Sunny Days...Where Have You Gone?

*Bonus points for anyone who can name the song that contains the lyrics from the title of this post.*

Actually, now that we're into May, we've had some more sun and temperatures above 50. Hooray! If this year in Chicago is like the past, we'll all forget that winter lasts through April and be mesmerized by the beauty of the city in the summer.

The kids and I are really looking forward to days at the parks and walks along the lake, but on the first warm day, there was no doubt about where we were headed: the Zoo!

A friend clued me into a great indoor climbing area and since Veronica was napping in the stroller when we arrived, we headed there first.


The entire structure is about 2 stories high where kids can climb from "leaf" to "leaf" from one end to the other. Hamilton wasn't quite sure as he started off.

And this is the point where he was looking down and asking me to help him--which was pretty much impossible given Veronica sleeping in the stroller and, well, I am not sure I could make it quite that high without getting stuck. Fortunately, a very kind 4 year old, Elliot, took Hamilton under his wing and helped him all the way through.

It was sweet, Elliot said (several times), "I'll tell you where to go! Because I've done this lots and this is your first time."

Elliot's mom called up, "You are doing great!" Hamilton responded (very empathetically), "Yes! I am!"

After that adventure, we checked out the animals in aquarium-like containers in the same room. There were several of Hamilton's favorites: snakes, turtles, toads, and owls. The one that he brought up several days later, though, was the stick bug. Those are some pretty cool creatures!

Veronica woke up, so we made our way outside to check out the black bear, polar bear, rhino, giraffe, and sun bear. Veronica did say "Hi!" to each of the animals, but I think she was more excited that she was able to walk around outdoors and didn't have to wear restrictive winter wear.


Hamilton did enjoy all of the animals and seems to remember more about them now than he did in past years (I still get questions about what rhinos say and what polar bears eat). Even with all of the animals, he didn't miss some of the smaller creatures the zoo "contained." Here he is excitedly checking out the ants. Then he noticed his shadow. Whoa, the excitement never stops.

Well, the zoo excitement did end up stopping when it was time to meet Freeman for dinner and then head to church for Awana. Even then, though, the Team Whitney party went on.

Oh, we love the warmer weather!