A special adventure

It was in the 50's this weekend.  It was amazing. I didn't want to sit around at home anymore especially since Big Willie didn't take a very long nap and I didn't know how to entertain his semi-grumpy self for the three hours before bed.  I decided to take the kids to the city to go to the zoo and see all the lights they put up around the zoo.  We drove into the city and picked up Aunt Nessie. 

It was apparently what every person in the city of Chicago decided to do.  Traffic was a nightmare. It crawled along. There was no where to park. I had to come up with Plan B quickly before Miss M caught on.  I decided the closest place to see lights was on Michigan Avenue so I parked in the parking garage for $30 and we strolled along making a big deal out of everything.  The horse and carriage rides were going on and so we were able to see a lot of horses out. The kids enjoyed seeing the horses. We ended up at an Argo Tea and listened to some people caroling and stopped to have a snack. We then walked back toward the car and stopped at the American Girl store and looked at all the expensive stuff to buy. We walked out without any purchases.  

After we dropped Aunt Nessie off at home I decided to try and drive by the zoo again. I was hoping that by 7:30pm some of the madness had calmed down. We were able to get a good parking spot and we loaded back into the stroller and strolled all over the zoo.  We didn't see any animals but Miss M learned all about the word Nocturnal.  I don't know if the kids liked it. I liked it.

The petting zoo area had a mechanical penguin where you could get your picture taken. Shockingly, Big Willie was scared of the penguin.

But he loved the cows. He ran from the goats to the cows over and over. He talked to them and just watched them. The cows and goats were tired and ready for bed. The cows were even closing their eyes.  The little guy just wanted to stay and talk to them all night.

We finally got home around 9:30pm. It was fun to do an adventure with the kids. It seems like Andrew is always the one taking them places while I stay home with Miss Cate. I like taking them places and watching them learn and experience new things.