After we left Jeff & Lori Anne's house we headed downtown to the Shedd Aquarium. We knew Andrew would love all the sea animals!
He had a blast. He sat right down here, turned around and said "Cheese!" for me! He is getting used to the routine! Ha!
There were some giant fish, which fascinated him!
He loves turtles, too.
Behind us is a huge fish tank where scuba divers would go inside and point out things. There was a huge sea turtle in the tank, which Andrew loved also but I couldn't get a picture of it!
He found Nemo! (Can you see him?? Waaaaay in the right hand corner!)
We got to see a neat dolphin show, Fantasea. It had trainers who worked with different animals like penguins, beluga whales and dolphins.
The background of this setting is actually a curtain that raises up and behind it is all glass windows and Lake Michigan in the background. It was so neat how they used it as a screen for the show. I took a short video clip of the end of the show where the dolphins jump several times, it's pretty neat!
One of the neatest parts of the aquarium was the underground viewing area and polar play zone for kids. We could have stayed here all day! Here is Andrew watching the dolphins. They kept swimming right past us!
There was a penguin viewing area also, where you could watch them swim. Andrew loved it!
They dive off the rocks and into the water and they are so funny!
This was the cutest thing! They had these little penguin suits for kids and they could put them on and slide down on their tummies!
Andrew getting ready to slide!
This was before we discovered the suits! He had so much fun sliding like the penguins!
Giving the baby penguin a kiss!
This was still part of the underground play zone- they had a big submarine you could play in, with controls and everything. Andrew is looking out the window!
The kids could climb inside an igloo!
Of course we had to visit the gift store! See all the stuffed animals Andrew is holding?? Ha! We let him pick out one, but he didn't pick the one mommy would have! Oh well, he wasn't leaving there without the Komodo Dragon! He calls it "modo!"
Why do I sometimes feel like I have 2 little boys to keep track of!? Ha!
Andrew, daddy and "Modo"! I love how Andrew is waving!
As you can see, it was a pretty cloudy day. Navy Pier is in the background. I really wanted to go there, but it was too chilly and late by the time we left the aquarium. We'll have to save it for another time!
Craig wanted to pose in front of Soldier Field.
We drove out of downtown and checked in at a hotel outside of Chicago so we'd be a little closer to home in the morning. We checked in and went out to eat at Red Robin.
Andrew and daddy love Red Robin! We bribed Andrew to be good before we left by showing him the swimming pool at the hotel!
Then silly me I forgot to pack his swim trunks! So we did a Target run and found some perfect Buzz Lightyear ones! Andrew was one excited boy in the elevator on the way to swim that night!
He had more fun than I've ever seen him have in a pool.
He was like a fish! He didn't even want us to hold onto him!
He is definitely ready for swimming lessons this summer.
Daddy was having fun, too, I just caught all kinds of expressions! Ha! It was really nice because we had the pool all to ourselves.
You would think after such a long day with no nap that Andrew would have crashed early. No such luck! We shut all the lights off and tried to lay with him but he was having none of it! He was much too excited and wound up to sleep! He finally crashed like this at 10:30!
The next morning we woke up and ate delicious waffles at the continental breakfast (gotta love those!) and did some more swimming before we checked out! Big surprise! :) Ha!
We were not in a big hurry to get home, since we still had several days of spring break left!
Andrew swimming like a fish! He wasn't scared to put his face in the water or anything!
Moving his arms and legs and kicking!
It looked like daddy was the only one in the pool but I want it noted that I got in too! Ha!
Here is a short clip of Andrew learning to swim!
We headed for the long drive home. Andrew was doing some serious work on his Elmo laptop!
We just had the best little mini vacation. We needed to get away, even if it wasn't somewhere warm. This has just been the longest winter! We are ready for spring! Luckily, when we got home we had 2 beautiful days in a row that melted all the snow and got us out on some walks to the park! Of course, I have more pics to share of our outings, but I'll save them for another post (I'm getting behind again!)
Happy Spring!
I have never been to Chicago..but I feel like I have now or at least a part! Loved your post, Loved the pics..Andrew is too cute! Glad you guys had so much fun!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Rhonda
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