Membership at the Shedd

My friend Julia called to see if we wanted to go with her to the free day at the Shedd Aquarium this Tuesday. The thing about free days at the museums are that you only get free regular admission, but all the sweet shows and exhibits cost extra. So, Matt decided we should just join. My sister gave the the good idea of just joining one museum a year and really using it up that year, (rather than joining a bunch of places and only going there once).

It was a huge hit. Claire had not been to the Oceanarium part of the aquarium before, and it did not disappoint. We got there just in time for the dolphin and beluga whale show!

Julia's friend Janna also came, and between the two of them, they have 6 boys, so Claire was the lone lady that day. And...I felt extremely spoiled just walking around with my big girl while those mommies struggled around with strollers and infants and 3-year-old-runaways. I tried to help as much as I could because my sympathy pains for them were enormous, (and because I had a major guilt attack for sending Sammy to school and not bringing him).

The show was different than I remembered it from my youth. It's a lot more theatrical now. At one point, this boat flies in on ropes, and this beluga-person gets out of the boat, picks a girl from the audience (she was a total actress though) and then they fly on her boat out into the water.

It was a little weird. But the kids were very impressed.

Then, other beluga people come out and feed the whales and have them do tricks. At this point, I had to leave to go feed all of our parking meters. I left the camera with Claire, who can usually take pretty good pictures, but it was dark in there so nothing turned out.

Claire with Joe (left) and Josh (right). All homeschool dorks! We love it.

You could look at the whales above the water, but also below. These were actually the dolphins and they are very fun to watch under water.

Jellyfish.

Sharks. The shark exhibit is massive and very cool, but, again, it was really dark in there so pictures didn't turn out. I had a few shivers up my spine as I recalled my "Jaws"-watching days.

A good time was had by all. We have promised that we'll take Sammy very soon, and, now that I have this membership...I better!