February 24th, 2010 larry
Is there really family friendly skiing right here in the Chicago suburbs?
One seemingly uneventful Sunday morning turned into a surprisingly wonderful outing when we discovered Villa Olivia in the western suburb of Bartlett, Illinois. For those of you unfamiliar with Villa Olivia (as we were), it is a banquet hall and country club in the summer that doubles as a downhill ski area in the winter. Villa Olivia’s ski area is complete with several 1/4 mile runs, a chair lift, several bunny hills and a few tow ropes. While this is no Vail or Killington, Villa Olivia offers a pretty decent midwestern ski experience for families or skiers of all ages who are either learning to ski or who just want a taste of the slopes close to home. In addition to downhill skiing, Villa Olivia also offers snowboarding as well as a section of the mountain dedicated to snowtubing.
Whether you plan to ski, snowboard, or snowtube, equipment is available for rent, and is offered in adult and child sizes. As far a skiing goes, adult lift tickets on weekends are about $37 ($27 for juniors and $12 for kids under 7) with ski rentals running about $26 for skis, boots and poles ($22 for juniors and $19 for children under 7). Snowboards with boots can be rented for $25 for an hour or $39 for up to 8 hours. Snowtubing runs about $20 for 2 hours, but participants must be age 6 or 42″ tall to ride alone. Helmets can be rented for the day for $5, but availability is limited.
In addition to open skiiing, boarding and tubing, Villa Olivia also offers lessons, privately or in groups. An hour of private ski or snowboarding lessons runs about $40, plus lift ticket and rental fees. They also offer many group lesson options for kids ages 4-9. Generally, these sessions runs for three days and cost about $125 (including lift tickets and rentals). The times of the lessons and exact costs can be obtained on the villa Olivia website at www.villaolivia.com.
On the weekend, the hills open at 9:30am and close at 11:00pm on Saturday and 10:00pm on Sunday. During the week, hours of operation begin at 4:30pm and end at 10:00pm (11:00pm on Friday night).
Overall, Villa Olivia is not enough of a mountain (or hill) to appease intermediate or advanced skiers, but it is a great place to bring the kids or to learn for yourself. If your kids are watching the Olympics and getting the itch for some winter sports, this is a great place to take them. It offers all the necessary ski experiences and is a great way to get yourself or your little ones comfortable on the slopes. Villa Olivia does have snow-making, so it is a reliable outing if you are looking to hit the slopes close to home.
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February 17th, 2010 larry
We visited and reviewed eSkape over a year ago and so we thought it was time to check it out again and see what was new. eSkape is right off of Lake Cook Road includes bowling, laser tag, arcade, a bar, and a restaurant. Since our last visit, they got rid of the batting cages.
For bowling, eSkape allows you to pay by the hour or the game. We knew we were not going to last long so we did by the game ($3.95 per person). Setting up the names on the computerized scoring was easy, and it was fairly simple to find where we could set up the gutter bumpers for the kid. They still keep the kids balls behind the counter, so you just need to ask to get one in the 6 pound range. Our kid did not throw a ball in the wrong lane this time and actually got over 100. He is still absolutely mesmerized by the ball return though. When we got there, they had kind of the rock and bowl thing going. It was dark, misty, with flashing lights. They turned on the lights a little later on in the afternoon.
The video arcade has not expanded in the last year. They have the essentials like skee ball, basketball hoops, car racing, spider stomp, Mario kart, and the core military, secret agent games. But this is really off to the side and not the core part of the facility.
They have moved the laser tag to where the batting cages used to be and have closed up the entrance to where the laser tag was. The technology is still the same. Your kid needs to be coordinated enough to hold the laser in a certain way and the vest and equipment weighs about 2 pounds or so. There were 10 people in the laser tag area when we got there and we played free for all. Everyone got shot and had some good shooting. My kid kept trying to use the advanced functions (shields and grenades) which I think distracted him. The downside to the move is that there is only one floor to the laser tag arena so the ramps and upper deck are gone.
We had a great afternoon at eSkape. They do one of the best jobs we have seen to catering to many different age groups, including adults. They have drink specials at night and on the weekend for the adults, a fairly decent restaurant where we ate lunch, and bowling and laser tag that supports all ages. They differentiate by not focusing on video games and mre on the physical entertainment aspects. They don’t have bouncies or cater to the really little children. So we would say for 4 and up, this is a great place that has enough variety to fill an afternoon or a birthday party.
Review eSkape
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February 9th, 2010 larry
This weekend, Monster Jam invades the Allstate Arena. Brought to you by the United States Hot Rod Association, Monster Trucks like Grave Digger, Escalade, Tazz and Nitro Circus will be jumping, racing, and crashing, and flipping their huge automobiles in order to get to the championship tournament in Las Vegas in March. Tournaments are at 7:30 on Friday, 2:00 and 7:30 on Saturday, and 2:00 on Sunday. Tickets cost $10 for kids, $20 for adults and there is some VIP areas for $30 and $50. We caught up with George Balhan, the driver of Escalade, to learn a little bit more about Monster Jam.
“Most of the guys come up through the ranks as a mechanic and then transition to driver,” said George. “But my parents got me into motor cross early with ATV’s and 2 wheels as well.” Driving for Monster Jam is grueling as the circuit takes you all over the country and the world each week. George is a seven year veteran, four of those years behind the Escalade. This year George has been criss crossing the country in Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Tampa, Atlanta and other cities. So George, a native from the Chicagoland area, is happy to be home, despite the snow.
The show is broken into two parts. George explains, “The first half is drag racing. Winners are based purely on time. But the second half is freestyle where you can really show what you can do. Guys will be jumping forward, backward, sideways. Anything to impress the judges.”
And can we expect anything special from George? “I am known for my big Mohawk and big donuts. I have a quick release steering wheel that I hold up during the donuts. The crowd gets loud.”
George, a father of 3, says the kids make him think twice when he is out on the track. “I may go 4 weeks without flipping the Escalade. Then I might flip it four weeks in a row. The crowd loves it. But there is a lot more dangerous stuff you can do than that. The kids make me think twice before doing anything really stupid.”
And how does being a Monster Jam impact fatherhood? “I really appreciate my time at home. We also work quite a bit with the Make-A-Wish foundation so it really make me think how lucky it is to have healthy kids.”
Review this Blog.
Larry and Donna
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February 4th, 2010 larry
Get excited parents, there’s a great new place to take your children, Make-A-Messterpiece. WOW, WOW, WOW! I was completely impressed by the originality of this business. The Messterpiece folks have created a fabulous play place where kids can learn new things, have physical activity, play with unique tools, and create art. Make-A-Messterpiece is located in the Glen Tower Center, Glenview. They are open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 11am-5pm. There are a number of pricing options for guests.
The standard Studio Fee is $10 ($2 for children under 2). This includes unlimited use of the Open Art area, which is filled with paints, markers, easels, tables and a variety of art materials, and two play areas. One play area is for children 0-2 years and the other for 2+. The 0-2 area is filled with over-sized soft blocks, ride-on toys, books, bouncers, and age appropriate toys. The 2+ area has a climbing structure, slide and playhouse. Aside from just open play, this area has been utilized by parents for doing some messier school projects that they didn’t want to do at home.
The really unique experiences come from 5 specialty areas. For an additional $5 per activity, your child can choose from:
Kids Creative Kitchen teaches science and math through healthy cooking projects. On the day we visited the project was Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Of course the kids do everything, as the leader teaches them about the ingredients, “Baking soda makes cookies fluffy!” Not only were the cookies yummy, they were VEGAN! Love it.
Bubbleology is something you will only see at Make-A-Messterpiece. They have designed a machine that produce bubbles infused with color, so that when your child holds a paper underneath the bubble tube, falling bubbles leave marks. As your child moves from color to color the art project develops. Stencils can be used to create fun designs. This was a huge favorite with out kids.
Lil’ Sprouts is used for gardening and environmentally conscious projects. Recently kids were taught about Carbon Footprints, and on our visit we did a project where spaghetti was repurposed as a painting tool in “Pollock Pasta.”
Experimentation Station will please any curious little scientist. We saw many happy kids making slime to take home to play with. They also taught the kids about chemical reactions with a Volcano Project.
Drum Roll is super-fun play a la Blue Man Group. After the kids suit up from head to toe in protective gear (shower caps, boots, goggles, jackets) they enter a booth filled with drums and paint. The kids then go to town drumming and making a HUGE mess. Too much fun.
Currently Make-A-Messterpiece is offering some great packages: A punch card with 20 activites for the price of 15 and 10 all access passes for the price of 5.
Messterpiece’s staff is exceptional. Many have degrees in creative arts, elementary education, art therapy, or childhood development. The staffers we met were young, friendly and energetic. You can just tell that they genuinely like children and enjoy their jobs. They are actively involved with the kids the entire time: playing, teaching, assisting.
This kind of attentive staff leaves parents the option to relax in Club M. Comfy sofas and chairs are plentiful, as are magazines and inexpensive snacks and beverages. Free WiFi is available and parents can watch their kids playing in various areas of the play place via video feeds on flat screen TVs. Club M is attached to the 0-2 play area for direct access to the smallest children.
Weekends are the busiest time to visit Messterpiece. As you can imagine, it has already become a popular birthday party venue. On Saturday, Sunday and school holidays allow plenty of time. Arrive as early in the day as possible, since kids are scheduled for activities on a first-come, first-served. If you can, visit during the week. We went on a Wednesday afternoon and were able to do everything we wanted without waiting.
We are the lucky folks who get to enjoy the first Make-A-Messterpiece in the country. It is the brainchild of a successful marketing expert and father. You will notice the product placement around the store from their sponsor, Bounty. It’s a match made in heaven that helped bring the concept to life.
I’m telling you, Make-A-Messterpiece is a real gem. This is one of those rare places that can entertain your 12, 8, 4, and 2 year olds. It is a fresh take on the best play places, combining art, science, cooking, physical activity, music and fun. The space is open and contemporary, with high ceilings and lots of natural light. Parents will be so comfortable that they can enjoy themselves as much as the kids.
***Many thanks to Crazy Kids Member Jamie for telling us about Make-A-Messterpiece! This type of contribution by our members helps makes Crazy Kids Chicago a great resource for Chicagoland parents. Please feel free to contact us, we love hearing from you.
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