Shedd Aquarium

On the south side of the Shedd--too sunny for these 3 but such a pretty view :)

Another adventure--this time downtown to Shedd Aquarium. Joseph and I went there 10 years ago and thought it was really cool, but it was so much more fun returning with our kids. They explored every little thing and looked at each sea creature with total fascination and awe. I think their favorite things were the penguins (Livs), sea stars (Cares) and sharks in the wild reef (Bentley). I think my favorite part was wandering around the beluga whale pools with the huge glass windows and views of Lake Michigan all around. It's such a smart idea to have an aquarium built right on the water's edge.

Bentley and Cares petting sea stars. Cares stayed at this exhibit for a good 15 minutes just totally absorbed by the animal's texture.

Bentley and Kaiser enjoying the Polar Play Zone submarine

Watching the penguins

and then playing penguin dress-ups

the beautiful and mesmerizing jelly-fish

watching the bright white beluga's with Brooke, Bob's lovely girlfriend

Livs and Bob waiting for the dolphin show to begin
(See that binkie handle sticking up under Livs' nose? It's her new funny habit--to tuck it right up so it stays put like that. Cracks me up every time...)

Fortunately, it was another free day for us thanks to Krista's family pass (well--Joseph got in for about $8 on Bob's corporate pass but that is quite a steal for the Shedd.)

Unfortunately, it happened to be Family Corporate Day for some local companies and it was very busy. We lost each kid at least once (and Kai maybe 2 or 3 times :) and we even had 5 adults in our group! It was a little hectic but still a great outing.

**Side note: Bentley had a school field trip to the local grocery store yesterday since his class is learning about the food pyramid and healthy diets. For his homework last night he had to answer questions about the field trip: what he liked the most, what was something new he learned and so on. The last question asked "Where would you like to go on our next class field trip?" He answered "Brookfield Zoo or Shedd Aquarium." But of course :)