Kids bookstore and candy store in Chicago
On monday my friend and I made a quick trip to the city with our 4 year olds. We ended up finding to great places that I wanted to write about.
The 1st place we visited was Chicago Kids Bookstore located on Southport in Lakeview. The girls were excited to run in as there are books, toys, clothing and more. While we were there they were about to have story time for infants. There were cozy places for the girls to sit as well as large stuffed animals(horses, dogs, etc…) for them to sit on. It is a whimsical yet educational environment as after all it is a Bookstore 1st and foremost.
After visiting the book store we headed down the street a block or so to Candyality and let me tell you, good luck getting your kids out! The have candy from the days when we were young, as well as chocolates by the pound and every other candy you can imagine. We were greeted warmly by the owner who showed the girls around and gave them the golden rule of “not putting our hands in the candy bins and only using the scoopers”. There is a cooler in the front full of frozen treats, movie style popcorn, t-shirts and gift items available. My daughter picked up a little gift bag of treats for her daddy that said “SOME SUGAR FOR MY DADDY!” how cute is that? I ended up spending $19 on candy but so enjoyed my bag of chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered peanuts on the way home!
If you are in Chicago, these are both great places to visit with your Kids and are local favorites (not touristy spots). Just click on the names of the places above to visit their websites.
AVON walk for Breast Cancer 2009
For the last 2 days women and men walked (a marathon and a half)to raise awareness and money for Breast Cancer Research.
For my family our connection with the walk started 3 years ago but began in our hearts years before. My husband and I have done 5k walks since our 1st daughter was born, who is now going to be turning 7. We told ourselves that we would always participate in creating more awareness after counting more that 10 family and friends who had bee touched by the disease. Three years ago we began participating in the AVON walk. The first year I walked and my husband volunteered as medical crew. We were both amazed at what happened during those two days. We vowed to participate in the AVON walk every year! Our 2nd year, my husband volunteered as medical crew and I was told that I could only walk 2 miles a day for medical reasons. I was devistated but stayed around to cheer on our team as well as 12 staff members from my daughters school who decided to walk! This year, I am happily in my 8th month of pregnancy, but was told not to walk under any circumstances….so my hubby, 2 girls and I trekked to the walk to Cheer on our Team!! The same emotions were there as everyone crossed the finish line, doing something that they thought was impossible. Achieving something that will change their lives forever as it did mine!
Next year, I WILL WALK…and raise AWARENESS once again
Boyne Mountain
This year for my daughters Spring Break we decided to go somewhere that is within driving distance. We were looking at Washington D.C., Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin since we live in the Midwest these were all relatively close. We ended up coming to Boyne Mountain in Michigan.
We have been here for 2 days and have been relaxing for most of the time. My girls have enjoyed watching the skiiers and snowboarders as well as enjoying the children’s activites at the main lodge. My husband and I are not skiing this time as I am expecting so we are trying to find other things to do with the girls. My 6 year old is in “LOVE” with photography and has been making my husband pull over whereever he can so that she can get out of the car and take pictures of the Lake. It is beautiful BUT cold. We got a few inches of snow last night but not enough to slow us down. We are heading to a Discovery Museum in Jordan, Michigan today and then to a local candy shop.
The girls love Boyne!
Splash Universe
A friend just told me about a great place to go…THANKS CHERYL!!
Escape with your Family to Splash Universe in Dundee, MI or Shipshewana, IN with over 100,000 gallons of water park fun!
From twisting waterpark slides and 500 gallon splash bucket, to the relaxing lazy river it’s always a summery 84 degrees. Take a break from our indoor water parks and hit the action in the shooting star arcade, then enjoy a delicious meal at our very own restaurants.
Start your splash-tastic adventure by diving into your day in our indoor waterpark! Splash Universe guarantees family fun year-round, rain or shine.
www.splashuniverse.com
Planetarium Visit
My daughters class had a field trip to the Planetarium yesterday. We live in Northwest Indiana so most field trips are to Chicago so I assumed we were taking a trip to the Adler Planetarium. Much to my surprise we were going to a local Planetarium, the Merrillville Planetarium. WHO KNEW?
Actually the Planetarium is housed in Pierce Middle School and was a short ride, which is great when on a school bus. They gave us time to eat lunch first while a previus group was finishing up and then it was our turn. We entered a domed room with reclining seats and the kids were pretty excited to get started. They learned how the sun rises and sets, learned about Orion, The North Star, The Big and Little Dippers, The moon and Spaceships and had tons of questions for our presenter! Overall it was a good experience, a shorter trip if you don’t have much time but a great experience and they made it appropriate for our 1st graders.
Field Trip
My co-leader and I took our girl scouts on a field trip to a local grocery store (Strack and Van’Til) yesterday. Sometimes you run out of places to go and things to do, we found this place thru a direct mailing from www.Fieldtripfactory.com. If you visit the site, you type in your zip code and find field trip places in your town, many of which are free.
Our girls got to visit different areas of the store, the Dairy Section, Produce Section, Meat Section, Deli Section and Bakery. In most areas they got to sample a food, learned about making healthy food choices and also learned how items got from other countries to the U.S.A. At the end of the visit they got to scan some items at Checkout and received a goodie bag to take home. Overall they enjoyed the visit, although a few were a little squeemish when in the Meat Cooler (my daughter included).
What happens when you walk out of the room?
Pretty Girl!
I just found this picture from the summer. I know it doesn’t have anything to do with where kids like to go…but more about what kids like to do! I walked out of the room to send a FAX, I was gone maybe a minute or 2, just long enough to put the paper in the FAX machine, dial the number and Push Send. My daughter, 2 at the time, just smiled at me when I walked back in!
This brought a smile to my face today..and sometimes you need to smile. And in case you were wondering..YES, THOSE WERE PERMANENT MARKERS 