Phillips Park Zoo

 Summer has just started and we've been busy.
On Tuesday the 9th, the kids and I flew to Illinois to visit my family.  Wednesday (yesterday) we went to the pool...which had several slides.  Elena wasn't into the slides but enjoyed playing in the pool.  I forgot public pools can be so chaotic.  Our pool time was cut a little short as a thunderstorm came rumbling in and the pool was shut down.

 Today (Thursday) we ventured off to Aurora's Phillips Park Zoo.  This community park was so cute.  It contains a small zoo of animals with injuries preventing them from surviving in the wild, a park set within the woods and a sunken garden.  The kids were amazed at the size of the mastodon...such huge feet!

 Cousins!

 Beautiful Peahawk! Elena calls them peahawks...such a cute name, think we will always call them that :)

 River otter

 Checking out the cool river otter :)

 Auntie E and Charlie

 Can you see the white wolf?

 Charlie loved the amphibian house

 Quite a few neat critters to see!

 And then it was time to monkey around a bit!

 Elena posed and requested this photo be taken...a rare request.

 We ended with the sunken garden

Such a cute, low-key park...just our speed.