During the month of September the Shedd Aquarium is free to Illinois residents. Every year I forget this and wished we would have gone. It normally costs $20 or more a person and it isn't covered in our museum pass so I just couldn't justify it. This year with one week left Shad and I looked at the calendar and figured out a day we could go as a family. Shad took the day off of work and we pulled the kids out of school. I am so glad that we did. It was absolutely worth it and going on a Thursday was genius as it wasn't very crowded at all.
We met up with one of our favorite YSA's Jennifer Jensen who now lives in Chicago going to the University of Chicago. I was really grateful to have her there as it took every bit of three adults to keep track of 5 kids in a big place like the Shedd.
We parked a mile and half away from the Shedd as the parking was much cheaper. The kids were good sports about walking but did complain about being tired a few times. Jack was great at taking care of his sister on the way there. The way back was a little different as Jack "felt like his legs were going to fall off." Gracie was lucky that she has a little bum and could fit in the stroller next to Benny and have a ride on the way back to the car.
Before going into the Shedd we stopped at a picnic area and ate the lunch we packed. Haken had a lot of fun taking pictures. He is becoming a budding photographer.
Gracie's face in this picture always cracks me up.
There was so much to see once we got into the Shed. These fish in the Amazon are huge! This place really was a dream come true to Benny who loves animals. He loved every bit of the Shedd.
So grateful to have Jennifer there with us. Ruby was her little buddy as she wouldn't get very close to any of the glass cages. She just liked seeing everything from a distance.
Super cool water turtle.
Benny's favorite fish was the lion fish as he wants to be a lion for Halloween. He was sure to make his best lion face for the picture.
Gracie's favorite fish was this bright pink one that we found towards the end. She wanted to make sure she got a picture next to it.
The dolphin show was for sure the highlight of the entire day. I couldn't believe that it was included in admission. We made sure to show up early so we got good seats. We just had to wait a little bit for the show to start.
The sea lion came out during the dolphin show. Benny really loved this part.
After the Shedd we walked a mile up lake Michigan to Maggie Daley park. It is our favorite. I didn't get many pictures there as I felt like I was constantly looking for one of our kids. It was pretty crowded. Most of the people there were with a Jewish family reunion or something. With so many kids I could hardly keep track of my own.
After the park we walked over the Lou Malnatis (our favorite Chicago deep dish pizza place) and had dinner. Overall I think we walked about 7 miles. I was pretty tired and we didn't get back until late. I was glad that the next day was Friday so the kids only had one more day to wake up for school.
It was such a gorgeous day! Absolutely perfect day to visit Chicago. I love this city and I'm so glad that we live close enough to enjoy it whenever we want.
