Lincoln Park Zoo

After Baby James woke up from his nap, we had snacks and immediately jumped in the car to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  Friends of ours who had visited Chicago this past summer raved about the place, and my parents seemed to enjoy their time there when they went for an event a few weeks ago - so we thought we had to go.

On the way down when people asked us what we were going to do in Chicago, and I told them the Lincoln Park Zoo - they would respond: "Oh, that is small, why not the Brookfield Zoo?"  But, as I have learned from our trips to the Stone Zoo, smaller is better.  Joel Andrew has limited attention span, and he refuses to sit in a stroller seat - (he rides on using our skateboard) - so the larger the space to cover and the more things to see the crankier the boy will be.  So, this only helped me want to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Boy was it awesome.  And, small.  Who are these people that thought this zoo was small?  It had it's own carousel, it had a barnyard area - and then the animals - there were lions, tigers and bears.  Oh my.  But there were also giraffes, zebras, a polar bear, a rhinoceros.  This "small" zoo trumped Boston's big zoo, big time!  We were lucky that it was 65 degrees out, we were able to see almost all the animals outside.  They have some great indoor enclosures that you can visit in colder weather, including the monkey house and the gorilla house.  But, most of those rooms were vacant and the animals were out and about.  So much fun!

James enjoyed watching the animals and chilling in his carriage.  Joel had a good time, but was tired of walking after a while.  We went on the carousel, and Joel loved it for the first go-round.  Then continued to say: "Ok, let's get off" until it actually stopped.  I am sad we missed the seal area (it was getting late, and we figured we would cover them at the aquarium today), because that was where the choo-choo ride was.  Eh, he rode a real choo-choo yesterday.  To remember our trip, Joel got "Albert the Alligator" and Joel picked out "Lincoln the Turkey" for Baby James.  It is pretty funny that he picked out a turkey for his brother...

Just so you know, the Lincoln Park Zoo is free to all, it has spectacular views of the Chicago skyline, and is in the middle of an awesome park that you could picnic or walk around in.  Certainly a great place to visit in the summer months, we hope to be back!

We made it home and had lunch and went for a nap.  Baby James only lasted 1/2 hour... the booger is proving to drive Mommy nuts this vacation.  But Joel Andrew needed to be woken up after 2, he was a mess.  We thought we were in for a sickness he was so sluggish and had a fever.  One dose of Children's tylenol and 10 minutes of Finding Nemo though and he was back in action.

Now today, the Field Museum and the Aquarium, while James and Ama have their own day at home.

UPDATE: Joel Husband, Ama and Joel Andrew and I went back to the Zoo another day, and had an awesome time again!  We focused on the indoor places this time, as it was a bit cooler, and they were AWESOME.  We found the hippo!  Can you believe it, this zoo has everything including a hippo!  You can park your car here for $20, or take a quick cab ride from downtown.  I was told of a great cupcake place near here to get a snack afterwards, or walk a couple of blocks to Ed Debevicks or Dave and Busters.  Tons of fun, again the zoo is Free!