Zoo Lights

Zoo Lights, Lincoln Park Zoo

Last night we decided to visit the Lincoln Park Zoo for their annual Zoo Lights.

It was unusually warm which made it very pleasant to be outside. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea as us. Or maybe it was because it was opening night. Either way it was packed. A big open space with lots of exits, huge crowds and darkness are a lethal combo for a mom of young kids. I spend a lot of time screaming at them to stay close. I didn’t care if I looked like the crazy mom who yells. I wanted to see my kids at all times!!!

Roya and Ben riding the Train

The kids didn’t seem to mind. As long as they all had each other (we trolled around with 7 boys, ages 1 – 6 for most of the evening) they were happy. Mom tip: I finally told them to form a train. They held onto each other’s shoulders and shouted ‘choo-choo’ and ‘all-aboard’. It kept them all together which was a great relief to me.

The actual zoo lights are free but if you park in the lot it will cost you $17 for the first 3 hours. It’s pretty amazing what they’ve done and I highly suggest going down for a look. They run November 25–27, then again from December 2–4 and 9–11. Finally they open nightly starting December 16–January 1 (Closed Dec. 24 & 25).

Besides walking around to see the lights, you can also see ice carvings, do holiday crafts, see Santa and also see some animals. Lots of the indoor exhibits are open, as well as the train and carousel. The food kiosks like popcorn truck are open too.

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Thanksgiving 2011

This year we celebrated a little differently than in previous years. We added 15 more people! You would think this would add a lot of stress to the preparations, but actually it made everything much easier.

Pam's Pumpkin Pies

We decided to do pot-luck. Not only did this drastically reduce the amount of hours my mom and I slaved in front of the stove, but it added another great surprise. People all have their special dishes that they do really well. We got the best of the best. My mother’s cranberry chutney and sweet potato casserole. Cindy’s stuffing and famous cookies. Pam’s white chocolate pumpkin pie. Bubbie’s apple pie.

I’m hoping it was more fun for the adults. I know the kids had a blast. At one point Adam decided it was time to use the piñata that his mother’s gave us for Halloween. All the kids left with another bag full of candy. In fact, I don’t think Ben ate anything last night besides candy and cookies!

Kiddie Table

Adam also gave a touching speech about how it’s all about friends and family in life. I was amazed how coherent it was considering he once again woke up that morning at 3am to go to the office and worked a 12 hour day before coming home to a house full of screaming, running, laughing kids.

I know lots of you reading aren’t living in America, but for those who are American or living here, I hope you had a good Thanksgiving.

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Midnight Circus

My friend Pam suggested we try the Midnight Circus in the Park one of these weekends. Finally this weekend we made it work, along with a handful of our mutual friends. I’m not sure where she finds all these great things to do in the city but I feel lucky to have such a great resource.

Cotton Candy!

Once again Jack surprised me with his maturity. It was such a joy to watch him engaged in the show. He totally got the slap stick clown humor. Ben was mostly interested in dancing to the music, but he was fairly containable. Enough for us to enjoy most of the show.

Tickets were $15 per person for anyone over 3 years of age. The show is in a tent so rain is not a factor. There are bleachers and also open spaces in front to sit. As our friend Cindy suggested, bring a blanket to spread out, it can get muddy. It lasted about 2 hours with a 15 minute break. They change location every weekend and there is still one weekend left. Next weekend they perform at Chase Park. I highly suggest it and if they do it again next year I’ll definitely go again.

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A Week of Play Dates

This week’s bout of great weather, soon to be over, coupled with the fact that the life as I know it, also soon to be over, put a fire in me this week.

We spent the whole week at parks, meeting up with friends and enjoying the good weather….

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Weisman Park

My goodness this park has had a make-over since we last visited! Before it had sad structures and wood chips. Now it has a water splash area, a variety of play structures, and soft surface with the occasional bit of astroturf.

Playing House

Water Slide

The boys found plenty of uses for the different play structures, a few of them were quite creative. I’m sure none of the uses were the intended ones.

We enjoyed it so much we made another play date to meet here again before we even left. One word of warning if you are thinking of going – no washrooms. Be prepared to let your kids go on the nearest tree!

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Hanging in the Loop

Once again we were all boys, 9 of us together. I often wonder what it would be like if we all had girls. Would the goal of the day every day still be finding a space for them to exercise like mad in the hopes of tiring our kids out as much as possible? Or could we all just sit nicely doing arts and crafts?

We tried to do the Millennium Park Family Fun Festival but sadly it was over. Another sign summer is ending soon.

We still managed to find our own fun.

Surprsingly, after throwing their Transformers for a while, Jack's STARTED working again.

Ben also found ways to occupy himself.

Tree Hugger

We ended the morning at the Elusive Pirate Park. After spending the day at the beach yesterday and this morning walking the streets of Chicago, we thoroughly tired Japo out!

The Boys at the Pirate Park

 

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More Summer Fun

It’s been a few days since I’ve blogged, which some may take to mean we are not busy. But in fact we continue at our frantic pace, perhaps it’s been too frantic for me to have any deep observations. Or maybe it’s because we have been trolling around our old haunts again so it doesn’t feel blog worthy.

Either way, for those of you interested, here is what we’ve been up to…

Friday morning at Fellger Park…

"Cindy teaching the boys to Gamble" - Pam

Followed by Emma Bornstien’s 5th birthday party at Pump it up…

Emma's 5th Bday, Pump It Up

Saturday was rainy so we hit the Children’s Museum for a bit. Then back home for naps and a trip to Epic Burger for dinner. The burgers (I had the Portabello Burger) were tasty, the fries soggy, and the service epically bad. I was accused of taking a drink cup that I was never given, we were given the wrong number then given the wrong food, then got that number taken from us but no new number so our food just sat there. Oh, and our order was taken wrong too. Here in Chicago we are so spoiled for choice that unfortunately one bad experience is enough to turn us away forever. The manager did give us a $10 coupon for our troubles, so maybe if we ever get around to using it things will be better.

Sunday we took the boys swimming. No photos allowed at the EBC, sorry. The afternoon was so lovely we decided to visit Oz Park for some T-Bal practice, playground and dinner picnic.

Batter Up!

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A Full Day

So much happened today that, when I look backed at my pictures today it reminded me of things I had already forgot about.

Like the free air show we got when we visited the zoo this morning. Fighter jets buzzed the area all morning. It was quite a juxtaposition.

Ben was obsessed with seeing the Camels today

It was a full morning. We were met by our friends the Lafayettes and the Hutchinsons, all with kids younger than Jack. I was pleased to see that Jack is not a snob about play mates. Even if they are Ben’s age or younger, he still enjoys and can find ways to play together. Ben on the other hand is still displaying Mice and Men Lennie-like behavior. He likes to hug everyone he knows, unfortunately he doesn’t know his own strength and always makes them cry. Hopefully it will pass soon, as these disagreeable habits in your child’s development eventually do.

In the afternoon we met six other families at Adam’s Park for another concert. Ben surprised me yet again with his fearlessness and quick learning ability by climbing this structure over and over again without help…

Fancy Footwork for a 2 Year Old

Meanwhile, Jack and his buddies played in the water park…

Jack with Zack, Oscar, and Angus

And if that wasn’t enough fun, we ordered pizzas and picnicked. Then we stayed to listen to the Dave Rudolf concert. Ben was so moved by the music he ran over and danced alone to the warm up.

Congo Line

We got home so late that I had to skip the bath. All I had time for was a quick wet wipes wipe down before bed. Not my best Mom moment but sometimes you just got to put fun before clean.

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Nothing can be Everything

For all my talk of fun places to visit in Chicago, sometimes the best thing to do is go exploring all the wide open green spaces along the lakefront.

Gang of Four

Jack and Angus have gotten to an age where they make their own fun. From all my parenting books I’ve learned that free wheeling, creative play promotes executive function, the thing that later on teaches you self-regulation. Today they ‘shot’ dragonflies, pretended to put Ben in hot lava and turned Max into ice.

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Summer Lovin’

Seems like it was only days ago that I was full of anxiety at the thought of watching two kids all day long for three months. But now it feels like the gorgeous, fun filled summer days are slipping by way to quickly. Now I’m suffering from a different anxiety, of how much Ben and I are going to miss having Jack with us all day.

Angus running from Jack with a Bucket, but Jack has no idea the bucket has a huge hole!

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