Shedd Aquarium

Nate and I took Jacoby to Shedd Aquarium when he was about 17 months, right before Maddox arrived.  It was a fun little trip just for him before his little brother came.  I thought it'd be fun to take the boys before Kendry makes his appearance too! 

Maddox loves fish...I have actually contemplated getting him a fish until Nate reminds me that we don't need anymore living things to take care of... #true #hesthelogicalone

Jacoby loves all animals but snakes, alligators and sharks are right up his alley!  So we decided to spend a day there together a couple of Saturdays ago. 

We got there around noon, ate lunch, and then had lots of time to check it out and even catch a dolphin show.  

I remember last time we took Jacoby, we did a later dolphin show and he was so far past his nap time that he was not having any of it.  So we made sure to catch an earlier show this time, since you have to sit for about 30 minutes, and it went much smoother!

Maddox loved running up to all of the fish! He wasn't a huge fan of touching any of the starfish or sharks, but he loved chasing the turtles and other aquatic life back and forth! 

It was nice to have Nate there because we would each kind of take one and let them run (while one of us pushed the empty stroller around 😆). I take the boys a lot of places by myself, but it's so nice to be able to tag team! 

If you ask Jacoby what his favorite animal was, he goes back & forth between the little crocodiles, the sting rays "with silly faces" + the sharks that he got to touch (in the video) 

Oh the options 😍

We were there until about 4:30 when both boys were just completely exhausted and we had seen just about everything!  We let the boys each pick a stuffed animal to take home...Jacoby picked an alligator and Maddox picked a shark.  Boys will be boys ;) 

We met up with Eric + Amanda for a quick dinner at a Mexican restaurant in their neighborhood, ice cream, and then put the boys in jammies and hit the road.  They both fell asleep quickly on the way home, didn't make a peep when we put them in their beds and didn't wake till 8:30 the next day. 

I'll call that a win! 

The best family picture we could get!

I am so thankful for Nate who is always up for a spontaneous trip somewhere with the kids.  Making memories with my family of four...I can't believe we will soon be a family of 5!  Life is so good and it's days like this where I come home and feel so exhausted yet so lucky.

Also, if you're close to Chicago...definitely check out Shedd Aquarium.  It's not cheap (tickets were $40/adult) but I'd do it again, the boys are still talking about it! 

xox,

Naomi