On a tip from my friend Kelly, I signed up for a new service called Pearachute.

The service gives you options to drop in play at many different ‘pay to play’ spaces in the city and suburbs.

I really like the flexibility, and the fact that you can see so many different places, your kids never get bored.

But be warned, it is not a discount site, sometimes the price you pay to pearachute is more expensive than the general entry fee.

Having said that, because of the new service, we motivated to check out the Little Beans Cafe in Evanston.

It took us a mere 22 minutes to get there, which is just about how long it takes to get to the one in the city if you include trolling for parking, but this one had so much more.

With the suburbs comes extra space. Ample parking and a drive through were features you just can’t get in the city. And because they had so much space, there was a ton of different rooms to play in. We took advantage of them all.

The ‘Little Bean’s Village’ room was similar to the entire cafe in the city, except there was an extra crazy laser light room that we danced around in for a while in the back.

But in addition to that, they also had ‘Big Beans’ area with obstacle course.

And karaoke room! 

There was also a full gym area where you could play hockey, soccer or basketball.

On the way out I saw a library with arts and crafts. They also hold kid classes.

I’d have to say, traveling an extra 10 minutes to have parking, four times as many things to do in a less crowded space for less money makes me wonder what else is in the nearby suburbs for the kids and I to explore.