Visiting Lincoln Park Zoo and the Nature center

On a recent trip to Chicago we had the opportunity to visit the Peggy Notebaert Nature Center

This was a cute nature center.  The boys thought they were a little to old for it.  But the girls seemed to enjoy it.

They have a wonderful nature exploration area outside, but we did not get to enjoy it since Brayden does not like wind or bug.  It was a windy day and there were bugs.  Inside there were some great exhibits that made it feel like a Natural History museum.  The kids enjoyed the recycling and taking care of our earth exhibit.  They learned about products that we shouldn't buy because of the impact that it makes on our wildlife and rainforests.

The outside was very pretty.

Then we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  I honestly did not expect the zoo to be that big and nice.  

This was a favorite, watching the polar bear swim underwater.  We have seen polar bears at our zoo, but the tank is set up differently.  So we have never seen them swim and play like this.

How big termite mounds can get.

He was watching us.

New animals for us this trip....
A fenac fox

Patagonian Cavy

We also went to the Lincoln Park Conservatory.  We were all exhausted, except Caty.  She is like the Energizer Bunny.  She just keeps going.......She loves flowers though.  So it was nice for her to see.  It is free, just like the zoo. There are areas to donate also (just like the zoo).

Taking a rest

I'm with Caty, the conservatory was beautiful.  But it was getting late, so we had to go and pick up daddy from work.  Plus we were exhausted!!!  I had been attacked by a bird while walking past the reptile house, twice.  Caty had broken her flip flop when she screamed and ran because she saw me flapping and throwing stuff at my head to get the bird off my head.

I do highly recommend a day trip to the Lincoln Park Conservatory and Zoo.  Pack a lunch and snacks and make a day of it.  It's beautiful and the animals were so fun to watch. The Peggy Notebaert Nature Center was a reciprocal museum on our science center family membership, so it did not cost us anything.  If you have been to nature centers before, it is pretty close to the same thing.  We did enjoy it though.  There were different exhibits to see than others we have been too.  So this did not take as long for us to tour, which is why we were able to do all three in one day.  They are located next to each other.  Do plan to pay for parking.  I think we paid $20.00 to park in the zoo parking lot area.

All in all though, it was a great day and fun too.