This week was a bit of a cheat…since we’ve had rain every day this week and based on the forecast it was supposed to rain today too, of course, it turned out to be a gorgeous day. Still, I stuck with our cheat since Avery had her heart set on our destination…the Shedd Aquarium. We did a pretty quick outing in the Shedd, partly because it was swarming with countless school field trips…note to self, avoid all museums in the city during the month of May! We then spent some time wandering around outside the museum campus since it was too nice to resist.
The Shedd is one location I’m quite familiar with. Being new back to the city I figured we’d be heading to this spot quite a bit so we ended up getting a membership shortly after we moved back last fall. I think we’ve certainly gotten our money’s worth out of this one. Not only have I taken the kids a number of times, it seems all of our friends and family that visit want to make a stop at this destination.
And really, who wouldn’t…I love this place! The cool fish, sharks, beluga whales, dolphins, freaky Amazon snakes, beautiful corals, 4D movie, and so much more!
I have a bit of history with the Shedd, one that may possibly show my craziness, haha! So, my college degree is in Medical Technology, I pretty much realized this was not quite the right career for me during my clinical. Odd, I loved all my college courses but the day to day application of them just didn’t seem to be as interesting as I had hoped. Anyway, during one of my many phases of trying to figure out what the heck I could do besides spend my life working in a hospital lab, I thought, well, I love dolphins, the water, and science…what better way to combine all that and find a way to become one of the dolphin trainers at the Shedd!
Oh, I looked into this and was totally serious! I think everyone that knew me thought I was completely insane. The one piece of the puzzle I was missing was being scuba certified. So, what do you think I did…I actually got scuba certified! Oh yeah, this was a terrifying and ridiculous idea! I made my boyfriend, Brady (now husband), take this class with me. Thank god he did because I never would have finished otherwise. I’m a pretty good swimmer, was on swim team for awhile, was a lifeguard, and have taught swim lessons, but I think this was probably the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done…not to mention I totally suck at it.
Meanwhile, Brady’s whizzing through the course, loving it…and I must say, he’s not the strongest swimmer I’ve come across. I passed the course, got certified, did my open water dive…and have never, not even once, attempted to scuba dive again! And I never will! While I will admit being underwater like that was the most peaceful experience I have ever had, it is utterly terrifying to me. Clearly my dreams of being a dolphin trainer evaporated.
Oh but I still want to swim with dolphins one day, just not underwater…yep, I’m one of those goofy adults who thinks this would be so cool! At least I can one day go with my kids and say they made me do it;) And for now, I can walk through the Shedd and admire all those scuba divers feeding the fish and training the dolphins.
Unfortunately on this trip there wasn’t one scuba diver to be found and the dolphins weren’t cooperating with me for photos. Still,  I think I got some fun shots of the other sea creatures and the beautiful aquarium!

Patiently waiting to see the Beluga’s.

And, of course, no trip to the Shedd is complete without a stop at the submarine!

Now, onto the enormous Coral Reef…I just love the stingrays, they’re so darn cute, don’t you think they look like they’re smiling at you:)

And, this guy kept swimming up to us and showing us his belly.

Check out this ginormous turtle!

Then we headed outside and wandered along the lakefront for a bit, of course, I had to get some shots of the beautiful museum campus. I can’t wait to get back down here this summer just to stroll the lakefront and Grant park!