March 30th, 2010 larry
On April 10, The Verve Pipe is in town for the next leg of Schuba’s Family Series Shows. The band that formed in 1992 had a number one hit with “The Freshman” in 1997, and has kept touring and making music ever since. As they have continued to innovate, the band has now recorded a kids album called simply “A Family Album.” We got a chance to catch up with Donny Brown, one of the original band members and founders to find out about teaching music to kids and today’s music landscape.
Donny has been playing music every since he was a kid, starting with drums and moving to guitar as he started writing his own music. He had multiple brothers that sang lead in rock bands. Donny now teaches drums and song writing to interested musicians ranging from ages 6 to 43. Donny has advice for parents trying to get their kids interested in music, “The key is really listening to your kid and getting them to talk about music. Getting them to tell you what they like and don’t like, and showing them that you are really curious.”
According to Donny, kids will then get curious as well, “Once they are curious, and you cultivate it, the kids will take it from there. I have kids 7 or 8 years old in my classes, coming up with their own music, having the best time singing and playing. I listen to the music and its really good and they came up with it all on their own.”
Last year, The Verve Pipe were approached to contribute a song to a family compilation album, called Calling All Kids. Creating one song wound up creating bits and pieces of several songs, “Brian (co founder) and I wrote an idea or two. We sweetened each other’s ideas, realized that what we had worked and put a smile on our face. When our manager heard it, he said ‘It has great spirit, let’s go down this road and see where it goes.’”
And so, A Family Album was born. The album is a collection of funny lyrics laid on top of upbeat rocks songs. The album starts with the upbeat ”Wake Up” which proclaims “Its fun to wake up early.” The album talks about true issues that kids face in ”We Had To Go Home” which documents the different reasons you may have to quit having fun and go home (like bad manners). The band really hits a homerun with the anthem, “Cereal” that screams the chorus, “I love my cereal!” The song has become a morning ritual at our house to see who can yell it the loudest. We also have giggle during the countryish tune “Suppertime” which asks the real difficult questions like, “Why do they call it a hamburger when there is no ham in it? Why do they call it a sandwich when there is no sand it? I don’t care, I am still having it.”
The Verve Pipe has been touring all over the east coast doing rock and kids shows and it will be great to have them in Chicago. Donny talks about what is different about playing in front of kids, “You take strength from the innonce of the kids. There is no fooling them, they are going to tell you what they like and what they don’t. They have no filter and its a beautiful thing.”
And what would they like to teach the kids, “We feel so grateful to be able to play our music and to be listened to. We want to teach that lesson to the kids, be grateful to your parents and be grateful for life. Things cost money and that is why Dad has to work that extra shift. That is the way my Dad did it.”
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March 25th, 2010 larry
Friend, member and city-mom-of-3 Allison took her 5 year old daughter to see Beauty and the Beast Wednesday night at the Cadillac Palace Theatre and LOVED IT. The show is having a brief run in Chicago, March 25-April 4, 2010. Just checked and there are still tickets available for the Wednesday March 31st matinee. It would be a memorable Spring Break activity. Tickets are priced from $15-$77.50. Read Allison’s review here:
My daughter and I had the pleasure of seeing the fantastic performance of Beauty and the Beast tonight!!! It is the classical Disney story in all of its glory, complete with over the top costumes, dancing and of course, all the favorite songs. Parking near the theater is tricky and the parking garage is expensive. I recommend using the brownline to the Washington/Welles stop, walking the one block North to Randolph and the theater is right there.
The show is not just for the young Disney fans either, the crowd was filled with both men and women alike of all ages. Of course, it was extra entertaining to see all the “young Belle’s” dressed up and singing along. Although the performance follows the Disney tale we all know, there is added adult humor along the way to keep the grown-ups laughing too. My 5 year old daughter was highly entertained from start to finish, but I do recommend trying for an afternoon performance if you can. The show is long, about two and half hours total with a 15 minute intermission. It made for a late night, but definitely worth it! If you are unable to see this show, there are several other kid friendly Broadway shows to check out at the theater this summer and early Fall.
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March 17th, 2010 larry
After playing with our new Monster 4 LEGO board game all weekend, we decided to take a trip back to LEGOLAND to see what was new and interesting. LEGOLAND is in Schaumburg in the Streets of Woodfield Mall and showcases master LEGO creations, general LEGO toys and pieces, movies, and rides. Tickets are anywhere from $12-$22 a person depending on when you want to go, but unlimited access is only $32/year if you have a LEGO junkie.
The last time we visited LEGOLAND was right after they opened in Summer 2008. At the time we were very excited about the newaddition to the Chicago children’s scene. But I have to say many things have changed about LEGOLAND in the last year and a half, including my opinion of it.
The entire first floor that showcases amazing LEGO creations by Master LEGO Builders is very similar, if not identical to the way it was 2 years ago. It is educational, beautiful, and a highlight of the visit. You enter into Miniland Chicago. The LEGO people surveyed locals to find out which buildings were most iconic to Chicagoans and scaled them down perfectly. These replicas are stunning and it’s fun to go through and pick out your favorite architectural landmarks — brownstones, Sears Tower, John Hancock, and Museum of Contemporary Art are just a few. The space then flows into the Jungle Expedition, again a mind-boggling display of LEGO art. You can choose to pick up an age-appropriate scratch card so you can look around the Jungle and answer questions with your kids.
Next is the Hall of Fame with pop culture characters made of LEGOs, which brings you to the Dragon Ride, a tame amusement-parkish ride through a medievil world. It’s not scary, but does include a Dragon and a dark space with bats on the ceiling. Nothing looks too realistic since, of course, everything is made of LEGOs.
Upstairs is the LEGO Factory, which briefly and comically shows how LEGOs are made. All children get to take a souvenir LEGO as they exit. The 4-D movie is Bob the Builder and is an enjoyable 14 minutes. You wear 3-D glasses and the 4-D effects are added with blowing air, spraying water, and falling snow. The movie is very simple, but if your kids scare easily they may not like being surprised by the 4-D effects.
The LEGO Playzone, where all of the action is, has gone through major changes. All of which are negative. Where there used to be six different LEGO areas, organized by age, there are now only three. Gone are the areas for older builders, the “earthquake” zone, and the dedicated toddler area. The space is now being used for a weak revolving amusement park ride. Pretty disappointing considering this is LEGOLAND.
The car building area is different. Parents now have to hand over their ID to be given tires for your kid to build a car, so you’ll be watching like a hawk any time the car crashes and comes apart. There are a lot less options of LEGOS to build with as well. In the past you could make monster trucks and pull back cars, but all those pieces are no longer offered. There used to be car chassis, but now the kids just have LEGO to use. This isn’t inherently bad, but the cars do not stay together as well.
Kids still have a ton of fun in this area though. You can climb stairs to two different ramps to zoom your cars down. For little kids, you may want to help your kid out by standing at the bottom of the ramp to retrieve their car because it is quite competitive and kids swarm the cars at the bottom. Even better than the ramps is the race track. The race track is also a ramp with a silver gate that you place the cars behind. There are 5 or 6 slots for cars to race at a time. Pushing a button on the track causes a timer to count down from three. The light goes from red to green after the screen says 1, the silver gate lowers and the cars race down the track. Kids cheer on their cars, there are crashes, and the pandemonium to retrieve the car and place it back on the track for the next race is on. Sometimes, kids line up cars two or three deep for the race.
LEGO Girls has morphed into a girls area called Princess Palace. It is surprisingly isolated in it’s own little area. All of the LEGOs are some shade of pink, and cars are replaced with dolls, houses, and animals. I would not say that all of the girls were playing in Princess Palace, but definitely the majority. Right in this area is also a Model Workshop. Model builders will teach kids how to build complicated LEGO structures every 60 minutes or so. The climbing maze is still there as well.
The area with oversized LEGO’s is great, but I miss the dedicated toddler area. The day we were there, big kids were building forts and skyscrapers only to knock them over. There is no way it would have been safe for a little child to be in there with them.
Overall, my impression of LEGOLAND was not as good as it was two years ago. The rides and the 4-D movie are pretty lame. Kids might try them once, but they are no reason to visit LEGOLAND. Honestly, there is no way you come back to LEGOLAND for anything other then the LEGO Playzone, and they have made this area less family friendly then it was in the past. We had an enjoyable 1.5 hour visit, but I do not believe it is worth the entrance fees they charge. That being said, there are a lot of coupons for LEGOLAND out there. If you can get a 2 for 1 coupon or the $5 admission deal, you should go and see for yourself.
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Donna
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March 10th, 2010 larry
We had a great time during the 1 hour production of Peter Pan. It is fast paced and cleverly staged, with a little something for everyone. Our group had a 5 year old boy and a 4 year old girl - both of them loved it. The Emerald City Theater production will be playing at the Apollo Theater through June 6th. It is recommended for children 3 and over. Ticket prices are $15 for adults and $12 for children.
This version of the story focuses on Peter Pan and Wendy. Wendy is having a hard time growing up, so a little trip to Neverland helps her learn that growing up is not a bad thing. “Just Fly” is a fun song that uses clever staging to simulate flying. Emerald City is great at using simple devices to great effect. Of course Captain Hook and his sidekick Smee are there to cause some trouble. Their song, “A Pirate Needs a Plan,” will surely put a smile on your face. They lend a huge amount of laughs, as well as a few fun sword fights. Little girls will love the character of Princess Tiger Lily. She is a strong girl who does some fighting of her own.
There are a few great touches that made the show extra fun. The crocodile that follows Hook around is an actor in a really cute costume that the children absolutely loved. For the parents, the visit to Mermaid Lagoon is sure to bring on big laughs! (I’m not going to give away the surprise.) There was more audience participation at Peter Pan then any other show I’ve been to. The children were just so into the show. Take your kids to see Peter Pan, it’s fun for the whole family.
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March 2nd, 2010 larry
With the recent demise of CoCo Key it is not easy to find water slides in the winter where you don’t have to leave the state. But we were anxious and needed a water slide fix so we checked out Water Works in Schaumburg on the weekend and went to the Glenn for Splash Landings on Wednesday to check out their indoor water slides. Water Works is $7 for adults and $5 for kids for residents and $2 more for non-residents. Glenview’s facility is $5.75 per person.
We arrived at Water Works around 1:00 and it was deep in the heart of Schaumburg. The locker rooms are in good condition and have room for lots of lockers. When you leave an ID at the front desk, you get a key to one of the lockers which is nice so you don’t have to drag everything out to the pools. But the water facilities are what really makes this place impressive.
Water Works has two decent size water slides, conveniently painted red and blue. There is one enclosed slide that is pretty fast and an open slide that is equally fun. We were a little surprised that the slides dumped into about 4 feet of water but the 4 and 5 year olds we were with had no trouble navigating it. Then there was a kids water park that was in about 2-3 feet of water. It had small slides, fountains shooting out of the floor, hoses to spray each other with, and buckets of water that always seem to dump on the adults. There is also a little whirlpool action toward the end of the kids’ play area. You walk into a kind of walled off section and the current just whips you through.
There is a full Olympic size pool for adult and kids swimming with lanes and then there are two diving boards. But the highlight of the water park is the slide in the deep area pool (12 feet deep) by the diving boards. It is basically a small half slide about 10 feet over the water. The slide doesn’t reach the water (that is the half slide concept) and the slide is completely vertical. So it is just one small step from being a high dive, but instead you can sit down, slide down - extremely fast, and hit the water with a very loud smack. My kid ran straight for it and must have gone down it almost 10 times while we were there.
Water Works has a snack shop with the essentials of hot dogs, chips, pizza, and pretzels. I don’t think you are supposed to bring your own food, so the snack shop was a nice rest area.
Splash Landings has not made quite the same investment as the Water Works. There is an olympic size pool and then a kids pool. There is a big twisty slide that is pretty fast and then some standard water falls, fountains and sprays. It is a nice place and when there are a lot of kids around it is pretty fun.
For the money, Water Works is an exceptional value. It is no commercial water slide, but it has plenty to do and there were kids there as old as 10 or 11 having a fantastic time. We did at least 3 hours there and brought home 2 kids that did not even make it to the toll both before they crashed out asleep. We highly recommend the Water Works.
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Larry and Donna
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