Summer Break - The Shedd

This weekend our family of four got to join Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Kyle and Aunt Allison at the Shedd Aquarium!  The Shedd is a Gavin favorite; its where I took Gav for his 2nd birthday last year.  This year Dec got to join us, and one of the reasons I love the Shedd is because its engaging for even the smallest kiddo.  So many of the tanks are close to the ground so that little ones can toddle up, and the fish/whales/sharks/otters/etc are exciting for even babies to watch.  Plus they have a Polar Play Zone where kids can interact and blow off some energy!

We took a LOT of pics at the Shedd, so I figured it deserved its own blog entry.  Here are our pics:

Enjoying a snack at Uncle Kyle and Aunt Allison's before we head out.

Checking out the giant fish and turtles in the Caribbean exhibit.

Gav and Daddy are really excited about the otters!

A great family pic with the skyline in the background.

We told Gav that he had to stay behind the railing, and here you can just see the struggle: obey the rules, or get closer to that penguin?

The answer was get closer to those darn penguins!

Across from the penguin exhibit is an area where kids can climb and slide and in Gavin's words "play like a penguin."

Gavin was paying attention when the guide said that penguins hop from place to place :)

Penguins slide head first but toddlers slide feet first (for now!)

Gavvy and I in the play submarine.

Watching the dolphins.  Gavin kept saying his catchphrase "Oh my baby."  We don't know where he got this from, but he always says it when he's super excited.

Watching the mommy and baby dolphins.

Dec loved the dolphins too.  It was really neat to watch him track the dolphin all over the tank.

Grandpa and Gav watching the dolphin swim upside down.

A major plus of being 3 feet tall: cutting right to the front of the exhibit and sitting under the signs :)

Gav and Uncle Kyle checking out the sharks in the Wild Reef.  Gavin told me this was his favorite part.

Dec modeling the 3-D glasses we wore to watch the Ice Age 4D movie.

I decide to join in on Dec's fashion statement.

Dec enraptured with Daddy.

Declan loved the movie, except for some of the 4th D (I kept trying to figure out what the 4th D in 4D was...I quickly figured it out when I got poked in the back and had water shot in my face...the 4th D is messing with the audience, and ticking off babies)

Declan and Uncle Kyle watching the sea otters.

Aunt Allison watches Gavin try to dismantle the anemone (probably not spelled right, but I'm not looking that up :)