Last weekend we had a visit from two of our grandchildren, Ms T who is 3 years old and Mr M who is 2. Because they had never been there before and because the weather was so glorious we decided to take a trip to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
I always enjoy walking along by the lake, apart from the time previously mentioned in my post ‘The One That Really Got Away’, but even more so when I’m with the family, so with six of us strolling along (well, make that four strolling and two in strollers) we were quite a merry group.
The line to get into the Aquarium was daunting but, because we had the strollers, we were ushered over to another entrance where we quickly gained admission. (Note to self; always bring kid in stroller when going to Aquarium.)
They are currently hosting an exhibition of jellyfish at the Shedd which the kids found absolutely fascinating, for 20 seconds at least. Little children seem to have the attention span of a gnat and race from one thing to another with all the speed and agility of Olympic athletes. It seems that we were on a quest to find Nemo and eventually we did but were soon away again in search of sharks.
By the end of the day we had seen about as many fish, turtles and other forms of aquatic life as we could possibly handle which meant we had only one thing left to accomplish; the inevitable walk around the gift shop. Ms T had no trouble deciding what she wanted. EVERYTHING! What she ended up with was a plush dolphin in princess pink, a bag of shiny pebbles and a long, sparkling wand that will undoubtedly cause havoc as it’s quite capable of taking out a window or the TV if swung injudiciously or of even knocking out her brother if he gets too close.
Mr M, on the other hand, didn’t want anything. He was quite happy to just look at all the goodies on display and we eventually had to beg him to make a decision (if only to satisfy ourselves) so he opted for a pen with Nemo on the end of it which we allowed him to hold as we left the Shedd and walked back towards Millennium Park. As we made our way along Columbus Drive we passed several people who pointed at Mr M’s stroller and laughed or said “Awwww!” which is not unusual as he is such an adorable little cherub, but we didn’t really think anything of it; until we stopped for some refreshment. He had whiled away the time by drawing all over his legs and he had made quite a nice job of it. Next time we go out I’m thinking of taking him to the Art Institute.