Day Trip :)

SPRING BREAK!!!!

We have spent our Spring Break at home, in mostly undesireable weather. We have plenty of things for the kids to do at our house, so they havent really gotten bored. I did have to establish a movie time each day so that they had some sort of structure in the afternoon which was typically the time when they started to annoy one another. We made popcorn and watched Disney movies that they havent seen since they were small, so it was like watching them for the first time.

We decided that we wanted to take one day and go somewhere and do something FUN as a family!! I began researching things online. We went down quite the path before we finally landed on what we did for our day trip.

At first we wanted to go into Chicago and do something there. (I am not so much a fan of Chicago but this is still where our planning process began!! lol) I looked into Field, Shedd, Science and Industry, Brookfield, all the normal things to do there. Then I discovered Lincoln Park Zoo. I had heard of it but never thought about it much because of the big bad Brookfield Zoo always overshadowing it. We had been to Brookfield Zoo before (and wasnt really impressed, by the way, way too much walking for my taste), so Lincoln Park Zoo would be something new!! I looked into it more and found out it was......................hold on to your seats for this one...................FREE!!!!! Are you freakin kiddin me??? A free zoo?!?!?! GASP!!!! That was a major bonus!!! I looked into it more and found that it was within Lincoln Park, which held many great statues for us to walk around and look at. There was also a Conservatory in the park. All FREE!!! Nearby, but not free, was a Nature Museum. So.........a whole days worth of fun for FREE!!!! I was sold and so were the kids!!! I had let them choose between this Lincoln Park adventure, Field, or Science and Industry. They all chose Lincoln Park. We were set!!!

Until the weather decided to screw our plans over!!! Snow in Chicago, 9 inches Im told, the day before we were to go!! Ummm.....

Ok onto a backup plan!!!!

Since it was looking like Chicago was going to be too cold for outsideness, I began planning for alternative ideas to propose to the kids. I gave them Shedd, Indy Childrens Museum, or Indy Zoo. They all unanimously agreed on the Indy Zoo. Plus side, it was going to be 60 and sunny that day down in Indy!!! Ten degrees warmer than our hometown. YAY!!!

Heres where I just want to insert how proud I am of my kids and their ability to make decisions based on the research I presented to them. I asked them all their choice seperately so there was not any persuasion by others onto their choice. Although our options changed quite a bit because of the unexpected weather, they were still able to agree on something (unbeknownst to them at the time) and they were all happy to be going somewhere. I also let them take an old digital camera of mine so that they could take their own pictures and put them on their computer when we got home.

Ok, so onto the pics from our day trip!!! Taken by me ala Fuji.

First things first, we got there and the lady at the window asked us if we wanted FREE Dolphin Show tickets!! Um, yeah!! lol The last time we were there, the Dolphin Show was a seperate charge and the Butterfly area was another seperate charge. That has changed and its all included in one price, just for your knowledge!! The zoo was pretty busy. Others had taken advantage of the very sunny and sorta warm day!!! We got there with about an hour before our show was to begin. We got to go check out the baby walrus, who was so adorable!! The next pic is of the kids favorite thing to do yesterday, we went TWICE, to pet the sharks!! My favorite thing was the dolphin show!!! I swear, if I didnt have to wear a wetsuit and touch nasty fish, Id so be a dolphin trainer!! :) The next big hit of the day was the Scottish Cow, he was just too dang cute!! Then we have the typical family pics and the ZEBRA pic in honor of our Z's!!! :)

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Ok so now for the unexpected chaos we encoutered because.....well, thats just how things happen with us lol. First, we stopped at the cafe on zoo grounds to get a snack and the guy behind the cash register swindled hubby out of 3 bucks. He didnt realize it until we were away from the register. Then, when we were in the Butterfly area, we got yelled at for trying to let a butterfly land on our hand. Uh, last time we were here, this was allowed. Then, on the way home, after eating a yummy meal at Hacienda (which doesnt have frisbees as plates for the kids meals anymore, by the way), we stopped at Starbucks and I ordered what I always order and the guy says they "are out of coffee based drinks". Um, I lost it!! I freaked out!! Was he freakin kiddin me? Was this an April Fools joke? Dont mess with a lady and her caffeine, buddy!!! Luckily there was a new Starbucks down the road, in the opposite direction we were heading, but hubby went back and we ordered, and thankfully, "Steph" had what I wanted!!!! YAY!! :)
That about wraps it up!!
All in all a fun day!! The kids were beat when we got home!! We went and fed the horses and then relaxed and watched our shows. By the way, rumor has it that both Lucas and Peyton are leaving One Tree Hill, which has just been renewed for a 7th season. That really ticks me off!! The show is centered around Lucas and Peyton is his wife, and they really think it can survive without those two, are you freakin kiddin me??
Ok, thats off topic, my bad!!
Til next blog...
xoxo
S