Devin Hester's Parenting Advice

I hope everyone is enjoying the weather. It's been a long winter, but summer is basically here! Chicago is a great place in the summer, especially when you have kids. I'm looking forward to getting out and about with little Devin this summer. We've already taken advantage of some cool things Chicago has to offer.

Little Devin is still pretty little, so we're sort of limited on things we can do, but one thing he's into big time right now is animals. His face lights up when he sees animals of all shapes and sizes, so we decided to take him on a bit of an adventure. Luckily, Chicago is full of great places for your kids to enjoy animals.

Our first stop was Lincoln Park Zoo. This place is awesome, and it's very beautiful near the lakefront. It has storytelling for the little kids in the zoo's farm area, which Devin liked, but he really perked up when we went to the Kovler Lion House and Sea Lion Pool. I'm not sure why the bigger animals got his attention so much, but he was pointing and laughing the whole time we were there.

Another fun place is the Living Sea Aquarium on Devon Ave. (gotta love that name!), in Park Ridge. This place is cool for kids-and adults, too. There are so many different kinds of fish, and so many of them are bright and colorful. When we were there, we got to see a stingray, and they let us help feed him, which is something anyone can do when they visit. Little Devin got to feel a stingray-how cool is that? They also have shark feedings on the weekend, but we weren't around for that.

One other place we took Devin was the Phillips Park Zoo in Aurora. It's a little bit of a drive, but it's so cool for the kids to see. It's free for kids, and they have alligators, foxes, cougars, eagles, wolves and a lot of wildlife. It's very pretty, and the natural habitat for the animals is very cool to see. They also have a skeleton of a dinosaur on display that was discovered in the 1930s in the area that is now known as Mastodon Lake. What a find. Devin was again caught pointing and laughing.

Summertime in Chicago is awesome, and it's a great time to get outside with your kids. The zoos and aquariums in this city are great. As Devin gets older, I know we'll go do things at amusement parks and such, but for now, the animals were great. Go see if your kids pass the pointing and laughing test, too!

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(chicagoparent.com)