Wild Wednesday!

Wild Wednesday is a great, free, activity! It takes place every Wednesday from June 15th- August 17th from 10-2 at Lake View Nature Center in Oakbrook. The address is 17 W 063 Hodges rd Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181. It is right off Kingrey across from the Oakbrook mall. Parking in their lot is difficult because it is so small but you can park down the road and take a quick walk. You can't park on Hodges but if you pass the entrance and take either a left or a right at the stop sign onto Monterey Ave, you can park along that road. We did it this week and it's not too much of a walk and sooo much easier than trying to get out of their parking lot if it is full! I would suggest not even trying the parking lot unless you can clearly see an open spot or you drive a small vehicle!

Activities include:
Story time
Special animal visitor (different each week)
Scavenger hunt hike w/prizes
Lemonade (free) and popcorn ($1)
Fishing equipment available to borrow
Paddle boats
Nature center exhibits

They do story time at 10:15, 11:15, 12:15, and 1:15 and the animal presentation at 10:45, 11:45, 12:45, and 1:45.

Here is a list of the animal visitors that are scheduled for the rest of this summer:

6/22 Civet
6/29 Mouse
7/6 Hedgehog tenrec
7/13 Prairie dog
7/20 Blue-tongued skink
7/27 TBA (they told us this week but I forgot)
8/3 Tortoise
8/10 Bald eagle
8/17 Donkey

And now for pictures of our time there this week.




Story time



Getting the kids up and involved!



Getting to touch the legless lizard.






When we went inside the kids got to hold a walking stick bug!


Here is E taking a closer look of it climbing up his arm.



M got to hold it too. Once it started crawling up her arm I thought she was freaking out but she was actually giggling because it tickled!



Inside there was all sorts of things to see...


And touch...



And bury...



And find again.



Of course, no nature center is complete without stuffed animals!

We had a nice time but I will do a few things different next time, either go earlier or pack a lunch. We have soccer in the afternoon so we have to go to the earlier ones. This week I would like to go at 10 and also bring a lunch so we can stay longer. We may even rent a paddleboat (which is $3/half hour, $5 if you want the big swan boat). Another good thing to know is, they do this rain or shine! If it rains it is inside.
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