Shedd Aquarium

Today we headed downtown Chicago to the Shedd Aquarium. I don't think I had ever been there before, and was pretty impressed with the set up and everything they had to watch.

It was a cloudy and rainy day in the Chicago area, so we didn't get to see much else besides what the Shedd had to offer. I think I'll take the kids to the Field Museum in July, and hopefully the weather will be better so they can "see" a bit of the city. It was so cloudy, most of the buildings were in the clouds... we couldn't see much of the Sears tower at all.

Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised at the Coral Reef area, where this creature, which is more than 6 feet long, came out. We were told that this animal is nocturnal, and only comes out about once every 6 months when all the lights are on... so that was a nice treat for us.

We saw many strange creatures that God placed on this planet... like a spider crab, an alligator turtle, fish with bubbles on their heads (my lil girl called them headaches), a blue star fish, nemo, stingrays, turtles, lobsters, iquanas and needle fish (to name a few).

We ended up parking by Soldier Field, and their was a small Children's Garden by it, so the kids got to run around a bit after being so good in the aquarium

Overall... I'd say it was a very successful day... not bad for the first time in the city with the kids.

Strawberry Picking

After a push from a friend, we found this fabulous farm only 40 minutes away in which we could go strawberry picking. It is a Christian run farm, and they actually had an outdoor worship service while we were there. So as we were picking our strawberries, we we able to listen to the praise music and give praise to the Maker! It was a great Sunday morning!!! And after only about an hour, we walked out with 15 + lbs of strawberries

Trying one out!!!

I guess he liked them (see his chin!)

Helping to wash them when we got home

Spray Park and Mall Park

Went to the Mundelein Spray Park today (our old stomping ground), and I was surprised that the kids enjoyed playing in the huge sandbox better than playing with the water. Oh well, we had a good time anyway. They got a little wet at the beginning of our stay...

and then played in the sand box for the rest of the time. The humidity was very high, but didn't bother them at all.

My lil girl's hair got really curly....

and my lil boy is a thrower!!!

Then... since the hubby wasn't supposed to come home tonight because of a wedding he was attending, I took the kids to the mall to play in their play area.

There, we ran into an old friend!

Great America

We decided that this year we would get season passes to Great America... with it being only 10 minutes away and all. Well...I did it! Today, I took both kids, by myself, to Great America for 3 hours. I had no problems with them whatsoever. We rode way more rides than I thought we would, and the kids even had a chance to ride some of the kiddie rides without mom! The only problem I had was getting my little girl out of the park... she doesn't quite get that we can come back whenever we want!

Anyway, since I was an active participant today, I didn't get many pictures, but I think the kids are looking forward to going next week with their aunt Therese!