If you live in DuPage and you need an occasional babysitter, I can provide that! Check out my babysitting website, and contact me for references!
Anyway, every weekend I post a list of free and cheap events happening for kids in DuPage for the upcoming week. Be sure to check in here when planning the week ahead! (This week I started on Tuesday, since Monday was a busy family day for most people!)
TUESDAY
Story Time at Pottery Barn Kids in Oakbrook Mall, 11:00 am. Kids who attend five times get a special gift! Kids can also play in the store before and after the story time!
The Lisa Rene Band will perform at Fishel Park, on Grove Street west of Main Street in Downers Grove, at 7:00 pm. Family friendly concerts will be performed each Tuesday evening in Downers Grove!
WEDNESDAY
Story time at Bloomingdale Barnes and Noble, 10:00 am.
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 10:15 am to 11:30 am. $5.00 per child.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in Batavia, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. $5.00 per child.
Story time at Oakbrook Terrace Barnes and Noble at 11:00 am.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. $5.00 per child
Taste Of Wheaton begins at 4:00 pm! Look for a carnival on Liberty St (in downtown Wheaton, just south of the railroad tracks), a teen Battle Of The Bands, and a Moonlight Madness Sale downtown!
THURSDAY
Story time at Land Of Nod in Oakbrook Mall, at 11:oo am.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. $5.00 per child.
Taste Of Wheaton continues from 4 pm to1o pm! Includes the Moonlight Madness sale, carnival, and live band.
Cruisin' Nights in Westmont begins tonight, and will occur every Thursday night in the summer. Classic and antique cars will be parked around downtown Westmont. There will be children's activities from 6 to 8 pm along West Irving Street. There will also be a live band playing, and a classic car parade! Each week will have a different classic car theme. The theme for this week is Dusters!
The Rose Festivall in Roselle begins at 6 pm tonight and will continue through Sunday! The festival will be in the commuter parking lot at the Roselle Metra Station, Irving Park Road and Maple Avenue. There will be a carnival, food, and entertainment!
FRIDAY
Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Naperville will be holding a MEGA garage sale at the Celebration Community Center, 919 S Washington in Naperville. The sale will be today from 8 am to 7 pm, and tomorrow from 8 am until noon. Proceeds go to the church ministries and also to local organizations.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 10:00 am to 11:00 am. $5.00 per child
Open Gym And Moon Jump Friday at Gymnasti in Carol Stream, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. $5.00 per child.
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm. $5.00 per child.
Taste Of Wheaton continues from 4 pm to10 pm! Includes the Moonlight Madness sale, carnival, and live band.
Roselle Cruise Nights begins! This will continue every Friday night through September. From 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm, you'll find lots of classic cars and entertainment on Main Street in Roselle!
Story time at Bloomingdale Barnes and Noble, 7:00 pm.
SATURDAY
A Touch-A-Truck event will take place at Reed Keppler Park, 129 W. National Street in West Chicago, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. Police cars, fire trucks, construction equipment, and other vehicles will be parked for kids to climb on and explore.
Naperville's Reuse and Recycle Extravaganza will take place from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. This is a great chance to get rid of all that junk you're not sure what to do with! Volunteers will be on hand at Alcatel-Lucent, 1960 Lucent Lane in Lombard, to help you unload your items. Visit the website for a list of acceptable items.
Taste Of Wheaton continues from 9 am to11 pm! Includes the Moonlight Madness sale, children's inflatables,carnival, car show, arts and craft faire, live bands, and more!
Free Soccer Game Building Workshop for kids, from 9 am to 12 pm. Kids between 5 and 12 years old can learn how to make a soccer game! Kids will also get a Home Depot apron and an achievement pin. DuPage Home Depots are in Oakbrook Terrace, Downers Grove, Carol Stream, Glendale Heights, Woodridge, Darien, Naperville and Bolingbrook.
Clow International Airport hosts its annual Calvalcade Of Planes from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. There will be lots of airplanes (including war birds) on display, parachute jumps, food and refreshments for sale, live entertainment, and a beer garden. Admission is $3.00, $1.00 for students, and free for children eight and under. Airplane and helicopter rides will also be available for an additional charge! The Clow International Airport is located on Clow International Parkway, just south of Boughton, in Bolingbrook. The event takes place today and tomorrow!
Storytime at the Oak Brook Barnes and Noble at 11:00 am.
Participate in a Stone Hunt at 2:00 pm at the Lizzardro Museum of Lapidary Art, 220 Cottage Hill Drive in Elmhurst. Kids can sift through regular stones and find gemstones and minerals, which they will have identified for them and be able to keep! The cost is $4.00 per child. You might want to call and make reservations at (630) 833-1616, to make sure there is space for you!
Story time at the Oak Brook Borders at 2:00 pm.
Lombard Cruise Nights begins at 6:00 pm! Classic cars and live music will be located in downtown Lombard, near St. Charles Road and Park Avenue. This event will repeat every Friday night throughout the summer.
SUNDAY
Naperville's Frontier Kite Fly Festival will be held at the Frontier Sports Complex, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. There will be kite-flying lessons, kite flying demonstrations, raffles, performances, and more! There will also be an inflatable fun and beginner kite flying area for children, but it costs $5.00 per child.
Clow International Airport hosts its annual Calvalcade Of Planes from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. There will be lots of airplanes (including war birds) on display, parachute jumps, food and refreshments for sale, live entertainment, and a beer garden. Admission is $3.00, $1.00 for students, and free for children eight and under. Airplane and helicopter rides will also be available for an additional charge! The Clow International Airport is located on Clow International Parkway, just south of Boughton, in Bolingbrook.
Taste Of Wheaton 's carnival continues from 1 pm to 8 pm.
Have a great week, everyone!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Excel Gymnastics in Batavia And St. Charles
Place: Excel Gymnastics
Location: 2301 Main Street in Batavia, or 3N800 Peck Rd in St. Charles.
Type of Place: Gymnastics academy
Secret: This place has a trapeze bar that kids will love! Also, they've created a very cool tunnel underneath the foam block pit with the trapeze bar, for kids to crawl through!
Appropriate ages: toddler and up.
Cost: Special open gyms for kids under 6 are $5.00 per kid. Open gyms for older kids are $8.00 for members and $10.00 for nonmembers.
Quite a long time ago, I used to bring Little Bear and Pufferfish, along with their cousin Tigerlily, to this gymnastics place with a trapeze bar. They really loved it, especially Tigerlily, who used to swing on the trapeze for hours! Somehow I forgot where it was, and Pufferfish and I have been visiting all sorts of open gyms in search of this very cool one. Well, we finally found it! Yesterday, we went back there to check it out. Monkeyboy, who had the day off from school for some reason, came with us.
The first thing Pufferfish wanted to check out was this spot where little kids can slide down the slide and land in a pit of foam blocks! You can also jump off mats and into the blocks. It is a little bit like swimming!
They have a balance beam suspended across the other end of this foam pit, which is the perfect place to practice on the balance beam. If you fall off, you just land in foam! Pufferfish loved it as long as Monkeyboy held her hand... but she preferred just saving time and jumping off of it!
Here is Pufferfish trying out a lower balance beam with no foam pit underneath.
There was some other fun equipment scattered around too, like this barrel that Monkeyboy rolled Pufferfish around in...
...and this thing that helps kids do a flip onto a mat!
I was most excited about the trapeze bar, but Pufferfish didn't enjoy it as much as I thought she would. She's actually less brave now than she was the last time I brought her there, when she was only a year old! I couldn't get her to try out the trapeze bar. So I took a picture of it anyway, just in case you didn't believe me about it being there. Can you see it? The yellow rectangle is around the trapeze bar, and the blue one is around the rope swing. Kids can swing on these things and then drop into the foam pit!
Another thing that I liked about Excel, more so than other places, was that they had some employees in the gym. The kids still had to be supervised by parents, and the employees weren't teaching them or coaching them or anything, but they were there, and they were very friendly. They would smile and say cheerful things to the children, like, "Look at you jumping!" and "Are you having fun?" It was more of a welcoming atmosphere, instead of the feeling of, "What are you civilians doing in our gym?" that I've gotten in some other gymnastics open gyms.
When school gets out for the summer, I will be taking my whole crew there as often as I can. I know this one isn't exactly in DuPage, but its on the border... and even if you live forty-five minutes away from it, like we do, I think it is worth the drive!
Lazer X In Addison
Place: Lazer X
Location: 1455 West Lake Street, Addison, IL (in the same parking lot as Marcus Theater.)
Type of Place: Laser Tag arena.
Secret: I wish I knew!
Appropriate ages: 6 and over.
Cost: $7.00 per person for 20 minutes of play, or $15.95 per person for birthday parties.
Since Little Bear's birthday is in July, Diana decided to have a party for her at the end of May so that she could invite all of the kids in her class. We just moved here at the beginning of the school year, and we hoped the psuedo-birthday party would help us identify some kids that Little Bear could play with over the summer.Little Bear wanted to have a laser tag birthday party. We'd once had a party for Monkeyboy at Lazer X in Addison, so we decided to set up Little Bear's party there.
Unfortunately, it did not go well.
The party package included a party room for two hours, pizza, soda, two sessions of laser tag, and twelve arcade tokens for each kid.
The first thing that went wrong was that the pizza, which was ordered from Papa John's, was late. So for the first twenty minutes the kids just milled around in the party room with nothing happening. I guess the original plan had been for them to eat lunch right away at the beginning of the party, and then play their two games of laser tag back to back. The late delivery of the pizza seemed to throw off the whole system!
Finally the party "host" came in and hurriedly told them to get in line to go to their first game of laser tag. They were rushed into the laser tag room, and then rushed back into the party room twenty minutes later. The pizza was served to them at a frantic pace, and they were urged by the host to eat quickly so they could play their next game of laser tag. They had about five minutes to gobble down their pizza and slurp down their sodas before the cake was presented!
When the cake was opened and put in front of Little Bear, we then had about fifteen minutes to sing Happy Birthday to her and take pictures, cut the cake, pass it out to the kids, and have them chow it down like there was no tomorrow, before the host hurriedly told them to get back in line to get their tokens for the arcade. They were allowed to play for twenty minutes, and then they were told to have their tickets counted in the machine so that they could get their prizes. They were told to hurry, hurry, hurry! The kids were all nervous that they wouldn't get their prizes, and a small riot broke out by the ticket counting machine as the first graders scrambled to have their tickets counted.
To make matters worse, there was nobody at the counter at the time to help the kids get their prizes. The employees were too busy trying to clean up our party room for the next party.
By then, our two hours were almost over, and we still hadn't opened presents! We were told we had five minutes before the next game of laser tag, so if Little Bear wanted to open presents, she had to do it then.
If any of you have little kids (and if you're reading this blog, I assume you do) you know that present-opening time is a big deal at a birthday party. The little guests have helped pick out the present and wrap it, and a bunch of them had even made homemade cards! Little Bear had been coached on present-opening etiquette, being reminded that it was important to read each card, look at each present, thank the giver, and say something nice about the present. And she did so good, in the beginning! She wanted to open and read each card and look at each present. But because of our five minute time limit, her grandmother had to tell her to just rip open the gifts as quickly as possible. She hadn't even gotten through half of them before the party host was there, telling the kids to hurry up and get in line for their second laser tag game.
Diana says, she was beginning to feel like everything was too rushed. The focus seemed to be on herding the kids from one activity to another, and not on allowing Little Bear and her family and friends to enjoy the party. Diana had barely had time to talk to Little Bear or her friends, because he'd been being so busy trying to rush things along! Diana went to the front counter to complain to the manager. The manager apologized, but basically shrugged it off, saying that he had twenty parties scheduled for the day and that he needed to keep things moving. He told Diana that he thought most people who had birthday parties there just took their presents home and opened them later. (Because present opening was such a big deal for the first graders, Diana had definitely wanted Little Bear to do it at the party, in front of her guests!)
Diana also complained that she had been charged for Little Bear's older brothers being at the party. Since Little Bear and her friends are only first graders, Diana had thought that Monkeyboy and Marcus, who are 13 and 14, could go into the laser tag game with the kids and help them out. When she made the arrangements, she was told that she would not be charged for Monkeyboy and Marcus to play laser tag with the kids. But when she pointed this out to the manager, he denied it, rather rudely. "Teenagers are our target market! Why would I let them in for free?" he said.
The party came to an end, and since our time in the party room was over, we had to wait in the lobby as parents came to pick up their children. Some of the parents also noticed that the service here was sort of rude. For instance, when one mother complained that the air hockey table had eaten her child's token, the employee hurriedly said, "Thats because it takes two tokens," and walked away without bothering to help.
Here are my feelings on it. This place is trying to make as much money as possible by scheduling as many parties as possible back to back. But they're actually losing money by offering a poor experience. If the party had gone wonderfully, we would have probably come back next year for another party, recommended it to friends and family members who wanted laser tag parties, gone there for open play, etc. If the parents had noticed great service as they picked up their kids, they would have maybe scheduled their own parties there as well. Instead, we will never go to Laser X for any reason again, and we will warn others to avoid it as well. This is a classic case of people caring more about making money than about being friendly and having good service.
If you do decide to host a party at Laser X, I would recommend scheduling it as the last party of the day, so you might have a little extra time in the party room. Scheduling it on a weekday evening would be a good idea. And, instead of buying the more expensive package that includes pizza, just skip the pizza and bring cake. That will buy you a little extra time as well. One idea might be to transport the guests back to your home after the party, and have pizza and open presents there.
But seriously, I don't recommend this place.
Location: 1455 West Lake Street, Addison, IL (in the same parking lot as Marcus Theater.)
Type of Place: Laser Tag arena.
Secret: I wish I knew!
Appropriate ages: 6 and over.
Cost: $7.00 per person for 20 minutes of play, or $15.95 per person for birthday parties.
Since Little Bear's birthday is in July, Diana decided to have a party for her at the end of May so that she could invite all of the kids in her class. We just moved here at the beginning of the school year, and we hoped the psuedo-birthday party would help us identify some kids that Little Bear could play with over the summer.Little Bear wanted to have a laser tag birthday party. We'd once had a party for Monkeyboy at Lazer X in Addison, so we decided to set up Little Bear's party there.
Unfortunately, it did not go well.
The party package included a party room for two hours, pizza, soda, two sessions of laser tag, and twelve arcade tokens for each kid.
The first thing that went wrong was that the pizza, which was ordered from Papa John's, was late. So for the first twenty minutes the kids just milled around in the party room with nothing happening. I guess the original plan had been for them to eat lunch right away at the beginning of the party, and then play their two games of laser tag back to back. The late delivery of the pizza seemed to throw off the whole system!
Finally the party "host" came in and hurriedly told them to get in line to go to their first game of laser tag. They were rushed into the laser tag room, and then rushed back into the party room twenty minutes later. The pizza was served to them at a frantic pace, and they were urged by the host to eat quickly so they could play their next game of laser tag. They had about five minutes to gobble down their pizza and slurp down their sodas before the cake was presented!
When the cake was opened and put in front of Little Bear, we then had about fifteen minutes to sing Happy Birthday to her and take pictures, cut the cake, pass it out to the kids, and have them chow it down like there was no tomorrow, before the host hurriedly told them to get back in line to get their tokens for the arcade. They were allowed to play for twenty minutes, and then they were told to have their tickets counted in the machine so that they could get their prizes. They were told to hurry, hurry, hurry! The kids were all nervous that they wouldn't get their prizes, and a small riot broke out by the ticket counting machine as the first graders scrambled to have their tickets counted.
To make matters worse, there was nobody at the counter at the time to help the kids get their prizes. The employees were too busy trying to clean up our party room for the next party.
By then, our two hours were almost over, and we still hadn't opened presents! We were told we had five minutes before the next game of laser tag, so if Little Bear wanted to open presents, she had to do it then.
If any of you have little kids (and if you're reading this blog, I assume you do) you know that present-opening time is a big deal at a birthday party. The little guests have helped pick out the present and wrap it, and a bunch of them had even made homemade cards! Little Bear had been coached on present-opening etiquette, being reminded that it was important to read each card, look at each present, thank the giver, and say something nice about the present. And she did so good, in the beginning! She wanted to open and read each card and look at each present. But because of our five minute time limit, her grandmother had to tell her to just rip open the gifts as quickly as possible. She hadn't even gotten through half of them before the party host was there, telling the kids to hurry up and get in line for their second laser tag game.
Diana says, she was beginning to feel like everything was too rushed. The focus seemed to be on herding the kids from one activity to another, and not on allowing Little Bear and her family and friends to enjoy the party. Diana had barely had time to talk to Little Bear or her friends, because he'd been being so busy trying to rush things along! Diana went to the front counter to complain to the manager. The manager apologized, but basically shrugged it off, saying that he had twenty parties scheduled for the day and that he needed to keep things moving. He told Diana that he thought most people who had birthday parties there just took their presents home and opened them later. (Because present opening was such a big deal for the first graders, Diana had definitely wanted Little Bear to do it at the party, in front of her guests!)
Diana also complained that she had been charged for Little Bear's older brothers being at the party. Since Little Bear and her friends are only first graders, Diana had thought that Monkeyboy and Marcus, who are 13 and 14, could go into the laser tag game with the kids and help them out. When she made the arrangements, she was told that she would not be charged for Monkeyboy and Marcus to play laser tag with the kids. But when she pointed this out to the manager, he denied it, rather rudely. "Teenagers are our target market! Why would I let them in for free?" he said.
The party came to an end, and since our time in the party room was over, we had to wait in the lobby as parents came to pick up their children. Some of the parents also noticed that the service here was sort of rude. For instance, when one mother complained that the air hockey table had eaten her child's token, the employee hurriedly said, "Thats because it takes two tokens," and walked away without bothering to help.
Here are my feelings on it. This place is trying to make as much money as possible by scheduling as many parties as possible back to back. But they're actually losing money by offering a poor experience. If the party had gone wonderfully, we would have probably come back next year for another party, recommended it to friends and family members who wanted laser tag parties, gone there for open play, etc. If the parents had noticed great service as they picked up their kids, they would have maybe scheduled their own parties there as well. Instead, we will never go to Laser X for any reason again, and we will warn others to avoid it as well. This is a classic case of people caring more about making money than about being friendly and having good service.
If you do decide to host a party at Laser X, I would recommend scheduling it as the last party of the day, so you might have a little extra time in the party room. Scheduling it on a weekday evening would be a good idea. And, instead of buying the more expensive package that includes pizza, just skip the pizza and bring cake. That will buy you a little extra time as well. One idea might be to transport the guests back to your home after the party, and have pizza and open presents there.
But seriously, I don't recommend this place.
Gymnasti in Carol Stream (Open Gym)
Place: Gymnasti
Location: 110 Della Court, in Carol Stream (off of Gary Ave.)
Type of Place: Gymnastics academy
Secret: Check the website for the open gym schedule, which will be changing in June. Supposedly they have a moon jump set up pn Fridays, although we didn't see it!
Appropriate ages: Toddlers and older!
Cost: The preschool open gyms are $5.00 per child. Other open gym days are $5.00 for members and $10.00 for nonmembers.
Every weekend I list free and cheap events for the week ahead. Gymnasti's open gym is always on the list for Fridays, but I had never actually been there. (We've gone to just about every other gymnastics open gym in the area, though.) So this past Friday, I grabbed Pufferfish and went to check it out!
Many gymnastics academies host open gyms so that their students, and other interested kids, can practice their gymnastic skills in an unstructured environment outside of their regular gymnastics classes. But Gymnasti also hosts "little kid" open gyms for toddlers and preschools. With kids this little, unless they are actually in the gymnastics class, the thrill is mostly in jumping on the trampolines and exploring the other equipment.
One thing I noticed about Gymnasti was that there was an area with a huge, deep pit (not filled with foam blocks or anything) that the employee warned us to stay away from. I was paranoid the whole time about Pufferfish not watching where she was going and falling into the pit of doom! (I guess it wasn't that deep. She probably wouldn't have broken her neck or anything. But it would have been hard to get her out!)
The rest of it was fun, though. Pufferfish loved jumping into the foam pit. (Warning: If you are a grown up, you might not want to jump into the foam pit! It is pretty hard to get out of! Little kids are too light so they just kind of crawl on top of the foam.)
There was a rope swing which she tried to swing on, after she saw another little kid clamor all the way to the top. Pufferfish had trouble getting on it, though!
She liked hanging onto the rings for a minute, although when I took this picture, she was telling me, "I'm gonna fall!"
She always loves the balance beams, too. Usually she needs me to hold her hand as she walks along on them... but she has great balance!
Pufferfish even tried to do a trick, after she saw another kid (the same one who climbed the rope) doing flips on the bar. Maybe she'll be a gymnist some day!
Her favorite was the trampoline though. She could start on one end, run all the way down the trampoline, and jump onto a big, squishy mat! This delighted Pufferfish to no end. At one point, though, she slipped while trying to climb onto the trampoline, and landed smack on her back! It was a horrid sound! The employees came rushing in, demanding to know whetherPufferfish had jumped off the wrong end. I scooped her up while I explained that she had only slipped while trying to climb onto the correct end. The employees turned and walked away without another word... something I found a little rude! It didn't seem like they were very comfortable around small, non-gymnist children at all.
Pufferfish was fine, though. For a few minutes she didn't want to do anything but sit on the mat and watch the older kids. But after a while she said, "Come on, I want to go on the trampoline again!"
The website claimed that there would be a moon jump set up on Friday afternoons, which would have made the whole thing more fun for Pufferfish. But there was no moonjump in sight! Oh well... maybe in the summer they'll have it.
My overall impression is that this place is more geared towards older kids or kids who are actually taking gymnastics classes. It was a nice place for Pufferfish to bounce around a little... but there are some even nicer open gyms available for the same price. It might be worth trying out, though, if you live in the Carol Stream area!
Location: 110 Della Court, in Carol Stream (off of Gary Ave.)
Type of Place: Gymnastics academy
Secret: Check the website for the open gym schedule, which will be changing in June. Supposedly they have a moon jump set up pn Fridays, although we didn't see it!
Appropriate ages: Toddlers and older!
Cost: The preschool open gyms are $5.00 per child. Other open gym days are $5.00 for members and $10.00 for nonmembers.
Every weekend I list free and cheap events for the week ahead. Gymnasti's open gym is always on the list for Fridays, but I had never actually been there. (We've gone to just about every other gymnastics open gym in the area, though.) So this past Friday, I grabbed Pufferfish and went to check it out!
Many gymnastics academies host open gyms so that their students, and other interested kids, can practice their gymnastic skills in an unstructured environment outside of their regular gymnastics classes. But Gymnasti also hosts "little kid" open gyms for toddlers and preschools. With kids this little, unless they are actually in the gymnastics class, the thrill is mostly in jumping on the trampolines and exploring the other equipment.
One thing I noticed about Gymnasti was that there was an area with a huge, deep pit (not filled with foam blocks or anything) that the employee warned us to stay away from. I was paranoid the whole time about Pufferfish not watching where she was going and falling into the pit of doom! (I guess it wasn't that deep. She probably wouldn't have broken her neck or anything. But it would have been hard to get her out!)
The rest of it was fun, though. Pufferfish loved jumping into the foam pit. (Warning: If you are a grown up, you might not want to jump into the foam pit! It is pretty hard to get out of! Little kids are too light so they just kind of crawl on top of the foam.)
There was a rope swing which she tried to swing on, after she saw another little kid clamor all the way to the top. Pufferfish had trouble getting on it, though!
She liked hanging onto the rings for a minute, although when I took this picture, she was telling me, "I'm gonna fall!"
She always loves the balance beams, too. Usually she needs me to hold her hand as she walks along on them... but she has great balance!
Pufferfish even tried to do a trick, after she saw another kid (the same one who climbed the rope) doing flips on the bar. Maybe she'll be a gymnist some day!
Her favorite was the trampoline though. She could start on one end, run all the way down the trampoline, and jump onto a big, squishy mat! This delighted Pufferfish to no end. At one point, though, she slipped while trying to climb onto the trampoline, and landed smack on her back! It was a horrid sound! The employees came rushing in, demanding to know whetherPufferfish had jumped off the wrong end. I scooped her up while I explained that she had only slipped while trying to climb onto the correct end. The employees turned and walked away without another word... something I found a little rude! It didn't seem like they were very comfortable around small, non-gymnist children at all.
Pufferfish was fine, though. For a few minutes she didn't want to do anything but sit on the mat and watch the older kids. But after a while she said, "Come on, I want to go on the trampoline again!"
The website claimed that there would be a moon jump set up on Friday afternoons, which would have made the whole thing more fun for Pufferfish. But there was no moonjump in sight! Oh well... maybe in the summer they'll have it.
My overall impression is that this place is more geared towards older kids or kids who are actually taking gymnastics classes. It was a nice place for Pufferfish to bounce around a little... but there are some even nicer open gyms available for the same price. It might be worth trying out, though, if you live in the Carol Stream area!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Events For The Week Of May 23 - 30
If you live in DuPage and you need an occasional babysitter, I can provide that! Check out my babysitting website, and contact me for references!
Anyway, every weekend I post a list of free and cheap events happening for kids in DuPage for the upcoming week. Be sure to check in here when planning the week ahead!
MONDAY
My Discovery Toys Launching (Picnic) Party! At Madison Meadows Park, located at Madison Street and Aherns Avenue in Lombard, at 10:00 am. Find us under the picnic shelter near the basketball court. There will be sample Discovery Toys for the kids to play with, an opportunity to order toys for your family, free snacks, and a cool playground to play at!
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 12:00 pm to 1:15 pm. $5.00 per child.
TUESDAY
Story Time at Pottery Barn Kids in Oakbrook Mall, 11:00 am. Kids who attend five times get a special gift! Kids can also play in the store before and after the story time!
PAWS And Read at the North Aurora Messenger Library, 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Kids ages 6 to 10 will have the chance to read a story to a therapy dog! The event is free but you'll have to register at the website.
WEDNESDAY
Story time at Bloomingdale Barnes and Noble, 10:00 am.
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 10:15 am to 11:30 am. $5.00 per child.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in Batavia, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. $5.00 per child.
Story time at Oakbrook Terrace Barnes and Noble at 11:00 am.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. $5.00 per child
Horse-drawn wagon rides at Danada Equestrian Center, 3S507 Naperville Rd, in Wheaton. Times for rides are 5:00 pm, 5:45 pm, 6:30 pm, and 7:15 pm. Tickets will be available starting at a 4:30, on a first come, first serve basis. Rides are $5.00 per adult, $2.00 per child between 5 and 12 years old, and kids under 5 are free.
THURSDAY
Story time at Land Of Nod in Oakbrook Mall, at 11:oo am.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. $5.00 per child.
FRIDAY
Cop On Top! Some Itasca police officers will be he hanging out on the roof of the Dunkin Donuts at Irving & Prospect in Itasca, from 6 a.m. - 2 p.m. They are doing it to raise awareness and funds for the Law Enforcement Torch Run to Benefit Special Olympics Illinois. Dunkin’ Donuts will be donating $10,000 to the Torch Run fund. If you visit the store and make a donation today, you'll get a free donut. People who donate $10.00 also get a free mug and a free coffee.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 10:00 am to 11:00 am. $5.00 per child
Open Gym And Moon Jump Friday at Gymnasti in Carol Stream, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. $5.00 per child.
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm. $5.00 per child.
Westmont's Red White and Blue BBQ begins! There will be a carnival, entertainment, food vendors, amateur chili cooking competition and BBQ competition, and a professional BBQ competition.The carnival opens at 4:00 pm today and will also be open all day Saturday and Sunday.
Story time at Bloomingdale Barnes and Noble, 7:00 pm.
SATURDAY
Westmont's Red White and Blue BBQ! There will be a carnival, entertainment, food vendors, amateur chili cooking competition and BBQ competition, and a professional BBQ competition.The carnival will be open all day Saturday and Sunday.
Free American Girl craft at Michael's stores, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Kids can make a greeting card with a vase of flowers on the front. You can find a participating store in Bloomingdale, Downers Grove, Hillside, Willowbrook, and Naperville.
Homecoming celebration at St. James Farm, 2S541 Winfield Rd in Warrenville. There will be horse and riding demonstrations, hay-wagon rides, interpretive tours, a fine-art fair, children’s activities, recreation stations, live music, food and more. It takes place from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Free!
Storytime at the Oak Brook Barnes and Noble at 11:00 am.
Story time at the Oak Brook Borders at 2:00 pm.
SUNDAY
Westmont's Red White and Blue BBQ! There will be a carnival, entertainment, food vendors, amateur chili cooking competition and BBQ competition, and a professional BBQ competition.The carnival will be open all day Saturday and Sunday.
Have a great week, everyone!
Anyway, every weekend I post a list of free and cheap events happening for kids in DuPage for the upcoming week. Be sure to check in here when planning the week ahead!
MONDAY
My Discovery Toys Launching (Picnic) Party! At Madison Meadows Park, located at Madison Street and Aherns Avenue in Lombard, at 10:00 am. Find us under the picnic shelter near the basketball court. There will be sample Discovery Toys for the kids to play with, an opportunity to order toys for your family, free snacks, and a cool playground to play at!
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 12:00 pm to 1:15 pm. $5.00 per child.
TUESDAY
Story Time at Pottery Barn Kids in Oakbrook Mall, 11:00 am. Kids who attend five times get a special gift! Kids can also play in the store before and after the story time!
PAWS And Read at the North Aurora Messenger Library, 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Kids ages 6 to 10 will have the chance to read a story to a therapy dog! The event is free but you'll have to register at the website.
WEDNESDAY
Story time at Bloomingdale Barnes and Noble, 10:00 am.
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 10:15 am to 11:30 am. $5.00 per child.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in Batavia, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. $5.00 per child.
Story time at Oakbrook Terrace Barnes and Noble at 11:00 am.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. $5.00 per child
Horse-drawn wagon rides at Danada Equestrian Center, 3S507 Naperville Rd, in Wheaton. Times for rides are 5:00 pm, 5:45 pm, 6:30 pm, and 7:15 pm. Tickets will be available starting at a 4:30, on a first come, first serve basis. Rides are $5.00 per adult, $2.00 per child between 5 and 12 years old, and kids under 5 are free.
THURSDAY
Story time at Land Of Nod in Oakbrook Mall, at 11:oo am.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. $5.00 per child.
FRIDAY
Cop On Top! Some Itasca police officers will be he hanging out on the roof of the Dunkin Donuts at Irving & Prospect in Itasca, from 6 a.m. - 2 p.m. They are doing it to raise awareness and funds for the Law Enforcement Torch Run to Benefit Special Olympics Illinois. Dunkin’ Donuts will be donating $10,000 to the Torch Run fund. If you visit the store and make a donation today, you'll get a free donut. People who donate $10.00 also get a free mug and a free coffee.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 10:00 am to 11:00 am. $5.00 per child
Open Gym And Moon Jump Friday at Gymnasti in Carol Stream, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. $5.00 per child.
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm. $5.00 per child.
Westmont's Red White and Blue BBQ begins! There will be a carnival, entertainment, food vendors, amateur chili cooking competition and BBQ competition, and a professional BBQ competition.The carnival opens at 4:00 pm today and will also be open all day Saturday and Sunday.
Story time at Bloomingdale Barnes and Noble, 7:00 pm.
SATURDAY
Westmont's Red White and Blue BBQ! There will be a carnival, entertainment, food vendors, amateur chili cooking competition and BBQ competition, and a professional BBQ competition.The carnival will be open all day Saturday and Sunday.
Free American Girl craft at Michael's stores, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Kids can make a greeting card with a vase of flowers on the front. You can find a participating store in Bloomingdale, Downers Grove, Hillside, Willowbrook, and Naperville.
Homecoming celebration at St. James Farm, 2S541 Winfield Rd in Warrenville. There will be horse and riding demonstrations, hay-wagon rides, interpretive tours, a fine-art fair, children’s activities, recreation stations, live music, food and more. It takes place from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Free!
Storytime at the Oak Brook Barnes and Noble at 11:00 am.
Story time at the Oak Brook Borders at 2:00 pm.
SUNDAY
Westmont's Red White and Blue BBQ! There will be a carnival, entertainment, food vendors, amateur chili cooking competition and BBQ competition, and a professional BBQ competition.The carnival will be open all day Saturday and Sunday.
Have a great week, everyone!
Friday, May 21, 2010
McDonalds In Wheaton
When its a rainy day and you're in a pinch for someplace fun and cheap to take your kids to, sometimes McDonalds Playplace is the only thing that comes to mind. At least, thats how it is for me! I don't always like to take the kids to the same old neighborhood McDonalds, though. I try to make things a little more exciting by finding new Mcdonalds to check out. You can easily find a list of McDonalds restaurants with playplaces by entering your zipcode into the McDonalds Locator. Some playplaces are better than others, though. So I thought I'd start reviewing individual McDonalds playplaces around DuPage, to find the best ones!
Yesterday we visited the Wheaton McDonalds Playplace, at County Farm and Roosevelt. This used to be one of my favorite McDonalds to take Little Bear and Tigerlily, because it seemed really huge. They also used to have riding toys and stuff. This time, though, it seemed a lot smaller... maybe because a birthday party was going on and there were little kids everywhere!
There is a pretty big play structure for kids to climb around in.
It also has a little hiding place underneath, with a small basketball hoop, and a cool little musical instrument on the wall. Pufferfish, who gets overwhelmed in crowded situations, liked holing up in there!
One thing that sort of annoyed me was that there were some video games and other things there... for instance, this DDR-type game...
... but they were broken! They weren't even turned on! I seem to remember that these games were also broken a year or two ago when I last brought Little Bear and Tigerlily there. It just seems sort of ghetto to still have these items there, when kids are unable to play with them. (Besides, do they really need video games in a playplace, anyway? Isn't the idea for them to clammor around and get their energy out?)
Oh well. Not the coolest playplace ever, but still a decent one!
If you know of any super cool McDonalds playplaces (or any other cool places) you think I should write about, please let me know!
Yesterday we visited the Wheaton McDonalds Playplace, at County Farm and Roosevelt. This used to be one of my favorite McDonalds to take Little Bear and Tigerlily, because it seemed really huge. They also used to have riding toys and stuff. This time, though, it seemed a lot smaller... maybe because a birthday party was going on and there were little kids everywhere!
There is a pretty big play structure for kids to climb around in.
The riding toys have disappeared, but there is still a little slide for smaller kids to enjoy.
Pufferfish also liked playing a quick game of basketball! She didn't really mind that she couldn't throw the ball hard enough to reach the basket.
... but they were broken! They weren't even turned on! I seem to remember that these games were also broken a year or two ago when I last brought Little Bear and Tigerlily there. It just seems sort of ghetto to still have these items there, when kids are unable to play with them. (Besides, do they really need video games in a playplace, anyway? Isn't the idea for them to clammor around and get their energy out?)
Oh well. Not the coolest playplace ever, but still a decent one!
If you know of any super cool McDonalds playplaces (or any other cool places) you think I should write about, please let me know!
Cici's Pizza Buffet In Downers Grove
Place: Cici's Pizza Buffet
Location: 1340 Butterfield Rd, Downers Grove, IL
Type of Place: Pizza buffet restaurant
Secret: Kids three and under are completely free! This is nice for those of us with little ones who are old enough to enjoy a slice or two of pizza but young enough to not have to pay!
Appropriate ages: Anyone old enough to eat solid foods.
Cost: $4.50 (plus about two dollars for a drink) for adults, $3.00 plus one dollar for drinks for kids between four and twelve. For kids three and under, it is free!
I always see the commercials for this restaurant, and I'm a pizza lover, so I've been wanting to check it out for a long time. Recently Diana, Jimmy and the kids went there on a night while I was at school, and Diana and Jimmy said it was horrible. But I wanted to see for myself! So yesterday Pufferfish and I decided to go there for lunch. (Okay, so I decided. But Pufferfish thought it was a great idea!)
The first thing I noticed was that the guy at the counter gave us a cheerful greeting and a smile as we walked in, asking us how we were doing. I know, that seems like a small thing, but you don't really get that much anymore! So many people just hate their jobs and let it show. I appreciated the friendliness here!
The buffet consisted of about ten different kinds of pizza, plus one pasta dish, and a mini salad bar with different toppings and dressings. One thing that I wished was that the items at the buffet would have had labels of some sort, the way Old Country Buffet does. It was hard to tell which kind of pizza was which. Of course, some were obvious, like the vegetable pizza, sausage, pepperoni, etc.But others were less obvious. For instance, I had always wanted to try the macaroni and cheese pizza, but I wasn't sure which one it was (and I was too shy and socially awkward to ask!) I think they don't put out all of the pizzas on their menu at once. I didn't see the deep dish kind either, or the Mexican style, or some of the other kinds that are on the menu.
I got Pufferfish a couple slices of the cheesiest-looking pizza, and I loaded up my own plate with about six different slices. (I didn't bother with the salad or pasta, although it looked good! I wanted to try all of the pizzas!) We found a table, and sat down to eat.
The pizza was... not spectacular. It wasn't horrid, either. It didn't taste old or greasy to me, but it was more like regular frozen pizza you get at the grocery store. It was tasty, but definitely not awesome. But... buffet food never really is, right?
Pufferfish liked it though! She ate half of each of her two slices, which is really good for her. (She eats like a bird!)
We moved onto dessert, my favorite part of any meal! The dessert had three choices... cinnamon rolls, brownies, and some sort of apple pizza. The cinnamon rolls and the applie pizza were delightful! Especially the apple pizza. It was thin but sweet, apply and cinnamony, and had icing on top. I could have eaten forty pieces of it! The brownies were a little weird though... sort of bitter and chalky. (I ate three of them. I have no idea why.)
Finally, Pufferfish and I checked out the little arcade in the back of the restaurant. The arcade games were a little above Pufferfish's little. There were driving games and shooting games and things, and an air hockey table... things more suited for the eight and older crowd. But they also had one of those games where you lower a claw into a bunch of candy and try to grab as much as you can. Pufferfish loves candy more than life itself, so she was ecstatic to play this game! I had four quarters, so she got to play four times, and won a bunch of candy.
My overall opinion? If you're going on a date or having an adult night out with friends, choose a nicer restaurant. But if what you're looking for is a clean, cheap, family-friendly restaurant where you know your kids will eat and enjoy most of the food and where five bucks in quarters will give your kids half an hour of fun in the arcade, then Cici's Pizza will really fit the bill! (By the way... little kids will probably enjoy the pizza here more than they would like more expensive, fancier pizza from a regular restaurant. Kids are weird that way. I mean, they think the pizza at Chuck E. Cheese's is terrific, right?)
Location: 1340 Butterfield Rd, Downers Grove, IL
Type of Place: Pizza buffet restaurant
Secret: Kids three and under are completely free! This is nice for those of us with little ones who are old enough to enjoy a slice or two of pizza but young enough to not have to pay!
Appropriate ages: Anyone old enough to eat solid foods.
Cost: $4.50 (plus about two dollars for a drink) for adults, $3.00 plus one dollar for drinks for kids between four and twelve. For kids three and under, it is free!
I always see the commercials for this restaurant, and I'm a pizza lover, so I've been wanting to check it out for a long time. Recently Diana, Jimmy and the kids went there on a night while I was at school, and Diana and Jimmy said it was horrible. But I wanted to see for myself! So yesterday Pufferfish and I decided to go there for lunch. (Okay, so I decided. But Pufferfish thought it was a great idea!)
The first thing I noticed was that the guy at the counter gave us a cheerful greeting and a smile as we walked in, asking us how we were doing. I know, that seems like a small thing, but you don't really get that much anymore! So many people just hate their jobs and let it show. I appreciated the friendliness here!
The buffet consisted of about ten different kinds of pizza, plus one pasta dish, and a mini salad bar with different toppings and dressings. One thing that I wished was that the items at the buffet would have had labels of some sort, the way Old Country Buffet does. It was hard to tell which kind of pizza was which. Of course, some were obvious, like the vegetable pizza, sausage, pepperoni, etc.But others were less obvious. For instance, I had always wanted to try the macaroni and cheese pizza, but I wasn't sure which one it was (and I was too shy and socially awkward to ask!) I think they don't put out all of the pizzas on their menu at once. I didn't see the deep dish kind either, or the Mexican style, or some of the other kinds that are on the menu.
I got Pufferfish a couple slices of the cheesiest-looking pizza, and I loaded up my own plate with about six different slices. (I didn't bother with the salad or pasta, although it looked good! I wanted to try all of the pizzas!) We found a table, and sat down to eat.
The pizza was... not spectacular. It wasn't horrid, either. It didn't taste old or greasy to me, but it was more like regular frozen pizza you get at the grocery store. It was tasty, but definitely not awesome. But... buffet food never really is, right?
Pufferfish liked it though! She ate half of each of her two slices, which is really good for her. (She eats like a bird!)
We moved onto dessert, my favorite part of any meal! The dessert had three choices... cinnamon rolls, brownies, and some sort of apple pizza. The cinnamon rolls and the applie pizza were delightful! Especially the apple pizza. It was thin but sweet, apply and cinnamony, and had icing on top. I could have eaten forty pieces of it! The brownies were a little weird though... sort of bitter and chalky. (I ate three of them. I have no idea why.)
Finally, Pufferfish and I checked out the little arcade in the back of the restaurant. The arcade games were a little above Pufferfish's little. There were driving games and shooting games and things, and an air hockey table... things more suited for the eight and older crowd. But they also had one of those games where you lower a claw into a bunch of candy and try to grab as much as you can. Pufferfish loves candy more than life itself, so she was ecstatic to play this game! I had four quarters, so she got to play four times, and won a bunch of candy.
My overall opinion? If you're going on a date or having an adult night out with friends, choose a nicer restaurant. But if what you're looking for is a clean, cheap, family-friendly restaurant where you know your kids will eat and enjoy most of the food and where five bucks in quarters will give your kids half an hour of fun in the arcade, then Cici's Pizza will really fit the bill! (By the way... little kids will probably enjoy the pizza here more than they would like more expensive, fancier pizza from a regular restaurant. Kids are weird that way. I mean, they think the pizza at Chuck E. Cheese's is terrific, right?)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sweet Street Candy Store in Lombard
Place: Sweet Street
Location: 17 West St. Charles Road in Lombard. (Downtown area.)
Type of Place: Candy store
Secret: Ask for samples of the bulk candy behind the counter! Also, this summer they will start serving ice cream as well!
Appropriate ages: All ages, except for little ones who are too young for candy!
Cost: Depends on what you buy!
I've noticed this little candy shop a million times a million times, and I've always wanted to go in. I have a tradition with the kids where, every Monday we go somewhere and they can pick out a piece of candy (or in hot weather we get ice cream from the truck in the park.) It isn't linked to good behavior or anything else... its just something we can all look forward to to make Mondays a little sweeter! So this past Monday I decided to take them to Sweet Street.
Sweet Street has the look of an old-fashioned candy store. When you walk in, all you see is colorful candy displays everywhere! Little Bear, Rafael and Pufferfish looked like they were in Heaven!
The store carries modern candies such as Crunch bars and Kit-Kats and Push Pops, and novelty candies like suckers that double as toys, and they have Door County Fudge and lots of penny candy. But they also carry a ton of retro candy, such as candy cigarettes, candy buttons, Doscher French Chews, Fun Dips, wax lips, flying saucers, Razzles, Fizzies, Tootsie Rolls, etc. I liked looking at the retro candy, while the kids were excited by the novelty candies.
The little ones deliberated for what seemed like hours over which candies to pick, and eventually settled on Bubble Tape and novelty suckers. They went up to the counter and dumped all that candy in front of the lady to ring up. (The lady said she didn't want to be in the picture, so I blurred out her face!)
Anyone who has ever met Little Bear and Rafael (and even Pufferfish, to a lesser extent) knows that they are not the most well-behaved children in the world. They can be really noisy and hyper, even when I warn them ahead of time that they need to use indoor voices and be respectful. I thought the lady there would be kicking us out the door. But instead, she offered the kids samples of the penny candy behind the counter! Theys each got little cups of candy... Rafael picked candy corn, which is his favorite, and the girls chose some pink rock candy.
This little candy shop is a great find! I think this will be a regular stop for us, at least on Mondays when its too cold or rainy for the ice cream truck!
Location: 17 West St. Charles Road in Lombard. (Downtown area.)
Type of Place: Candy store
Secret: Ask for samples of the bulk candy behind the counter! Also, this summer they will start serving ice cream as well!
Appropriate ages: All ages, except for little ones who are too young for candy!
Cost: Depends on what you buy!
I've noticed this little candy shop a million times a million times, and I've always wanted to go in. I have a tradition with the kids where, every Monday we go somewhere and they can pick out a piece of candy (or in hot weather we get ice cream from the truck in the park.) It isn't linked to good behavior or anything else... its just something we can all look forward to to make Mondays a little sweeter! So this past Monday I decided to take them to Sweet Street.
Sweet Street has the look of an old-fashioned candy store. When you walk in, all you see is colorful candy displays everywhere! Little Bear, Rafael and Pufferfish looked like they were in Heaven!
The store carries modern candies such as Crunch bars and Kit-Kats and Push Pops, and novelty candies like suckers that double as toys, and they have Door County Fudge and lots of penny candy. But they also carry a ton of retro candy, such as candy cigarettes, candy buttons, Doscher French Chews, Fun Dips, wax lips, flying saucers, Razzles, Fizzies, Tootsie Rolls, etc. I liked looking at the retro candy, while the kids were excited by the novelty candies.
This little candy shop is a great find! I think this will be a regular stop for us, at least on Mondays when its too cold or rainy for the ice cream truck!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Kids Town In Wheaton
Place: Kids Town
Location: 1141 E Butterfield Rd, Wheaton (In the shopping plaza behind the Seven-Eleven.
Type of Place: Make believe village.
Secret: Remember to have your kids wear socks... but if you forget, they have brand new socks of every size, with Disney characters on them, for sale for two dollars a pair.
Appropriate ages: Its geared towards the six and under crowd, but older kids who like pretend play will enjoy it too!Cost: $10.00 for kids over one year. Adults and infants under one are free.
Today was a dreary, rainy day, about the millionth one in a row! Pufferfish and I were in search of a new indoor place to go have some fun. We decided to check out Kids Town in Wheaton! It is a little more expensive than the make believe village we usually go to, Kiddie Klub Lane, but I figured we could spare the money this week.
I hadn't realized that they had a no-shoe policy (it keeps the floor cleaner for crawlers) so I had let Pufferfish wear her bare feet and sandals. Luckily, the people at Kids Town had an entire rack of socks in every size! It was an extra two bucks, but it was way better than having to drive all the way home to get socks, or even trying to find a near by store to get socks from. Pufferfish was excited to be the owner of brand new socks with Cinderella on them!
Inside, there were lots of little rooms decorated with different themes. Pufferfish was so excited to run from room to room! Her very favorite room was the one that had a tea set, beauty salon, diaper changing station, and lots of dolls. She can be a real girly girl sometimes!
There was also a police station...
...with a jail,
a little kitchen with a refrigerator, sink, stove, washing machine and dryer...
(the washer and dryer were cool because if you put doll clothes in and turned the cranks, the clothes spun around inside like in real life!)
a veterinarian's office...
...with live goldfish,
a construction zone with all different types of building blocks, trucks and tools,
a well-stocked library with kid-sized couches (there was also a train table in the library, for you Thomas fans out there!)
gas pumps to fill up your cars with,
a dance club with kid-friendly music videos playing on a TV screen and colorful strobe lights bouncing around everywhere,
a climbing structure with tunnels and a slide,
and way more!
I didn't get a picture of it, but there is also a special area for babies. It is matted, and blocked off from the rest of the room by low walls, so crawlers can move around on the floor safely without being trampled by the bigger kids! There are lots of soft toys and other baby things in there. They even have bouncy seats and exersaucers for babies to hang out in!
The one thing I wasn't as impressed with was the art room. I love doing arts and crafts, so I'm always excited to hear about a place that includes an art room! But all this art room included was a few coloring pages, and some cups full of broken crayons and dried-up markers. It would have been nice to see some supplies available for open-ended art projects. I realize they might not want to leave out messy things like paints for kids to use on their own. But craft sticks, pompoms, magazines, feathers, googly eyes, and even "garbage" like empty cereal boxes and coffee containers, could easily spark kids' creativity, and messes could easily be swept up.
All in all, though, Kids Town was a very cool place! I probably won't be able to afford it all the time, but I know Pufferfish will love it if I take her there once in a while for a special day!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Events For The Week Of May 17 to May 23
If you live in DuPage and you need an occasional babysitter, I can provide that! Check out my babysitting website, and contact me for references!
Anyway, every weekend I post a list of free and cheap events happening for kids in DuPage for the upcoming week. As the weather gets warmer, look for lots of local festivals and other outdoor events!! Be sure to check in here when planning the week ahead!
MONDAY
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 12:00 pm to 1:15 pm. $5.00 per child.
TUESDAY
Story Time at Pottery Barn Kids in Oakbrook Mall, 11:00 am. Kids who attend five times get a special gift! Kids can also play in the store before and after the story time!
WEDNESDAY
Story time at Bloomingdale Barnes and Noble, 10:00 am.
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 10:15 am to 11:30 am. $5.00 per child.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in Batavia, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. $5.00 per child.
Story time at Oakbrook Terrace Barnes and Noble at 11:00 am.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. $5.00 per child
THURSDAY
Story time at Land Of Nod in Oakbrook Mall, at 11:oo am.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. $5.00 per child.
FRIDAY
Cop On Top! Some Itasca police officers will be he hanging out on the roof of the Dunkin Donuts at Irving & Prospect in Itasca, from 6 a.m. - 2 p.m. They are doing it to raise awareness and funds for the Law Enforcement Torch Run to Benefit Special Olympics Illinois. Dunkin’ Donuts will be donating $10,000 to the Torch Run fund. If you visit the store and make a donation today, you'll get a free donut. People who donate $10.00 also get a free mug and a free coffee.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 10:00 am to 11:00 am. $5.00 per child
Open Gym And Moon Jump Friday at Gymnasti in Carol Stream, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. $5.00 per child.
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm. $5.00 per child.
Story time at Bloomingdale Barnes and Noble, 7:00 pm.
SATURDAY
A JustPlay event will take place at the Carol Stream Town Center, on Gary Ave and Lies Rd from 10am-5pm, both today and Sunday. Kids and families can try their hands at golf, lacrosse, flag football, volley ball, bad minton, Baggo, soccer and more! There will also be other events such as fishing demos, arts and crafts, kite flying, dog training and agility, backyard games like Bocce and PingPong and Ladders, a climbing wall, drum lessons, karate, hula hooping, and way more! There is so much going on here, you won't want to miss it! Check out the schedule of events to find out what is happening when.
A Touch-A-Truck event will take place at at the commuter parking lot located at Lake Street and Barrington Road in Hanover Park, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Kids will be able to see and climb in police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, municipal vehicles, and lots of other trucks! They will also be collecting supplies to send to the troops. Check the website for a list of supplies needed.
The Elmhurst Family Bike-a-Thon will take place at Safety Town, 511 S. York Road in Elmhurst (on the Prairie Path), from 10 am to 12 pm. Have your bicycle or tricycle checked for safety, decorate it for the Memorial Day parade, and go through a safety course! (Kids with tricycles will ride through Safety Town, and there will be an obstacle course set up for older kids and adults as well!)
Another Touch-A-Truck event will take place at Knolls Community Park, 1502 S. Meyers Rd., Lombard, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Kids will be able to see and climb in police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, municipal vehicles, and lots of other trucks!
Storytime at the Oak Brook Barnes and Noble at 11:00 am.
Story time at the Oak Brook Borders at 2:00 pm.
SUNDAY
A JustPlay event will take place at the Carol Stream Town Center, on Gary Ave and Lies Rd from 10am-5pm, both Saturday and Sunday. Kids and families can try their hands at golf, lacrosse, flag football, volley ball, bad minton, Baggo, soccer and more! There will also be other events such as fishing demos, arts and crafts, kite flying, dog training and agility, backyard games like Bocce and PingPong and Ladders, a climbing wall, drum lessons, karate, hula hooping, and way more! There is so much going on here, you won't want to miss it! Check out the schedule of events to find out what is happening when.
.
Have a great week, everyone!
Anyway, every weekend I post a list of free and cheap events happening for kids in DuPage for the upcoming week. As the weather gets warmer, look for lots of local festivals and other outdoor events!! Be sure to check in here when planning the week ahead!
MONDAY
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 12:00 pm to 1:15 pm. $5.00 per child.
TUESDAY
Story Time at Pottery Barn Kids in Oakbrook Mall, 11:00 am. Kids who attend five times get a special gift! Kids can also play in the store before and after the story time!
WEDNESDAY
Story time at Bloomingdale Barnes and Noble, 10:00 am.
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 10:15 am to 11:30 am. $5.00 per child.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in Batavia, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. $5.00 per child.
Story time at Oakbrook Terrace Barnes and Noble at 11:00 am.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. $5.00 per child
THURSDAY
Story time at Land Of Nod in Oakbrook Mall, at 11:oo am.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. $5.00 per child.
FRIDAY
Cop On Top! Some Itasca police officers will be he hanging out on the roof of the Dunkin Donuts at Irving & Prospect in Itasca, from 6 a.m. - 2 p.m. They are doing it to raise awareness and funds for the Law Enforcement Torch Run to Benefit Special Olympics Illinois. Dunkin’ Donuts will be donating $10,000 to the Torch Run fund. If you visit the store and make a donation today, you'll get a free donut. People who donate $10.00 also get a free mug and a free coffee.
Excel Gymnastics Jr. Open Gym at Excel Gymnastics in St. Charles, 10:00 am to 11:00 am. $5.00 per child
Open Gym And Moon Jump Friday at Gymnasti in Carol Stream, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. $5.00 per child.
Preschool Playtime at Prairie Gymnastics in Batavia. 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm. $5.00 per child.
Story time at Bloomingdale Barnes and Noble, 7:00 pm.
SATURDAY
A JustPlay event will take place at the Carol Stream Town Center, on Gary Ave and Lies Rd from 10am-5pm, both today and Sunday. Kids and families can try their hands at golf, lacrosse, flag football, volley ball, bad minton, Baggo, soccer and more! There will also be other events such as fishing demos, arts and crafts, kite flying, dog training and agility, backyard games like Bocce and PingPong and Ladders, a climbing wall, drum lessons, karate, hula hooping, and way more! There is so much going on here, you won't want to miss it! Check out the schedule of events to find out what is happening when.
A Touch-A-Truck event will take place at at the commuter parking lot located at Lake Street and Barrington Road in Hanover Park, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Kids will be able to see and climb in police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, municipal vehicles, and lots of other trucks! They will also be collecting supplies to send to the troops. Check the website for a list of supplies needed.
The Elmhurst Family Bike-a-Thon will take place at Safety Town, 511 S. York Road in Elmhurst (on the Prairie Path), from 10 am to 12 pm. Have your bicycle or tricycle checked for safety, decorate it for the Memorial Day parade, and go through a safety course! (Kids with tricycles will ride through Safety Town, and there will be an obstacle course set up for older kids and adults as well!)
Another Touch-A-Truck event will take place at Knolls Community Park, 1502 S. Meyers Rd., Lombard, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Kids will be able to see and climb in police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, municipal vehicles, and lots of other trucks!
Storytime at the Oak Brook Barnes and Noble at 11:00 am.
Story time at the Oak Brook Borders at 2:00 pm.
SUNDAY
A JustPlay event will take place at the Carol Stream Town Center, on Gary Ave and Lies Rd from 10am-5pm, both Saturday and Sunday. Kids and families can try their hands at golf, lacrosse, flag football, volley ball, bad minton, Baggo, soccer and more! There will also be other events such as fishing demos, arts and crafts, kite flying, dog training and agility, backyard games like Bocce and PingPong and Ladders, a climbing wall, drum lessons, karate, hula hooping, and way more! There is so much going on here, you won't want to miss it! Check out the schedule of events to find out what is happening when.
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Have a great week, everyone!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Discovery Toys
Hi everyone! I just joined Discovery Toys! I'm supposed to have a launching party to let people check out my new samples and to share info about Discovery Toys. Since I don't have a house, I thought I'd just have it at the park! Its going to be at the picnic shelter by the basketball court at Madison Meadows in Lombard, at 10:00 am on May 24.
I'll bring some snacks, and all of the toys will be set up for the kids to play with for a while. If they get bored of that, there's also a very cool playground!
Here is the invitation. I hope you'll come!
- Nicki
I'll bring some snacks, and all of the toys will be set up for the kids to play with for a while. If they get bored of that, there's also a very cool playground!
Here is the invitation. I hope you'll come!
- Nicki
Lil Monkey Bizness In Western Springs
Place: Lil Monkey Bizness
Location: 4700 Gilbert Ave, Western Springs, IL (in the Garden Market Shopping Center)
Type of Place: Indoor inflatable playgroundSecret: Wait until about 11 am to go. Thats when many people leave for naptime, lunch, picking up/dropping off preschoolers and kindergarteners at school, etc.
Appropriate ages: I'd say 6 and under.
Cost: $7.50 for kids over 1, $5.00 for kids under 1, and all adults are free.
The other day Pufferfish and I ventured out to Western Springs to visit Lil Monkey Bizness. I've been hearing about this place for years, but always imagined it to be too far away. (Now that we live in Lombard, we're a good 20 minutes closer than before, so that makes a difference!)
I kind of expected it to be similar to Monkey Joe's, but it was entirely different. Monkey Joe's is a huge place full of inflatable jumpy things. Lil Monkey Bizness does have one inflatable thing, but the rest of the stuff is more like regular indoor playground equipment.
We arrived there at around ten in the morning. It was really crowded and noisy, and Pufferfish was having a hard time. She wouldn't play, kept hiding behind me, and even asked to go home. I was baffled, because Monkey Joe's was pretty crowded when we were there, and Pufferfish had had no problems there.
Then I figured it out... Lil Monkey Bizness is a lot smaller, and the equipment is closer together. When its crowded, it is hard to move around without coming close to bumping into other people. Its also very loud. I guess the accoustics are different from Monkey Joe's, maybe because of the size. With kids running around everywhere and shouting, Pufferfish was overwhelmed! If your kids have any sensory issues or get anxious in crowded places, you probably want to avoid this place during peak hours.
We went into the art room for a while to avoid the crowds. Sometimes they have organized art projects going on, but today they just had open art, with paints, rubber stamps, and stencils set out for kids to work with on their own.
Then we sat down and had a snacke. They have a coffee shop there where you can order lots of different coffee drinks, as well as smoothies, Italian sodas, hot cocoa, and other drinks. They also have some kid-friendly snacks like yogurt, cookies and crackers. Pufferfish ordered a hot cocoa and a package of goldfish crackers. I tasted her hot cocoa... It was delicious! Next time I'm definitely going to order one for myself! (I don't drink coffee, so I just had a boring Coke.)
By that time, it was around 11:15, and the place was much less crowded. We decided to try playing again. And this time, Pufferfish really got into it! She played happily until it was time to go get the older kids.
She always loves going down slides....
The swings were also very cool!
The only thing I wish was that maybe they would have had an employee around the swings to help monitor the kids. The swings were one of the most popular things there, and there was usually a line of kids waiting. It is frustrating to wait in line for ten minutes with your little one for a ride on the swing, and then have some other kid push in front of you and take your kid's turn. I know they're just little kids and its not a big deal, except it is hard to try to teach Pufferfish, "We need to wait patiently in line for our turn," and then have her ask "Why don't those kids have to wait in line?" It happened about ten times in the first ten minutes I waited in line for the swings... and when I or other adults tried gently telling the kids, "You have to wait in line!" they would just stare at us like we were crazy and go on swinging. The kids in question were old enough to know better. Manners, kids, manners!
But I guess the swings were worth the long wait for Pufferfish!
