Morton Arboretum

Another summer go-to activity place for me and Gavin is Morton Arboretum. I love that they have stuff for toddlers as well as big kids. This way, Gavin will have fun there for years!!

Brookfield Zoo

Gavin and I went back to the zoo today - a little rain never stopped us!  We went in and out of rain clouds the whole way there and while we were walking around, then again on the way home.

But we had our umbrellas and the rain made the zoo clear out, so we had a great time!

The peacocks, which sometimes hide, but were all over today:

For some reason, Gavin always wants me to take his picture by every single one of these iron wolf (or deer) statues:

 Umbrella in hand. Sitting on the gator never gets old!

We spent a lot of time with the fish and penguins in the Seven Seas:

The leopard sharks are always intriguing:

Brookfield Zoo

 One of the best things about summer is taking spontaneous trips to wherever we want to go. Yesterday, we went to Brookfield Zoo and stayed in Hamill Family Play Zoo the whole time.

Gavin took care of "his animals" in the vet clinic:

He got to pet a game hen...

...and a corn snake

We checked out the ravens. The male raven came over and stood here like he was guarding the entrance to his home. He looked very grumpy!

 When Gavin leaned in close, the raven jabbed his beak at the glass like he was telling us to stay away! Geez. Finally, he ignored us in favor of a meal. 

We listened to part of the Zoo Chat about lemurs, and he (and several other kids) wore a "lemur vest."

Of course, Gavin never gets enough time there! So we will be back a lot this summer!

Rising River

We got more rain, and the river is even higher! Here are the stairs Gavin and I sat on two days ago...well, part of them. No sitting there today!

Today (on the left) and Sunday (two days ago) on the right:

There is a curved sidewalk under that water:

Today:

Sunday (two days ago)

Almost up to the bridge!

This family of ducks was having a ball.

Riverwalk

Now that spring allergies are over for Gavin, we went to the Riverwalk to check on the ducks.

We were surprised at how high the water is! The lower sidewalks are mostly submerged.

We hung out on the steps (normally there is three feet of sidewalk after the bottom step) and fed and talked to the ducks. There were surprisingly fewer ducks than last year. Maybe because of all the construction along the waterfront? We're not sure.

We even saw a snake!

We will be back to check on "our" animals!