Where's Willow? Chicago (Day 4)

Last night Holly told Willow she would show her some of the hidden gems of the Chicagoland area. Today we traveled just outside Chicago in Willow Springs and Brookfield, IL. 

We spent our afternoon visiting the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center in Willow Springs, IL. The Nature Center is named for a schoolhouse on the grounds that was built in 1886. The Nature Center is full of educational and interactive exhibits. It also hosts a variety of local live animals.

There were leaves imbedded into the pathway to the nature center. Pretty!

 

Inside the building, this board contains upcoming events and classes. 

A model of Wigwam, which were built by the Potawatomi Indians from sassafras and sweet birch.

 

 

 

A bird-watching station inside the Nature Center. 

 

 

Willow tried to spot a few birds and saw a woodpecker!

 

There were a variety of local animals (reptiles, insects, and birds) on display. Willow took a picture with this camera-loving snake. He kept following us!

I don't think Willow was a fan of the Chilean Rose Tarantula. She did not want to take a picture by the tank!

 

 

The lower levels of the nature center are a walk through time. Here the girls stood in the footprint of a Sauropod dinosaur (Apatosaurus) that lived in the Jurassic period, 154 to 150 million years ago.

At the bottom floor, we found a large tank housing multiple turtles. At first, we thought these four were fake, because they were so immobile. We realized they were real turtles when they splashed into the tank!

 

 

 Good advice!

 

 

Willow and Holly next to the underwater portion of the turtle tank.

Here at the Nature Center we are only 93,000,000 miles away from the Sun! 

From there, we drove further Northwest to the Galloping Ghost Arcade. This arcade is currently the largest video game arcade in the U.S. The games are set to free play, so no quarters are needed to play!

 

 

 There are over 400 arcade games to play at the Galloping Ghost!

 

 

 Willow showed us her amazing skills at Qbert. 

We decided to stop at Giordano's for dinner. Giordano's sells Chicago's own deep-dish style pizza. Although the top Chicago pizza place is debatable, this one remains one of Holly's favorites.

Willow loved Chicago's style pizza!

Tomorrow is Willow's last day in Chicago and then she will be on her way back home to Texas.