Adventure at the Aquarium
Last Sunday, Mary and I took my nephew and Godson to the Shedd Aquarium for his birthday. My sister told us that instead of buying Rhys any more presents, he would really like to go "see the sharks" at the aquarium. It took us several weeks to find a time, but it was definitely worth the wait!
Our trip started off a little bumpy.
We had to wait in line for about 45 minutes just to purchase tickets to
get inside! Fortunately, Rhys was so patient and well-behaved. He and
I played dinosaurs to pass the time. After we finally got in, we were
overdue to get some lunch, so we went to the aquarium cafeteria. We
got just a little sidetracked on the way and had to stop to see some
fishtanks. Once we found the cafe, Rhys enjoyed a PB&J, carrots,
and apple-sauce. Finally, we were ready to see some sharks!
We bypassed all other exhibits and displays and went straight for the Wild Reef exhibit. There were several fun fish and other sea animals to see on the way, but once we reached the larger under-tank viewing area, we knew we'd stay put for a while! Every 30 seconds, Rhys exclaimed, "Look at that one! Look at that one!" Aside from all the other sea creatures, we saw Sandbar Sharks, Blacktip Reef Sharks, and Zebra Sharks, and had a great view of some large stingrays.
We stayed to watch the sharks for about 25 minutes before finally moving on. We
didn't see all the exhibits, but did spend some time looking at
terrapins, octopi, crabs, and even monkeys (I didn't know they had
monkeys at the aquarium, but they do), and watched a diver in the Caribean Reef Exhibit.
We made the long walk back to the parking lot at Soldier Field after taking a couple pictures in front of the big fish. Despite Rhys telling us all afternoon that he wasn't tired, he immediately fell asleep in the car. Rhys was so well-behaved all day, he exclaimed to my sister, "I didn't get mad at them or run away at all!" I'm just happy he had as much fun as we did!
