Date Night: Jazzin' at the Shedd

 Josh and I LOVE taking advantage of Mimi and Bampa's babysitting services when we are in town :)  We definitely knew we wanted a date night while we were in town, but we didn't have any specific plans until last week when a Groupon showed up for Jazzin' at the Shedd!  The deal was essentially a two-for-one, but I also had Groupon bucks so I only paid $6 for two passes!!!  Jazzin' at the Shedd started this week and is every Wednesday night this summer.  It's from 5-10pm, features a different jazz band each week, has fireworks at the end of the evening, and includes admission to the whole aquarium!  Tickets are normally almost $30 for each daily admission, so we got quite a steal :) 

We started our evening at Potbelly in Evanston, then drove into the city.  We parked at the planetarium since they offer a discounted parking rate if you arrive in the evening.  We got to see all the upstairs exhibits, plus the Wild Reef and new Jellies exhibits.  

 The jellies were pretty darn cool!  They were so peaceful to watch swimming all around.  

 The ceiling in the jellies exhibit was decorated with homemade jellies made out of pop bottles!  After the exhibit is finished they will be recycled.

Penguins are always fun to watch!  I got a kick out of watching all the fish and animals in the after hours setting.  I liked pretending that they knew it was a special showing and were showing off :)

  There were no dolphin shows for the evening, but we did get to watch them play!

 We did get to see a feeding time with a diver in the main aquarium!  There was this one stingray that kept swimming against the glass, and the way his gills were arranged, it looked like he was wearing pearls for a fancy occasion :) 

 Around 8:30 we headed out to the terrace, found a table, and enjoyed the jazz music while we checked out the views of Navy Pier and the skyline.  The fireworks started around 9:30, and they were pretty fun to watch!

 Our lovely evening ended on a good note with a milkshake on the drive home :)