September 30th, 2009 larry
FALL! FALL! FALL! It’s that wonderful and fleeting season that always takes the poetic backseat to spring, but if you live in Chicago you know that Fall is by far the more beautiful season in our town. Having kids because is great because it allows grown-ups to indulge in all the fun seasonal activities without feeling silly. Dressing up in costumes, rolling around in piles of leaves, hayrides through the pumpkin patch - it’s that time of year. I know you’re ready, so here’s our list of opportunities out there for Fall Fun. I will be updating this list frequently, so check back if you need more ideas. Also, as you enjoy the season, please give your reviews to these venues and add your own favorites. Your input is invaluable to Crazy Kids Chicago and to our community of families. Here we go:
Apple Holler, Sturtevant, WI
U-Pick Apples and Pumpkins, Pony Rides, Corn Maze, Zipline, Pedal Cart Rides, Inflatables, Farm Animals, Play Area (Open Every Day)
Bengtson’s Pumpkin Fest, Homer Glen
Pumpkins, Hayride, Haunted House, Petting Zoo, Pony Rides, Straw Tunnels, Kiddie Rides (Open Every Day)
Butterprint Farm, Monee
U-Pick Pumpkins, Hayrides, Scarecrow Corn Maze, Petting Zoo, Hiking, Live Entertainment, Duck Races, Puppet Show (Saturday and Sunday)
County Line Orchard, Hobart, IN - Highly Rated By Crazy Kids Members
U-Pick Apples and Pumpkins, Tractor Rides, Barn, Kids Farm, Corn Maze, “Moo Choo” train ride (Open Every Day)
Didier Farms, Lincolnshire - Editor’s Choice
Pumpkins, Hayrides, Farm Animals, Scarecrow Alley, Indian Teepees, Animated Halloween Figures, Corn Maze, Pony Rides, Pumpkin Jump, Petting Zoo, (Thursday - Sunday: Burlap Bag Slide, Pumpkin Spin, Funny Bunny, Big Trucks, Kiddie Train, and Haunted Forest) (Open Everyday)
Dollinger Family Farm, Channahon
Pumpkins, Corn Maze, Haunted Barn, Petting Zoo, Miniature Steam Train, Horse Drawn Hayrides, Farm Playground (Open Every Day)
Goebbert’s Pumpkin Farms, South Barrington
Barnyard Animals, Exotic Animals, Pony Rides, Camel Rides, Wagon Rides, Haunted House, Pig Racing, Corn Stalk Maze, Straw Town Maze (Open Every Day)
Goebbert’s Pumpkin Patch, Hampshire
U-Pick Pumpkins, Petting Farm, Bunny Town, Wagon Ride, Cornstalk Maze, Haunted Mine, Pig racing, Pumpkin Eating Dinosaur, Munchkin Maze, Pony Rides, Camel Rides (Open Every Day)
Johansen Farms Fall Festival, Bolingbrook - Highly Rated By Crazy Kids Members
Hay Rides, Two Story Airslide, Toddlers Jumping Jail, Toddler Slide, Toddler Jumpin Playroom, Train Rides (M-F after 3pm), Baby Chicks, Corn Maze, Hay Tunnel, Goat Mountain, Over 500 Animals, Rabbit Hotel - Weekend Attractions: Pony Rides, Train Rides at Pumpkin Junction, Giant Castle Jump, Noah’s Ark Challenge (Open Every Day)
Jonamac Orchard, Malta
U-Pick Apples and Pumpkins, Corn Maze, Barn Yard Activity Area: Hay Bale Pile, Peddle Tractors, Sand Pile, Corn Bin, Play Barn, Bunny Barn, Mazes, Tube Slides (Orchard and Store: Open Every Day, Barn Yard Activities and Corn Maze: Open Weekends Only)
Kinsch Village Florist & Garden Center, Palatine
Pumpkins, Monster Slide, Ttain Rides, Haunted Forest Trail, Crazy Corn Maze, World’s Largest Tractor Display, Children’s Haunted House, Family Activity Tent, Pumpkin Decorating Stations, Mini-Pumpkin Patch, Haybale Play, Games, Li ttle Tykes Play Tent- Saturdays and Sundays: Children’s entertainers and family activities (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays)
Konow’s Corn Maze, Homer Glen - Editor’s Choice
Petting Zoo, Cornfield Bouncer, Hayrides, Giant Strawbale Playground, Huge Corn Pit, Tryke Track, Jumping Pillow, Cow Train Express, Large Corn Maze, Small Corn Maze (Open Every Day)
Kuipers Family Farm, Maple Park
U-Pick Apples (Sat. & Sun) and Pumpkins, Duck Races, Fort Kuipers, Tractor Tire Mountain, Cranky’s Cornfield Maze, Box-O-Kernels, Woodland Walk, Petting Corral, Animal Barn, Peddle Tractor Derby, Haunted Forest, Haywagon Ride, Bale Maze, Baby Bale Maze, Bunny Barnyard, Ropin’ Roundup, Back 40 Playground, Cornstalk Cavern, Gourd Arbor, Hay Rides, Pony Rides, Johnny Popper Train Ride (Tuesday-Sunday)
Radke Orchard, Michigan City, IN
U-Pick Apple Orchard, Picnic Area, General Store (Open Every Day)
Siegel’s Cottonwood Farm, Crest Hill
U-Pick Pumpkins, Hayrides, Corn Field, Straw Maze, Giant Slide, Dwarf Slide, Shows, Moonwalk, Haunted Barn, Petting Zoo, Chick Nursery, Climbing Wall, Barnyard Playland, Veggieland, Fort Cottonwood, Kiddie Train, Ghost Town Railway - Weekends Only: Pony Rides (Open Every Day)
Halloween Activites:
Theatre-Hikes: Sleepy Hollow - Morton Arboretum, Lisle (Saturdays and Sundays Thru Nov. 1)
Enjoy a musical version of the classic tale while hiking through the Arboretum.
Scarecrow Fest, St. Charles (October 9-11)
The event centers around hundrends of Handcrafted Scarecrows with Live Entertainment, Arts and Crafts Fair, Food, Carnival, Inflatables, Petting Zoo, and Kids Zone with Storytelling, Vaudeville, Martial Arts, Dancing, Face Painting.
Haunted Harvest, Lambs Farm, Libertyville (Saturday Nights on October 10, 17, 24 & 31)
Spooky Celebration with Train of Terror, CreatureWalk, Graveyard Golf, an Enchanted Carousel and the Monster Midway.
Pumpkins In the Park 5K Run/Walk, Lincoln Park, Chicago (October 17, 2:30-6pm)
Participants of all ages come dressed in costume in the spirit of Halloween!Post-race activities include a kid’s costume parade, adult costume contest, pumpkin decorating, refreshments, and live music.
Boo! at the Zoo, Brookfield Zoo (October 17 & 18, 24 & 25)
From crazy costumes to pumpkin-carving demonstrations, Brookfield Zoo’s annual Boo! at the Zoo festival is the perfect way to celebrate Halloween, and everyone is invited to attend! The not-so-scary event will include frightfully fun activities for the entire family!
HallowsFest 2009, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe (Oct. 23 & 24, 6-8:30pm, Oct. 25, 3-5:30pm)
Advance Registration Highly Recommended - it ALWAYS sells out. Miniature Mania in the Railroad Garden, Eerie Entertainment and Hands-on Halloween Fun, Spooky Snack Shack, and Costume Fun.
Chicagoween 2009: Franken Plaza, Daley Plaza (Oct. 23-Oct.31) FREE
Midnight Circus, Pyrotechniq, Pumpkin Decorating and Crafts, Farmers Market
Halloween Heyday, Geneva (October 24, 4-7pm)
Crafts, story telling, games, scientific experiments, trick-or-treating, and finally a costume and jack-o-lantern contest (bring pre-carved pumpkins). Costumes Encouraged.
Spooky Sing-A-Long, Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago (October 25, 11am)
Bring the whole family to this spooky, but not scary, sing-a-long featuring Karen Banks-Lubicz, Mr. Singer, Lindsay Weinberg, and Lisa DeRosia. Be sure to wear your Halloween costume.
Trick or Trees, Morton Arboretum, Lisle (October 24 & 25, 9:30am-5pm)
Pumpkin play, Haunted Maze, crafts, ghoulish games, and other bat-tacular events.
Day Frog Halloween Party, Chicago (October 29)
Fun Activities for the whole family. Costumes encouraged.
Spooky Seas Family Overnight, Shedd Aquarium, Chicago (October 30)
Reservations Required - this event will sell out. Get a unique glimpse of mysterious animals after dark during Spooky Seas, an annual family Halloween celebration.
Creatures of the Night, Garfield Park Conservatory (October 31, noon-3pm) FREE
Live nocturnal animals will be on rare daytime display - bats, spiders and owls. There will be spider plant planting, nectar cups, wormy apples, and a new spin on trick or treating.
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September 23rd, 2009 larry
Last weekend the TreeHouse had its grand opening in Lake Zurich, so we went to check it out with our kid and his friend. The TreeHouse has had tremendous success in Michigan and is now expanding into Illinois. The TreeHouse is very affordable at $10 per child over 1 and no admission for adults. Located in Lake Zurich, it is a bit of a haul from Chicago, but extremely close if you are anywhere in the Northwest Suburbs.
The TreeHouse is exactly what it says it is. 40% of the 7,700 square feet is taken up by a gigantic Tree with all sorts of play stuff around it. You can climb up to the top of the Tree and slide down 3 steep slides that are right next to each other so your kid and his friends can slide down next to each other. There is a large twisting slide on the other side of the tree for an alternative way to get down after your climb. On the ground floor there are little steps set up with gymnastic rings over them so you can swing from step to step, ring from ring. Clever kids were doing back flips off of the ring and falling on a soft floor. There is even a mini basketball court underneath the tree to practice some shots.
On the side there are some toys set up for younger kids. Train sets and books where kids could take a little break. When we were there, I would guess there were about 20 families and everyone was pretty comfortable with no waits or crowds by any of the equipment. The rings and basketball courts were definitely favorites and we saw lots of the kids making friends and showing off their stunts to each other.
TreeHouse is a little different in its set-up in regards to helping parents watch their kids. The TreeHouse is flush against a wall and all of the couches, tables, and chairs face the tree. It is almost like watching a movie or a concert. But more than any other place, it makes it really easy to watch your kid the entire time with really no hiding places. The free wi-fi is nice and the food is better than average (wraps, peanut butter and jelly, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, coffee).
At first, we thought that the TreeHouse might not have enough stuff to keep the kids entertained. But we stayed there 2 hours and, if it wasn’t for the Bears game, I would guess we would have gone another hour. Taking a quick poll, it seemed like many of the families were there multiple hours as well. Our kid must have been swinging on just those rings for an hour. We had a great time, a good lunch, and wound up with two sweaty, tired kids on the ride back to Chicago.
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Mom Says: Manageable size is perfect for families with children of varying ages. There is a padded area specifically for babies and toddlers next to the main Tree. Lots of current magazines for mom + comfy couches = a relaxing afternoon.
Dad Says: The way the place is set up makes it really easy to watch the kids and get a little work done or do some reading. The kid had a great time and it was relaxing for the parents.
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September 16th, 2009 larry
Over the next two weeks, Chicago’s very own Midnight Circus will be performing at Welles Park on September 19 (2 and 4 pm) and September 20 (1 and 5 pm) and Chase Park on September 26 and September 27. The performance costs $15 a person which benefits the parks’ renovation efforts. We have been to this event for the last 2 years and will be going again this year. This is a one of a kind performance that continues to be top on our list each year. We had the fortune to catch up with Julie and Jeff, founders of the Midnight Circus, to get their take on the circus life and training kids (and dogs) for the circus.
What is the Midnight Circus? Jeff: It is an eclectic group of contortionists, actors, acrobats and one or two performing pitbulls. We always have a strong theatrical narrative, filled with tons of eye candy of people flipping and flying through the air.
Where do you get your performers? Julie: Truthfully, they find us. We were artistic directors for an all youth circus in New England called Circus Smircus for kids 10-20 years old. Those kids are grown up now and many have moved to Chicago and sought us out. We have also trained some. We brought over a Mongolian acrobat to the states and he trained many actors here in Chicago.
How did you get into the Circus world? Jeff: I auditioned for Ringling Brothers Clown College and got the job when I was 18. I was fortunate enough to travel with them for several years. And then I met Julie and we had similar feelings on performing. I wanted to leave the big 3 ring spectacle and do something more intimate.
Julie: And I had a theatre background just doing your standard talking head theatre and I wanted to do something more experimental and more physical…So we kind of met in the middle. He was doing circus and I was doing theater and we both wanted to do something more intimate, more movement, like Circus Theater fusion. So we developed our own genre.
What is the favorite part of your show? Jeff: For me, I always love the opening number or the finale because the whole company is out there. In this show we have 15 highly skilled acrobats and two young debuts, one 4 year old and one 6 year old (our kid and one of the other performers). So we’ll all be out there. It is always great when you see someone from Latvia, Russia, Sweden, America, Kazakhstan, together in the ring working as an ensemble.
Julie: As we have become parents on this Midnight Circus journey, my favorite part is watching the next generation taking over the performing. And it is happening across species; for the last 7 years our dog Lola has been performing with us. And now our 6 month old dog, Junebug, will also be performing with us.
So if a kid wants to be in the circus, what do they have to do to get in the business? Jeff: For our son, his father is a clown, figuratively and literally, so he kind of gravitated in that direction. The young lady comes from a long line of Russian and Kazakhstani trapeze artists so it was a natural for her. They have a trapeze in their living room.
Julie: The kids identify with something typically; some its juggling, some its clowns, some its aerialist. We offer an after school program at Coonley Elementary. That is one place young people can go to learn.
How has parenting made you a better performer? Julie: No question the directing style. I am a bigger softie now. We try not over-rehearse our kid because…we want to see the kid be a kid. We are just more interested in the sweeter moments now. We are having a lot more fun with the work and embracing the chaos that having the kids in the program brings.
Jeff: As a director, I used to think every moment was life and death and now you realize that it is not really the case.
How has the Circus influenced your parenting style? Jeff: We have been fortunate in our travels. We have been exposed to so many different cultures and styles and see how different families from different cultures work and play together. Our kids are learning how to work hard, but also enjoying different people from all over the world.
Julie. Our boy is rambunctious and with that comes a lot of bumps, bruises and sometimes broken bones. I always ask, “I just don’t know why is he so restless?” and people just say, “He watches people defying gravity all day long.” So he has kind of grown up without limits. Which actually has had some issues. We have to tell him he is not ready to try some of these things… If we are sitting upstairs and we hear him say, “Hey Mom, Is this a good idea?” I know I need to come running because it probably means he is balancing on top of something precariously.
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Larry and Donna
Mom Says: Midnight Circus is a little treasure in Chicago. Do not miss the chance to see them in the best atmosphere possible - outside on a beautiful fall day, sitting in the bleachers with your kids, eating popcorn - it’s a perfect family outing.
Dad Says: The words intimate and creative perfectly describe the Midnight Circus. It is high entertainment with fascinating acrobatics and humor in an environment where you are just a couple of feet away from the performers. Make a big effort to get to these shows.
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September 9th, 2009 larry
Rejoice parents! We have a great new place to relax while our children play. Family Grounds Cafe is part coffee shop, part play space. It offers families a clean, bright, contemporary, reasonably-priced play option on the North Side. They even have a lot with free parking. Family Grounds is owned by local parents John and Brady TenBrink. They saw the need for this kind of family space as they were raising their young family and decided to make it a reality. Open since mid-August, they are planning on adding classes, story times, and live music. Check in to their website www.familygroundscafe.com to see any new additions to their schedule. Family Grounds is located at 3652 North Lincoln Avenue, just north of the Brown Line’s Addison stop. You can drop in just for coffee and a snack, or if you have a bit more time you can take the kids into the adjoining play space and stay a while. Admission to the play space is $7.95 for the first child and siblings are $3.95 each. Non-crawling infants are admitted free with a $4.00 purchase.
I was really impressed with Family Grounds. It is one of the few places I’ve been that I could really relax while my child played. This is partly due to it’s manageable size and the placement of tables and chairs along the entire length of the play space. The have several pretend play areas: a kitchen, grocery store, and school house. There is a train table with wooden trains, reading area, play mat, art table, cars and trucks, and separate baby zone. Yet, the most important element is the staff. The “Nanny” of Family Grounds is Vicky (or Queen Victoria as she joked to me). As child activity leader she greets all the children and gives them name tags. The entire time your child is there she calls them by name, plays with them, gently enforces some rules, and meditates any squabbles between the kids. She even notified my friend when her son needed a fresh diaper. Honestly, I did not worry about my kid the entire time. I kept my eye on him, but knew that Vicky had control of the situation. If she didn’t like the way he was playing she would have handled it. I saw her do it with several children in different situations during our visit. There are additional staff members assisting as well. They made sure the place remained spotless, actively cleaning the toys, furniture and mats. They also spent time playing with the children. Whew, what a relief. I actually had an uninterrupted conversation with my girlfriends - very nice.
Our group had lunch during our playtime. I was pleasantly surprised by the very reasonable prices for all the children’s food. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich costs $1.50. You can get string cheese and apple sauce for less then $1.00 a piece. Options for adults include sandwiches and salads brought in daily from Southport Grocery. Of course there is a full coffee bar, teas, and pastries. It’s so nice to bring the food into the play area. The kids can take a mini-break to eat then go right back to play. Mom can then enjoy her food in peace. I saw several parents taking advantage of the free WIFI, working on laptops while their little ones played.
Mom Says: If you have young children you will want to check out Family Grounds Cafe. It is a comfy, safe, easy place to enjoy with your kids. It’s the perfect venue for a play date or for those times when you just need to get out of the house and be with other adults.
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Donna
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