A Whale of a Time!

On our 3rd day in Chicago my sister said to me, "4 sliding penguins, 3 Beluga Whales, 2 Deep Sea Divers and an octopus with 8 legs" Well, those numbers may not totally add up, but you get the idea. This was our adventure to Shedd Aquarium. I have to admit that I honestly didn't see the millions of signs that said NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY, until we went into the Wild Reef Exhibit. So after that my pictures were too dark and pretty much useless.

Here is proof that Uncle Trevor did bond with Devin throughout the trip. Devin tends to be our shy guy and takes awhile to warm up to people, especially big men he doesn't see as often. Devin did come around and gave Uncle Trevor a few high fives and I won't even mention the temper tantrum on the last night and attempt at, yes... biting him - ugh! Sorry Uncle Trev!

Here is Jasmine being lifted to touch a starfish. They had a small interactive session, most of the exhibits here were fake, but the starfish were real. Devin didn't like this idea and opted not to participate.

Here is a snap from the Beluga whale feeding. They did a few minor tricks, but they didn't really have a show. We caught a few "chats" where you could see the animals up close and the guide answered your questions. I'm not sure I had seen Beluga whales before and they were beautiful!

The aquarium had two 4D shows, so we caught the Sponge Bob viewing with the kids. It was AWESOME! Sponge Bob was making a hamburger and then racing through the ocean to catch a pickle. The 3D portion was amazing, for those of us who could see it, Jay and Trevor had more difficulty with that part, but it was still cool they said. The seats vibrated, that little red button on the seats poked you in the back, you were sprayed with water, bubbles fell from the ceiling and it even smelled like pickles - pretty neat! Devin was a little frightened during the preview and didn't really love the water being sprayed at him. Ali got poked pretty hard in the back and that didn't feel very good, but we all agreed in the end that the show was COOL!

Here are two different pictures of penguins. The real cute ones and then the REAL cute ones. They had penguin costumes and an interactive climbing and slide section. The kids were ready for this by the time we got there and had a great time going up and down the slide and even Devin had his little Penguin waddle down - too, cute! The one time you were allowed to go down face first on a slide.

Here is the picture we purchased from the aquarium. We posed for a few different shots over the holiday, but this was the only one where all 8 of us were in the picture and it was decent. (Sorry, it is so small I scanned it, I'm probably not supposed to do that, but heck I paid $10 bucks for it!)

After a full day at the aquarium we once again headed home for a nap, while the Bennett gang visited the Adler Planetarium and then for a walk to the beach nearby. We thought the planeterium seemed too advanced for our kids and it seems we were right, in the end it may have even been to old for Tyson and Allison, but Trevor said the displays were all well done. When they arrived back and we woke up from nap, we all headed for a swim, while Uncle Trevor struggled to cook up the pork chops and potatoes in the WINDY city - it kept blowing the BBQ out! We used the pool and hot tub a lot and it was a nice way to unwind from all the walking and busyness of the day. Another great day in Chicago!