** THE ELLING FAMILY **: July 2013

Columbus Zoo

The day after our epic walk around Chicago we decided to torture the kids and make them walk around the Columbus Zoo!! haha We couldn't have asked for better weather than what we had both days!! Perfect temps, slight breeze and overcast........quite enjoyable!! We arrived as soon as the zoo opened, so we stayed a few steps ahead of the crowds, which was awesome! The kids did fantastic considering this was day two of walking all day......we're just preparing them for our Disney vacation next year!! ;}

Ella couldn't pass up on the pony ride!!

We even got Evan to ride one!!

Polar Bears from above......

Polar Bears from below......

Feeding time for this big guy!!

Kids just had to pet the snake........I stayed as far away as my camera would allow. I'm surprised I even walked into the reptile building!! Yuck!!

A nice little break on the Carousel.

Dino Island had a fun little ride with all these amazing animated dinosaurs......this one even sprayed water at us!!

I love all the beautiful fish!!

Only one elephant the day we were there!! :{

Another favorite.......gorilla's!!

Baby gorilla.......adorable!!

The manatee was pretty cool.......and huge!!

Evan pretending he's a cowboy.......just missing the hat!! lol

Willis Tower

The week of July 4th we spent taking a few day trips and vacationing at Huggy Bear!! Such a fantastic week!! We started out by going to Chicago on Monday! The main attraction was going to be Lego Land, then we decided we'd add a few extra stops prior to Lego Land. The Willis Tower (aka Sears tower) was our first stop when we arrived in the morning. Good thing too because once we exited, the line was down the block!! We got there early enough we just walked right up to the ticket window!!

See those four teeny tiny bump-outs at the top of the building.......those are the SkyDeck window boxes!! Yes, we're about to go there!! :}

It was a beautiful morning to see quite a distance!!

And here we are........Evan was too nervous to step out!

The closest he was willing to get.......one toe!!

So we stalled.......and Evan took a couple pictures......!!

Then he finally agreed to step out on the ledge!! :}

This is a picture of the picture we bought!! They have a photographer set up in one of the windows and the camera is on the ceiling........such a cool shot!! :}

Navy Pier & Sites

After the Willis Tower we decided to walk down to the Navy Pier.......farther than we anticipated!! But the kids were such troopers and did it!! We even walked back after we were done.......needless to say, we were all tired after our day spent walking around Chicago. On the way to Navy Pier we walked along the lake (on the way back we took the shorter route and walked down Michigan Ave.) which was pretty cool.

We're soooo close......I can see the Ferris Wheel we're going to ride!! :}