Brookfield Zoo

Brookfield Zoo is one of Chicago's treasures, and anyone who attends grade school within a 100-mile radius inevitably spends many happy field trip days there.  We had perfect weather for a morning of exploration.

Brookfield has several roaming peacocks (and peahens).  The girls were a little bit intimidated, but awed by the majestic tail.

The Canada Geese goslings were EVERYWHERE on this trip... it was pretty cool to get to see them so close, and it made the girls remember the Make Way For Ducklings story as we watched them cross the sidewalks.

Getting to see the polar bears made Brookfield win out over the Lincoln Park Zoo downtown. The bear exhibit has been newly updated, and it was fantastic.  The polar bears were apparently still acclimating to their new digs, and it made for an incredible observation experience!

The girls were still in strollers when we saw a hippopotamus at the San Antonio Zoo, so getting to see the pygmy hippos here was pretty exciting as well.

And Tropic World was just as amazing as I remembered! The girls have never seen gorillas before (and in truth, call the chimps at the Houston Zoo "gorillas" almost half the time), and they were suitably awed.

Just before we left, we took a quick swing by the reptile house to check to see whether they had a Komodo Dragon (Abby's all-time-favorite reptile).  They didn't, but they did have a different type of monitor lizard that was VERY active, and made Abby smile :)