We left the zoo and walked over to RJ Grunts for lunch. Food adventurous baby loves the salad bar. Lots of new flavors went into his belly, balsamic mushrooms, feta cheese, roasted beets and jello to name a few! He was also a big fan of the cream of mushroom soup. The best cream of mushroom soup I have ever had. It was amazing. Incredible. Delectable.

After lunch it was back to the zoo to check out the monkeys, gorillas and in Caruso’s case, the White Cheeked Gibbons.

Caruso likes the ladies and put on quite a show, especially when I tried to walk away. Next we went to see the gorillas. Training was happening with one group which was kind of interesting but we left and walked over to the next group which I will describe as the silverback, mom and the feisty young boy. Here’s mom…

It was one of those great moments where a small group of people were interacting around a small group of gorillas. Mr. Young & Feisty gorilla kept messing with the big silverback. He would sit there and then you could tell he couldn’t control himself anymore and would run and hurl himself on the silverback. Now that guy could have totally ripped his head off with his giant gorilla paws, not to mention his massive fangs, but he didn’t, even when the little guy bit his lip and made it bleed a little. He was totally playing too!

Sitting down on ground level, up against the glass the silverback was terrifying. I knew I was safe behind the glass but it was still a little scary being that up close and personal with such speed and power.

At one point they were playing too rough and mom stepped in…

When she slapped the male we all laughed. It was like watching Gorilla Jerry Springer.

Canyon slept through the whole thing.

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We joined the Lincoln Park Zoo at the Zoologist level which means we get unlimited free parking. That’s a pretty big deal since you either have to pay $20+ or drive in circles for an hour to find free parking. So Monday we decided to take advantage of our pass and check out the free storytime in the farmhouse section of the zoo. For those of you unfamiliar with the Lincoln Park Zoo, it’s right in the city, by the lake and in a fancy schmancy neighborhood. So when we rolled up in our basic old Gracco stroller we parked next to about 15 really super mega fancy expensive strollers. It was like parking our old Kia Sportage next to some Hummers, Mercedes and Land Rovers.

We head inside just as the guy is about to start. The room is crowded with toddlers, a few babies and a whole lotta young, Eastern Eurpopean nannies. Nannies, 1 grandma, a couple of moms and 1 dad-John. The first story was a vegetable ABC of propaganda for Mott’s. I wonder if all the stories will be corporate sponsored? It was hard to hear, not because of kids, but because the nannies were just chatting away, ignoring the story teller and their rambunctious charges. No amount of forced smile, meaningful stares made any difference, yammer yammer yammer. Then the guitar came out for singing and dancing. Canyon likes guitars.

We enjoyed some fun crawling on carpet time…

We fed some cows and then headed over to the main zoo. Tiger time!

Canyon likes the lion mask!

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Canyon loves loves loves sneaking into the kitchen to play with the dog food and splash in the pet fountain. Trouble makin baby!

Thankfully Lilo was helping with clean up…

Way to go Lilo for having no food aggression whatsoever when it comes to Canyon.

Other fun toys? The empty plastic tub from Costco cashews and the cardboard tube from Shutterfly!

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And to top it all off…a shamrock shake!

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Here’s a tip-the best time to go to Shedd Aquarium is a Tuesday afternoon in March. The place was awesomely under crowded.

We went to Wild Reef first. Canyon still doesn’t really seem all that entertained by the fish but I was!

The beluga whales and I were totally having a moment. Well, more like ten moments…

Just when I thought we had seen everything we discovered the kids play area- Polar Play Zone. Finally something for Canyon to get excited about!

Canyon LOVES to splash in water. LOVES. The bath tub, swimming pools, the pet fountain in our kitchen…So when we got downstairs and saw the splash area we jumped right in.

Just wish I would have realized they had water proof aprons before Canyon go soaked. Super soaked. I couldn’t decide if this made me a cool mom or a bad mom. He was having so much fun! Splashing, touching sea stars (OK that was me), playing with faux sea life! So what if he to strip off half of his clothes afterward and I had to partially dry his pants with the bathroom hand dryer?

Last stop- there were penguin outfits!

Dear universe-we would love a family membership to the aquarium!

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Dear Canyon,
Since you won’t remember it I thought I would write you a little letter about your first birthday party!

It was on Sunday, February 28th and about 30 friends and family were there. You wore your Pink Floyd t-shirt and cool Paul Frank pants. I had your tuxedo coat out, but it was too warm to make you wear it! We had the food catered from Sinbad’s because you really like hummus and pita bread. I wanted the food to be something that you would like. Papa spent a crazy amount of money on balloons because you LOVE balloons*. I thought he spent too much but they were really cute!

The guests all arrived and the house was packed! Your friends and family love you so much. Everyone wanted to hold you and play with you. You were a gracious host, giving everyone smiles. You shared your toys with all the little kids. Everyone kept waiting for you to get tired or overwhelmed, but you never did!

We had a huge cake and Papa helped you blow out the candle. We offered you some cake and ice cream but you weren’t that interested. You loved the Mediterranean food though!

After cake there were presents! Lots and lots of presents!

After everyone left we thought you would be so tired that you would fall asleep right away. Instead you wanted to have some more hummus, chicken and rice. We enjoyed some quiet time as a family and put you in your pj’s. You still had a lot of energy left and wanted to play with your balloons!

So your first party was a success! I look forward to next year, but I think we are going to need a bigger space!

As soon as you woke up the next morning you wanted your balloons again! We were happy to oblige.

*latex balloons are not safe for babies or toddlers. We do not let Canyon grab the actual balloons or put them near his mouth. We also do not let him play with balloons without an adult present. He loves pulling on the strings and making them dance!

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I envy the Facebook posts from my Minnesota/Wisconsin friends and their updates of kite flying on frozen lakes, snow shoeing through state parks and skiing through woodland trails. This is the best I can do on a daily basis…

Horner Park at sunset…

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My hibiscus, Planty 2, is taunting me with thoughts of summer on the patio…

I keep telling him he only has to wait a few more months and then he will be out of the dining room and back in the yard.

Canyon is trying out his wardrobe for warm summer days…

And getting his drumming skills on for full moon fire jams!

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