We took advantage of staying "in town" for the Memorial Day weekend by taking a trip to visit my brother-in-law in the suburbs today, with a little side trip to IKEA. It was The Baby's first non-utero visit to the big blue box.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Downtown for Mother's Day
Today was my first Mother's Day as a mother of three children. The Boy, The Girl, The Baby and Mr. C. and I went to the West Loop to have breakfast at one of our favorite places, Ina's Kitchen. Located just three blocks west of Harpo Studios, Ina serves several reliable and tasty dishes in an atmosphere that is warm and friendly. Her restaurant is incredibly kid-friendly, although the touches are subtle -- white paper and crayons over the tablecloths, an abundance of highchairs and boosters for the littlest ones, sliced bananas served on a plate before the meal arrives, kid drinks served in lidded coffee to-go cups. She also takes reservations, which cements her rank as my favorite breakfast place. Because anyone with kids knows that children are not likely to wait patiently with mom, dad and the throngs of coffee-toting hipsters standing outside The Bongo Room or Orange.
Afterwards, we headed over to Grant Park. We managed to snag street parking on Wabash, and walked over to Grant Park to check out what ended up being a rather lackluster display promoted as urban green gardens. We meandered around Grant Park for awhile, past Buckingham Fountain, which The Boy and The Girl had never before seen up close. Buckingham Fountain is one of the landmarks I remember most from my own youth, but Grant Park was much more of a happening place back then.
Afterwards, we headed over to Grant Park. We managed to snag street parking on Wabash, and walked over to Grant Park to check out what ended up being a rather lackluster display promoted as urban green gardens. We meandered around Grant Park for awhile, past Buckingham Fountain, which The Boy and The Girl had never before seen up close. Buckingham Fountain is one of the landmarks I remember most from my own youth, but Grant Park was much more of a happening place back then.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Birthday Flowers
The Girl turned 2 today. Since The Baby just recently made his appearance, we celebrated her birthday with a trip to the Morton Arboretum to play in the Children's Garden. Although Mr. C., The Boy and The Girl had all been to the Children's Garden before, I had not. In fact, before today, the only time I had visited Morton Arboretum altogether was at an online meet-up in 2003.
It was very nice! The Boy and the Girl had a fantastic time exploring all the different areas/scenes within the garden. The Boy did better in the treetop/ropes course-type areas. The Girl preferred the water elements. Despite being early spring, it was quite a hot day, so both kids found reprieve from the heat in the water areas of the garden. They both had a great time activating the statue-fountains in the lower part of the garden, to the point that they both got soaked and I had to go buy them each an arboretum t-shirt. There were lots of school-aged children on field trips visiting the garden that day, as well as plenty of toddlers and their mothers. The Children's Garden had many amenities for the moms-with-kids crowd: benches, a picnic area, clean bathrooms with changing tables, and water/Gatorade vending machines.
We will definitely visit the garden again this spring/summer. At $7/person, it's pretty cheap as far as Chicagoland attractions go.
Afterwards, we went to the Colonial Cafe with Grandma and Grandpa Naperville for lunch, presents and the best part of Colonial: ice cream!
It was very nice! The Boy and the Girl had a fantastic time exploring all the different areas/scenes within the garden. The Boy did better in the treetop/ropes course-type areas. The Girl preferred the water elements. Despite being early spring, it was quite a hot day, so both kids found reprieve from the heat in the water areas of the garden. They both had a great time activating the statue-fountains in the lower part of the garden, to the point that they both got soaked and I had to go buy them each an arboretum t-shirt. There were lots of school-aged children on field trips visiting the garden that day, as well as plenty of toddlers and their mothers. The Children's Garden had many amenities for the moms-with-kids crowd: benches, a picnic area, clean bathrooms with changing tables, and water/Gatorade vending machines.
We will definitely visit the garden again this spring/summer. At $7/person, it's pretty cheap as far as Chicagoland attractions go.
Afterwards, we went to the Colonial Cafe with Grandma and Grandpa Naperville for lunch, presents and the best part of Colonial: ice cream!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
And Baby Makes Three
This blog now has a new character: The Baby.
The Baby, as it happens, is a boy. But since this blog already has a Boy and a Girl, he will have to remain The Baby for now. He was born on April 19, after a day spent walking around the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum with The Boy and The Girl. We played in the slide area, the river area, went up and saw the butterflies (The Girl calls them "flies!") in the Butterfly Haven, had lunch, and saw a turtle, a frog and a few snakes up close when a handler had them out on a table along the swamp exhibit.
The staff at the Notebaert were unusually friendly that day, perhaps because I was walking around the museum at nearly 40 weeks pregnant and looking quite as if I was going to pop. Whenever anyone inquired when I was due and learned the answer, she was quite taken aback at the answer and looked scared, as if I might have the baby within the museum itself.
Such was not the case. Although there is a hospital only one block north of the nature museum, I did not need it. Instead, I delivered The Baby at Swedish Covenant Hospital. Delivering at Swedish was a world apart from delivering at Northwestern Memorial Hospital downtown, where both The Boy and The Girl were born. I highly recommend it, and the midwives associated with the hospital, one of whom delivered The Baby.
The Baby, as it happens, is a boy. But since this blog already has a Boy and a Girl, he will have to remain The Baby for now. He was born on April 19, after a day spent walking around the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum with The Boy and The Girl. We played in the slide area, the river area, went up and saw the butterflies (The Girl calls them "flies!") in the Butterfly Haven, had lunch, and saw a turtle, a frog and a few snakes up close when a handler had them out on a table along the swamp exhibit.
The staff at the Notebaert were unusually friendly that day, perhaps because I was walking around the museum at nearly 40 weeks pregnant and looking quite as if I was going to pop. Whenever anyone inquired when I was due and learned the answer, she was quite taken aback at the answer and looked scared, as if I might have the baby within the museum itself.
Such was not the case. Although there is a hospital only one block north of the nature museum, I did not need it. Instead, I delivered The Baby at Swedish Covenant Hospital. Delivering at Swedish was a world apart from delivering at Northwestern Memorial Hospital downtown, where both The Boy and The Girl were born. I highly recommend it, and the midwives associated with the hospital, one of whom delivered The Baby.
Monday, March 05, 2007
CoCo Key
Back in March, my mother-in-law elected to make her 60th birthday party an event that small children would especially enjoy. She hosted her four grandchildren, their parents and her other son at the Sheraton Northwest Chicago, the principal attraction of which is the CoCo Key Indoor Water Resort.
At the time of the booking, the resort was brand-spanking new, and it was quite nice from a child's perspective. The resort's claim to fame is that is always Florida inside the water park, and my experience was reflective of that, although my initial reaction was that CoCo Key was very much like Great America on a crowded summer day. Despite the steep ticket prices (weekend day passes were $34) and the upscale suburban location (Arlington Heights), the crowd was fairly downscale. Although maybe that's just how everyone looks in Florida.
I will admit that my experiences were largely colored by the fact that I was 8-months pregnant at the time and could not enjoy many of the water park's more adventurous attractions. I was looking forward to a leisurely float down the lazy river, but a man repeatedly pulled the "spray a total stranger 10 feet down the river" chain so that I was blasted on the head with a spray of very chilly water and my enjoyment of the park came to an abrupt halt. He was unresponsive when I pointed out my condition and asked him to stop blasting me. After that, I hung out with The Girl on the edge of the zero-depth entry kiddie pool.
The kiddie pool area was quite nice, with a latched gate cordoning it off from the rest of the park. In addition to the zero-depth entry, the kiddie pool area had two slides, some spraying water elements and a high chlorine content. There was also a large screen playing the Disney channel, which is either a nice amenity or a cheap attempt to market to young children, depending on your perspective. The park had poolside cabanas available for rent; these were located along the kiddie pool and were fairly nicely appointed with TVs, refrigerators, mini-safes, and cushioned loungers and chairs.
The Boy had a fantastic time going down the water slides with his cousins and dad. They had a giant tube that went outside the building and back in again. Mr. C. went down it alone and reported that the tube was pitch black on the inside and fairly scary. Another open-air water slide dumped water on waiting patrons every fifteen minutes or so, given the shrieks that punctuated the air every so often. The Boy and The Girl's cousins tried out the lily pad jumps and water basketball in the activity pool.
Towels at the resort were plentiful, although at the time of our visit, they were also left behind in abundance as well, given the mounds of used, wet towels found behind most of the white plastic pool furniture. Although we rented a cabana on the second day, we were left to duke it out for a limited number of pool chairs and loungers on the first day. The park also featured a full bar, where my childless brother-in-law could be found when he was not going down the slides with the kids, and an A&W Root Beer stand, which served up fried goodness in the form of fried cheese curds and hot dogs, and root beer floats -- quite refreshing when you are tired and hungry and shriveled from too much time spent in water.
At the time of the booking, the resort was brand-spanking new, and it was quite nice from a child's perspective. The resort's claim to fame is that is always Florida inside the water park, and my experience was reflective of that, although my initial reaction was that CoCo Key was very much like Great America on a crowded summer day. Despite the steep ticket prices (weekend day passes were $34) and the upscale suburban location (Arlington Heights), the crowd was fairly downscale. Although maybe that's just how everyone looks in Florida.
I will admit that my experiences were largely colored by the fact that I was 8-months pregnant at the time and could not enjoy many of the water park's more adventurous attractions. I was looking forward to a leisurely float down the lazy river, but a man repeatedly pulled the "spray a total stranger 10 feet down the river" chain so that I was blasted on the head with a spray of very chilly water and my enjoyment of the park came to an abrupt halt. He was unresponsive when I pointed out my condition and asked him to stop blasting me. After that, I hung out with The Girl on the edge of the zero-depth entry kiddie pool.
The kiddie pool area was quite nice, with a latched gate cordoning it off from the rest of the park. In addition to the zero-depth entry, the kiddie pool area had two slides, some spraying water elements and a high chlorine content. There was also a large screen playing the Disney channel, which is either a nice amenity or a cheap attempt to market to young children, depending on your perspective. The park had poolside cabanas available for rent; these were located along the kiddie pool and were fairly nicely appointed with TVs, refrigerators, mini-safes, and cushioned loungers and chairs.
The Boy had a fantastic time going down the water slides with his cousins and dad. They had a giant tube that went outside the building and back in again. Mr. C. went down it alone and reported that the tube was pitch black on the inside and fairly scary. Another open-air water slide dumped water on waiting patrons every fifteen minutes or so, given the shrieks that punctuated the air every so often. The Boy and The Girl's cousins tried out the lily pad jumps and water basketball in the activity pool.
Towels at the resort were plentiful, although at the time of our visit, they were also left behind in abundance as well, given the mounds of used, wet towels found behind most of the white plastic pool furniture. Although we rented a cabana on the second day, we were left to duke it out for a limited number of pool chairs and loungers on the first day. The park also featured a full bar, where my childless brother-in-law could be found when he was not going down the slides with the kids, and an A&W Root Beer stand, which served up fried goodness in the form of fried cheese curds and hot dogs, and root beer floats -- quite refreshing when you are tired and hungry and shriveled from too much time spent in water.
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