the last time I went to an aquarium it was the one in Baltimore and every time I go I'm miserable. The lines are long, the parking is expensive and it's harder than heck to get a glimpse of a fish. We had the opposite experience today. It was easy to get to and park and there weren't as many people so we didn't have to fight for viewing space. I highly recommend a visit if you're in the area. They also have a really nice children's garden that was adjacent and we would have gone for the $3.50 extra if the weather was nicer.
Here are some of my favorite photos from the day. BTW, it's really hard to take a decent photo of a fish. They don't like to hold still!
Click on each photo to view a larger image.

Small shark, can't remember the name. I would call him eclipse shark.


This guy liked his picture taken:)


Gorgeous jellyfish!


I really loved the sharks. Could watch them all day!


Mean fish.


Phoggy Philly across the river.


Gorgeous oak leaves outside.


One of my favorite photos taken on the sidewalk. I love ginkgo leaves!


I when we were walking through the food court area, near the entrance, I saw a little sparrow that was frantically beating herself against the window trying to escape. To the shock of many of the other visitors, I was able to catch her and release her outside. Poor little thing sat in my hand for a few seconds before flying off! Bye, bye birdy!