Chicago Vacation – Brookfield Zoo & Family BBQ
Another fond memory that Mike and I have of living in Chicago is going to to Brookfield Zoo. We met up with my cousin, Britt and her family. We were very grateful that my high school buddy, Tracy, gave me her guest passes so that enabled all of us to get into the zoo for free!Since it took so long to get into the zoo and park our car, we decided to just hit the highlights of things we could not see at the Phoenix Zoo.
We started out seeing The Fragile Kingdom, even though these were a lot of animals at our zoo, it was interesting to see them indoors and in different habitat.
We then went over the the Seven Seas. We didn’t have time to see the Dophin Show, but we made sure to see the dolphins, seals and sea lions underwater. Caden loved seeing them swim towards the glass and then make a turn towards the back of the tank!
We then took a break and had some lunch at the Safari Grill and had some time to chat. When we were finished, we continued on our journey. Unfortunately, the bear exhibit was being worked on, so the bears were not out. That was always my favorite exhibit growing up so I was very dissapointed that I couldn’t share that exhibit with Caden.
Next stop….Tropic World! This one of the largest animal houses in the world. It’s primarily primates and has 3 separate areas that brings you through 3 continents along with the primates that live in that area. It was extremely busy so it was a little hard to get to see all the animals, but we definitely saw the larger animals!
We ended our day with The Living Coast. We saw the penguins swimming around along with some fish! Later that week we would see a lot more fish!
After the Zoo, we went to my cousin Geoff’s house, who was kind enough to host a family BBQ for us! We had chicken, hot dogs, salads, chips and corn on the cob! So good! I also got to meet my cousins’ children, most of whom I had never met. My family also got to meet Mike, Caden and Connor since most of the them had never met them either. It was so great to see almost all of my family in one place. It kind of reminded me of our 4th of July get-togethers when I was a a kid. The kids played while the adults socialized. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do it again next time we visit!
