Shedd Aquarium

We headed into the aquarium with two very excited boys.

These signs are everywhere...  so please excuse quite a few blurry photos.

We got right to it and found things to be amazed by instantly.

We studied turtles a couple weeks ago and I was proud of how Cooper could recognize the different species just from studying them in books.  We saw a lot of turtles.

And some really pretty, but poisonous, frogs.

There were touch screens with information at most exhibits/tanks in the aquarium.

And some with interactive games, the boys enjoyed both kinds.

We saw the huge shark tank.

This was one of my favorite spots since it had the feeling of being under water.


Although I was glad we really weren't with these guys swimming around.

There were bamboo shark eggs on display.
They had a light behind them so you could see the sharks moving around inside.

As we kept moving we saw sting rays.

Sea Horses.


And more tanks full of beautiful tropical fish than I could count.

One of the reasons we planned this trip when we did was because our school lesson was "O is for Octopus" last week.  I had asked someone earlier in the day where the octopus was and she told me it was rare to see her out.  But when we walked into the area with the octopus, we saw her out and ran over to see her!

Yay, for an octopus sighting!

One of our favorite exhibits was the jellyfish. 

They're fun to watch.  And there are so many different kinds!  Including babies that are as small as dust floating in the water.

There were sturgeon that you could reach in and touch, although the boys' arms weren't quite long enough if they swam past along the bottom.

And then we needed a break and lunch.

It might have been more fun if the weather had permitted eating outside, but we had a fun view anyway.

And realized part way though lunch that we were sitting by the octopus!

After lunch our adventure continued...

We visited the beluga whales.

(And later saw them from downstairs too.)

We watched the dolphins play.


Cooper might have stayed to watch them all day... he loved them.


Miles wanted to check out the beluga whales again.


The sea lion came out to say HI too.


Then we headed over to see the penguins. 

They were pretty playful and fun to watch too.

And near them was a fun little play area.

Penguin costumes included!
(Miles enjoyed this more than Cooper)

Moving on, we saw this huge spider crab and Cooper requested a photo with him.

Touching the star fish was a favorite.

And we spotted a diver in the big tank.

And watched him feed fish for a while.  He had a walkie talkie like system in his mask and could answer questions people had through an employee walking around the outside of the tank.

In another tank the boys were mildly obsessed with this little puffer fish.

And it seemed to take a liking to the boys too.
It actually followed us around a while!


Miles spotted the iguana up on the ledge!

We all thought these leafy sea dragons were really fun.

...just one of the many fun, unique and amazing of God's creatures we saw that day.

A little more coming...