July 28th, 2010 larry
My 5 year old is a bit of a dare devil and has been loving the rock climbing walls at Pump It Up and many of the street festivals this summer. I decided to step it up a notch and take him out to Vertical Endeavors in Warrenville (near Naperville). They are the largest indoor rock climbing facility in the state with 18,000 square feet of climbing surface, offering challenges for all levels of climbers. There is a $15 daily entry fee per climber and they have a rental package for $10 that includes climbing shoes, harness, belay tool and chalk bag. Vertical Endeavors is open Monday-Saturday 10am-10pm and Sunday 10am-6pm.
Vertical Endeavors is located inside a beautiful Life Time Fitness facility. When you arrive at the front desk just inform them that you are going to Vertical Endeavors. They will have you show photo ID and sign some waivers. You will then be escorted to the very impressive climbing area. Here you’ll meet the young and enthusiastic staff that will help you get started. Unless you have your own equipment, you’ll need to rent a harness ($4) and belay tools ($4). We spent $10 for the entire rental package, so in addition we got climbing shoes and a chalk bag (for keeping your hands dry). I have to say the shoes made getting your footing much easier then with bigger everyday gym shoes - well worth it. During orientation our guide explained that one half the climbing area is for experienced climbers. Those climbers need to know how to belay, which is holding the safety rope for your climbing partner, and be at least 14 years old. The other side of the climbing area is for climbers of all ages and experience levels. It uses an Auto-Belay system that does not require a climbing partner or much training. That’s where we spent our visit. The guide got us into our gear and gave us an orientation on how to use the Auto-Belay system. Then we were off!
Wow - I had never tried rock climbing before and it is harder then I expected. Even though you are strapped in and completely safe there is a part of you that still has to get used to the height and fear of falling off the wall. My son did not seem to have these fears so I had to suck it up and get climbing. There are all different levels to try. One wall is specifically for families and young climbers. It has big foot holds and many whimsical shapes of animals, letters, and bugs to grab onto. Then there are other areas that are numerically ranked in levels of difficulty. This was helpful as we were getting used to the climb. In all there are 21 auto-belays, so there are a lot of paths to choose from. By the end of our visit to Vertical Endeavors my son had found the climbing paths that had bells at the top. With determination he worked his way up the entire 30 foot wall and rang the bell with pride. It was worth the trip out to Warrenville and we will definitely be returning.
BTW - If you live in the area Vertical Endeavors offers climbing camps throughout the year. There are still spots available in August for children ages 6-16. The August camps are offered the first three weeks of the month and cost $180 per week.
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July 21st, 2010 larry
We loved this show! It’s a lot of fun for children preschool aged and older, especially if they are fans of the original Shrek movie. This Broadway musical is really worth the ticket price, with outstanding performances, costumes, singing and dancing. Shrek The Musical is playing at the Cadillac Palace Theatre now through September 5, 2010. Ticket prices range from $25 - $90.
Your family will be smiling a lot during this show. The costumes and staging bring the fairy tale of Shrek to the stage right before your eyes. The characters are a hoot. Of course you will love Shrek, but it is two others that really steal the show. Princess Fiona is more feisty, funny and touching then in the movie. We see how she grew up a lonely girl in an ivory tower. It creates a huge compassion for her. We see how she is longing to get out and see the world, even though she is so naive and inexperienced. I just loved her. The other great character is Lord Farquaad, the super-small evil nemesis of Shrek. You will crack up every time he is on stage. The way his costume works was a huge fascination to my son - it’s very cool.
As in many musicals, the second act is superior to the first. Children may be a tiny antsy at the end of the first act, but assure them the second half of the show is fantastic. All the best songs and action make it go by in a fun flash. The song, “I Think I’ve Got You Beat” highlights bodily functions to great effect. Of course the biggest laughs come from farting and burping - no matter how old you are farts and burps are funny. “Freak Flag” is the most well known song from the show and it is a show stopper. The entire cast gives high energy to that number.
Shrek The Musical is better then the movie. You will be impressed. It’s clever, funny and has a good message - be yourself and it’s ok to be different. What kid wouldn’t benefit from that advice?
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July 14th, 2010 larry
Great summer movies continue to roll on. On the heels of Toy Story 3 and Train Your Dragon, I went to the opening day of Despicable Me with my son. Despicable Me is an animated feature with voices from Steve Carrell as Gru, the evil villian main character, Russell Brand as the mad scientist Dr. Nefario, and Jason Segal as Vector, the new bad guy in town. The cartoon is rated PG because of some fart jokes and sly one liners, but nothing I couldn’t take my 5 year old to.
The general gist of the story is Gru, a master villian, is getting on in years and he may not be the top villian in the world anymore. When he hears that someone stole one of the pyramids (Vector) of Egypt he gets fired up and wants to pull the greatest caper in the world. That caper is his life long dream of stealing (or at least going to) the moon. To help him out is Dr. Nefario, the crazy mad scientist who is a little hard of hearing and his minions; both of whom live in his basement. The minions may be the best part of the story. They are little oval, weeble shaped creatures who have one eye, don’t speak English but just squeak at each other, and slap each other around when they do things wrong. Every scene with these sparks giggles.
Stealing the moon has its challenges though. First, its expensive. So you have to get a loan from the Evil Bank. The Evil Bank is really into Gru’s plan but integral to that plan is a shrink ray gun that will allow him to carry the moon like a bowling ball. The loan is his if he can produce the shrink ray gun. The heist for the shrink ray gun goes flawlessly until Vector comes in and steals the gun from him. No gun, no loan.
So Gru must steal the gun back, and of course, the best way to do that is to adopt three girls who will sell cookies to Vector which will allow his cookie robots to steal the gun back. This plan goes well and the shrink ray is his but the bank still refuses him the loan. Which is where the real story comes in. The girls donate their cookie money and the minions donate their salaries to build a rocket and finance the project.
The movie is really about how these girls soften Gru and confuse him on which is more important, the girls or being evil. There are great scenes where the girls ask for kisses goodnight (”No kisses for anyone”), want him to read them a book (”This book about kittens is horrible”), or tuck them in. No matter how nasty he is to them, they refuse to give up on him and keep being nice to him. He starts to enjoy cooking them breakfast, seeing them dance, and teaching them things. He is very disturbed when the heist for the moon is on the same day as their dance recital. When he tries to make the recital after the heist, he sees a note from Vector that they have been kidnapped.
Despicable Me is really a dark comedy for kids and they pull it off. The one liners are funny, Gru is shaped ridiculously (huge chest and head with tiny legs). They do some standard fart jokes, but there are a lot of slapstick with the minions, and the scenes with the girls keep getting funnier. The ending scene of Gru dancing to the Bee Gees is a perfect ending and he actually writes his own kids book so the kids can get used to real literature. Steve Carrel speaks in some sort of eastern European accent which caused the kids some difficulty at first, but it doesn’t last long. Escape the heat or at the first sign of rain, go see Despicable Me.
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Larry
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June 29th, 2010 larry
Since the opening of Brookfield Zoo in 1934, this zoo has had the reputation for taking a cutting edge role in animal care and conservation of the natural world. The creation of its new outdoor exhibit, Great Bear Wilderness, is definitely a commitment to these goals. The state-of-the-art, naturalistic Great Bear Wilderness is the largest exhibit ever
built at Brookfield Zoo.
This is the new home to North American animals, specifically polar bears, grizzly bears, wolves, bald eagles, and bison. The exhibit recreates the North American wilderness, featuring hilly terrain, prairie expanses, rockwork, pools, a waterfall, and fallen trees. The bison habitat includes a 1.5 acre grassy landscaped area. There is a huge underwater viewing area of the bears. The bald eagle and raven habitat has a perching tree and a nesting platform that is bounded by a virtually invisible mesh barrier. The Regenstein Wolf Woods is now a part of Great Bear Wilderness.
When you step onto the winding path leading through Great Bear Wilderness, you begin a journey of discovery. As you continue to walk, you’ll not only view the many animals in their natural habitats, you will also learn about their past, their present status, and threats to their survival. There are viewing areas that allow you to go eye-to-eye with bison, grizzly bears, and polar bears. You can look up to a herd of bison from a tunnel underneath their prairie habitat, or you can peer through the glass in underwater viewing to watch the polar bears. You’ll experience multi-media encounters, including listening to an audio recording of a bison stampede and viewing footage of the animals’ natural habitats.
The day we went was a warm day so we didn’t see any grizzly bears roaming outside. However, the polar bears did seem to enjoy their underwater swim in the cool water. There was quite a large crowd at this expansive viewing area, and our grandson patiently waited until it was his turn to be at the window and to be up close and personal to these large bears. We did get a peek at the wolves as they quickly came out of their cave and quickly went back inside. When we ate lunch, our picnic table at the Bison Prairie Grill was next to the fence where the bison roam. As the bison grazed, he came up to the fence, and we were thrilled to see a bison that close to us.
We also had a great time discovering and laughing as we compared the wing span of an eagle to the arm span of our 5 year old grandson. We were also able to compare our grandson’s height to that of a bear cub and an adult bear. These interactive displays were very interesting, informative, and fun to do. We had a wonderful day at the zoo and particularly at Great Bear Wilderness. Although some areas of the zoo charge an additional entrance fee, this exhibit is free. The Motor Safari lets you off near the exhibit so a minimal of walking is needed to get there. Also you’ll find a picnic area right there. A playground is adjacent to the picnic tables for a nice change of pace for the children.
Go and enjoy a day outdoors with the animals!!
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June 23rd, 2010 larry
Over the last several years, debate has raged at our house if the best Toy Story was Number 1 or Number 2. Mom and Son consistently argue that Toy Story 2 is the best while I believe 1 was the most creative and interesting. Now that we have seen 3, the debate rages on as a family is split three ways. Of course, my son feels like Toy Story 3 is the best one but that could be just because it is shiny and new. However, no matter which one is your favorite, the consensus is definitely that Toy Story 3 is an excellent movie for the entire family. If you looked around the audience that we saw it with, there were families, people on dates, senior citizens, and teenagers. But if you have kids, Toy Story 3 is a must see.
The whole cast is back and this time the issue is that Andy is leaving for college. And like all of us had to do, Mom is demanding that he cleans out his room before he goes. That includes the toys. They need to go into the attic, donated to the pre-school, or off to college with him. Both Andy and the toys are anxious about the final decision.
After some typical comedic hijinks, the decision is that Woody will go to college but the rest of the toys accidently wind up being donated to the pre-school. The head toy of the pre-school is Lotso and paints a picture of Sunnyside Pre-School as the utopia for toys: they have a repair shop, extra batteries, and tons of kids want to play with you. But the best part is that kids keep coming to the school so you are never left alone without a kid to play with. For our heroes, this is music to their ears because Andy hasn’t played with them in years.
Woody won’t stand for it though, he is not going to leave Andy’s side and he heads back to Andy’s house. Of course, Sunnsyside isn’t all it seems. The toys are put in the toddler’s classroom who don’t play gentle, Lotso doesn’t allow them to roam around the rest of the classrooms, and all of the sudden Sunnyside is a prison and not a vacation spot. The movie centers around a fantastic escape by the toys, led by Woody who comes back from them. And it ends with Andy making hard decisions about his toys that left more than one person in the theatre in tears.
For me though, the charm and fun of these movies is how they creatively bring the toys to life. In the beginning, the green army men go AWOL as they don’t want to go the attic. They parachute out of the window like the green army men you get at Chuck E Cheese that have the wrapped up parachute. The portrayal of Ken (voiced by Michael Keaton) was absolutely fantastic. Whether it was the Ken dream house, his obsession with clothes (there is a scene where he just changes clothes from disco to kung fu, and another scene where he is tortured by Barbie ripping his clothes until he gives up some secrets), or the other toys ribbing him that he is a girls toy, Ken steals a lot of the show. They even throw in a love interest for Rex by way of another dinosaur.
Toy Story 3 was a long wait and worth the wait. My kid is already asking when he can have the DVD.
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Larry and Donna
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June 17th, 2010 larry
A few times last summer, I would be visiting one of the pools in Skokie and the rain would ruin the day. Luckily, Skokie’s Exploratorium was right around the corner to save the day and not put too much of a damper on our summer event. Unluckily, the Exploratorium closed for renovations over the winter and we could not enjoy it the last few months. Luckily, the Exploratorium opens this Friday on June 18 with updated equipment, old favorites and brand new stuff.
If you have never been to the Exploratorium, it is in the basement of Skokie’s park district building. The highlight and claim to fame is its 2+ story climbing maze with cylinders to crawl through, grappling hooks to swing on, levels to climb up, punching bags to dodge and push, and twisting slides that take you to the bottom so you can climb up again. The super safe structure often finds Moms and Dad’s contorting themselves through the maze helping their kids get to the top. Your knees will scream in pain as your kids scream, “Again!” The maze is still there and has been renovating and reinforced. New to the Exploratorium will be a climbing wall to further test your kid’s monkey skills.
The Exploratorium is launching a brand new water area this summer. In the past the water area came with rain coats, a thunderstorm exhibit, and a place to play with plastic toys in water. The water area is new and will have brand new exhibits for the summer.
Another favorite that has been updated is the costume area. Different than any other place we have ever been, the Exploratorium has a stage with tons of costumes in a changing area. Everything from swashbuckling pirates, superheroes, princesses, dancers, circus stars, police, and fireman had costumes for kids to try on. It was very typical to see ad-hoc plays and musicals put on by various kids or sets of kids, sometime all going on at the same time. The stage and costume area still exists and have been updated with new costumes and a new look.
The Exploratorium always had educational material including places to draw and color, read, arts and crafts, and computers. The computers have several applications including reading games, math exercises and various science learning material. Added to all of this is now a music wall exhibit where kids can see if they will be the next American Idol.
The Exploratorium was a great place that has just been updated and we’ll undoubtedly be going during its re-opening this weekend. The Exploratorium is $3 a person for residents of Skokie and $5 for non-residents.
Larry and Donna
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June 9th, 2010 larry
Ribfest has great food, good drinking, good music and probably the best kids section of the outdoor festivals in Chicago. Ribfest is on Lincoln Avenue from Irving Park Road to Berteau and is open Friday from 5-10, and Saturday and Sunday from 12-10. The Kids Square is open from 12-5 on Saturday and Sunday. The festival has a suggested donation of $5 and the kids area and the music is worth quadruple the price of admission. We go every year and it is hard to get your kid to leave.
Just about right in the middle of the festival, you’ll find the kids area. It is right across the street from the CVS parking lot. The area highlights are typically the major bouncing activities including an obstacle course, standard bouncie (I think it was Curious George last year), and a maze. Right in front of the bounce area is usually a miniature golf course.
In front of the bounce area there is typically several booths set up with some kids activities. Several carnival games will be set up where they can win stuffed animals, blow up guitars and the standard prizes that don’t cost near as much as you paid until your kids won something. Nature’s Creatures will have their exhibit with turtles, snakes, and birds for a little close up one one experience for the kids from 12-5 on Saturday and Sunday.
Finally, there is a stage set up for a ton of kids entertainment. Here is a list of the highlights:
* Child’s Play Touring Theatre is doing a kid’s comedy show on Sunday at 1:30-2:30.
* Merry Music Makers will do a sing-a-long on Saturday and Sunday at 4:30.
* Super Stolie and Rock Star Tommy will perform a ukulele/guitar show on Saturday from 2:15-3:00.
* Nature’s Creatures will show off some of their animals in their interactive show on Sunday at 3:30
So grab some barbecque, grab a drink and let your kids go ballistic in the kids area at one of the first and best festivals for kids during the summer. There is some pretty good music entertainment for adults to with The Ike Reilly Assassination (9:00) and Robbie Fulks (7:45) on Friday, Bottle Rockets at 9:00 on Saturday, and Sunday has Whigs at 9:00.
Larry and Donna
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May 11th, 2010 larry
Having enjoyed Iron Man 1 immensely, we just had to go see Iron Man 2 in the first weekend. With over $100 million in the first weekend, we weren’t the only ones who thought about it. Some of the the cast is back including Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper, Jon Favreau as the body guard, and Robert Downey, Jr as Tony Stark/Iron Man. They ditched Terrance Howard as Rhodey for Don Cheadle, brought in Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury, and Mickey Rourke as the bad guy.
First, the plot, well, the plot is kind of all over the place. The movie has about 6 sub plots: the energy that keeps Tony Stark alive is also poisoning him; Mickey Rourke wants revenge from the Stark family because they stole his father’s inventions; Hamme (Sam Rockwell) is trying to take over Stark Industries as the number 1 weapons supplier; the government wants Stark to turn over Iron Man to the government; Pepper is taking over as CEO of Stark Enterprises; and Nick Fury wants Iron Man to join Shield. None of these stories actually fit together really well and the movie bounces back and forth between the different story lines. Jon Favreau (director) said in an interview he was confused as why they had Tony Stark admit he was Iron Man at the end of the first movie. The confusion continues in Iron Man 2.
However, this is an entertaining movie. Robert Downey is great as the wise cracking Stark who doesn’t seem to take anything seriously. His dialogue is very funny and keeps the audience laughing. Definitely the best non-action scene, is Tony Stark being grilled by a Senate committe about Iron Man. The Committee leader is Gary Shandling and the back and forth between Downey and Shandling is hysterical. The action is of course great.
I always think that if they can’t put together a plot, just go crazy on action. This is not wall to wall action unfortunately, but the fights against Mickey Rourke, Whiplash, are very cool. And in another scene Don Cheadle, War Machine, fights Iron Man (Iron against Iron) and the hand to hand combat between the two iron men is really cool. Scarlett’s Black Widow action scene is really cool but fleeting. Mickey Rourke is just a gross bad guy who plays the part well. He wields an energy whip that cuts through everything but Iron Man’s suite so the fights are pretty intense, repulsor blasts against laser whips.
So I was really confused walking out of the theater. I was definitely entertained but really can’t call this a great movie like the first one. It was definitely not as bad as a flop as the second James Bond with Daniel Craig but they missed an important opportunity. It is PG-13 but it was really just comic book violence, no swearing, and not a difficult story to follow. You should see this in the theater with really great sound because of the flying and explosions are immense. And if you are really into the comic book, Marvel is doing some really cool things getting the Avengers together and tying the Hulk (Robert Downey was at the end of the last Hulk), Spiderman, Iron Man, and the soon to be Thor and Captain America movies together.
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Larry
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May 4th, 2010 larry
After seeing Planet 51 on Saturday morning, my kid had so many questions about outer space we went to check out the new exhibit at the Adler Planetarium, Planet Explorers. Sponsored by Boeing, Planet Explorers is a fun way to educate kids on the space program. Planet Explorers is free with admission which is $10 for adults ($8 for Chicago residents) and $6 for kids ($5 for Chicago residents). Also, currently playing at the Planetarium is three movies: Night Sky Live, Cosmic Collisions (narrated by Robert Redford), and One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure.
But we were there to see the new Planet Explorers exhibit. The exhibit is a combination of interactive games and learning as well as physical activity. When you walk in, it starts with telescopes where you can look at a fake sky and practice looking at the stars. But we quickly found costumes which is the key to a successful museum visit. At the Shedd, you can wear SCUBA equipment and my kid played with the submarine for over an hour. At Adler, your kid can wear a really cool astronaut jacket and a moonwalk backpack. He didn’t take it off for the 2 hours we were there.
Once in uniform, we checked out the various exhibits. On the interactive game side, you can take off and land a rocket (you watch the planet get close while landing and far away on take off), you can also go through a countdown where the computer gives you information on space ships and asks you to hit different color buttons (fake smoke and fire show up at launch), you can search for your house by zooming in on the earth (you can actually get close enough to see your own house, our picture was about 2 years old because we still had the sandbox in the back), and you can steer a robotic arm in space to turn on different light, and you can use a joystick to dock your space ship at the space station. Through many of these games, you are exploring and learning about a fictitious planet called Planet X (which I told my kid was right next to Planet 51).
On the physical side there was just as much fun. There are remote control planet rovers that you can steer around the surface of Planet X, you can crawl under Planet X and pop up above the surface in these little bubbles to say hit to your parents, there were spongy moon rocks that you can use to build things or throw at your friends and parents, there was a space station erector set, and maybe most interestingly was an area that gave you the feeling of walking in space. This last exhibit was really interesting. The room was pitch dark with little points of light and you walked on a little bridge that was completely see through and dark underneath. It was pretty disorienting and my kid must have walked through it 50 times, pretending he was space walking.
All in all, our kid loved the exhibit and learned a little bit about space travel and the planets. The exhibits were still a little new and some of the technology was a little clunky, and in the case of the remote control rovers, really buggy. But if you want to walk into space in a fantastic astronaut jacket, this is a great place to kill a couple of hours.
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Larry and Donna
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April 28th, 2010 larry
My son and I were lucky enough to get a “sneak peak” at Emerald City Theatre’s upcoming show, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, based on Mo Willems wonderful books. The show will not be premiering until January 2011, but it was fascinating to see the early process of staging a production. In addition to Pigeon (January-March 2011), the upcoming Emerald City Theater season consists of Pinkalicious (August-October 2010), The Wizard of Oz (November-December 2010), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (February-May 2011). All shows will be at the Apollo Theater in Chicago, are recommended for children 3 and up, and are 60 minutes long. Even though the season doesn’t begin until August, Season Subscriptions are available now.
Emerald City is our favorite theater company for young children in Chicago. If you’ve been reading our reviews for a while, you’ll know we have recommend almost every show we’ve seen. They have a great knack for getting the kids laughing and participating that makes their shows really fun. Last week we were invited to a staged reading of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus that was performed for parents, children, educators, and theater folks. It was an opportunity for the director and cast to work through the script and get feedback from a small audience. Even though there were virtually no costumes or props we were all connected to the characters and stories.
It was especially fun to see the kids getting into the show- -they loved it and were totally involved. So it goes without saying that I whole-heartedly expect this show to be fantastic! They have created a 4 act format where the pigeon asks to drive the bus, eat a hot dog, have a puppy, and stay up late. I love the silly and dry humor of the books and even at this early stage they are hitting all the right notes. Can’t wait to see the finished product.
The other entries in the 2010/2011 season sound equally entertaining. It’s a great combination of current favorites and classics. Even though I do not have a daughter, I’d have to live under a rock not to know how popular the Pinkalicious stories are. The production they are putting on has had a super successful run Off-Broadway. It centers around our heroine getting sick and turning pink from head to toe. Mom, Dad and Little Bro have to convince her that eating greens will help her get better. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Wizard of Oz are adaptations of the timeless stories we all love. The challenge with these is how to pare down the stories to fit one hour time frames. Emerald City did a great job with Cinderella and Peter Pan, so I have faith that these new productions will follow in their footsteps.
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