Tag Archives: cameron

Under Armour All American Baseball Game

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A little surprise perk of signing up for Lil Sluggers this summer were the free tickets to the Under Armour All American Baseball Game at Wrigley Field.

The Gang Sitting Right Behind Home Plate

This is a game played by the best high school players in America. And Canada. Besides us Lil Sluggers families, there were lots of scouts there watching the players.

Scouts with their Radar Guns

Because it was not crowded, we were able to run around the entire stadium. This kids loved this. It didn’t matter how many snacks we had, they were itching to check the place out.

Look How Close We Got to the Field!

Traditionally, after the game they let the kids on the field to run the bases. Since it rained most of the game they cancelled it. Now that I know about it, I’m definitely going to try to go next year. Running the bases at Wrigley is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I don’t want my kids to miss!

 

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Foster Beach

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“I guess the old grind ain’t so bad.” I thought as I sat on my beach blanket Tuesday morning with my good friend Pam.

Pam playing with Max in the Lake

We visited Foster Avenue Beach. It’s got a parking lot right out front where there is always parking for $1 and hour. It has the usual Chicago Beach accommodations, bathrooms, shower at the exit to wash off the sand, small concession stand. It also has a wheel chair accessible ramp where you can wheel your stroller right to the water’s edge. And very attentive life guards.

Once again, six kids, all boys.

It’s a great beach for families. The life guards were so attentive that they even reprimanded Jack for accidentally getting some mud in his water squirter. They also had me take off my kids life vest. Yep. You read it right. Apparently there is a rule in Illinois that if the life vest is not regulation you can’t wear it. I also had this problem at the Hidden Creek Aqua Park also.

Mom tip: If your kid is scared to swim getting a life vest is a great way for them to get over their fear. I can’t take credit for the idea, I stole it from my friend Kelly. Before the vests Jack wouldn’t enter the water and Ben would jump in without caution. After the vests and a few weeks of practice, both kids can swim without me holding them. Just make sure you get a regulation one, otherwise you’ll find yourself with a a two year old like a floppy fish, thinking he can float when he can’t!

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Hidden Creek Aqua Park Fun

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We had a great day at the Hidden Creek Water Park today. With the husbands along, it made for a much more enjoyable, less stressful morning. It was super hot and gloriously sunny so the water felt great.

Believe it or not, we actually decided NOT to get the membership. For our family of three (Ben doesn’t count yet) it would cost $251. And the park is only open May 28th until September 5th. With the weather in Chicago, who knows how many times you could feasibly use it.

Instead we paid $12 for each non resident over 3 years old, a total of $36. Doing the math we’d have to visit 7 times to start saving money.

The water park occupied the boys for hours, and Jack didn’t even get to the sand pit. There was also a deep pool (6 lanes) with diving board and two slides for older kids which I’m hoping the boys will grow to in years to come. What else? A water playground with dumping bucket and slide, a huge zero-depth entry pool with smaller slide, water fountain sprays and a structure that funnels water that you can move around and vary the water pressure. They have lounge chairs everywhere and we were there early enough to be able to get ones under an umbrella for shade. Also a grassy area to picnic and a concessions stand to buy a picnic at.

I’m on a mission to check out all the water parks in the ‘burbs this summer but let’s see if we run out of summer days as perfect as today before I can complete it…

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Millennium Park Family Fun Festival

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Today we checked out the Millennium Park Family Fun Festival.

The performer was the same singer we had at Ben’s 2nd birthday, which I think motivated us more. I know it kept me running instead of walking the 4.5 miles for fear I’d miss the start of the show.

Afterwards we spent the morning running in the fountain…

Followed by a lovely picnic on the lawn with the mom posse, with music wafting from the Petrillo band shell.

Just another fun filled summer day in Chicago! Summer in Chicago make winter all worth it. Or maybe winter make you appreciate summer more?!

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Brookfield Zoo

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Membership mom. That should be my new name. Seems like every time we go check out a new place I end up buying a membership. It seems to work out that if you go a few more times that year it’s cheaper.

So when we ended up at the Brookfield Zoo last week, I became a member there too.

Three Moms, Seven Boys

It’s actually a bit of everything thrown into one. Not only can you ride a carousel, play at two different playgrounds, picnic on the grounds, get ice cream and ride a tram around the park but you can actually see lots of animals too! We even got in a dolphin show!

Getting 7 boys to sit requires lots of snacks

We spent the entire day there and still missed half of it. So I’m glad we can go back ‘for free’. I’m looking forward to petting the sting rays, riding the motor safari and seeing the butterflies.

The cons are, with traffic it can be far and like most things attractions in the suburbs it’s huge and crowded. The pros are it’s unlike anything you’ve been to before, your kids will never get bored (lost maybe but never bored!).

If we were to buy the day pass with access to all shows for one mom $26.50 and one kid over 3 $20.50 plus parking $9.00 it would have been $56.00. The family membership plus, which admits 2 adults, all children plus 1 guest each time, 6 guest passes, 4 dolphin show tickets, 4 motor safari tickets, free admission to the family and children zoo AND FREE PARKING all for $108.

Rhino exhibit's most interesting feature - The Moat in front

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A Musical Summer

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Last Thursday afternoon we met some friends in the park. As it turns out, they were having a concert that evening.

At first I was apprehensive about staying for a concert that started at 6:30pm, on a day where the kids hardly napped, and they needed a bath, and my husband had a work dinner that night. The thought of an early bedtime and a cocktail with mindless girly TV was calling me.

Still I was curious how they would react. After all, we just booked a singer for Ben’s 2nd birthday…

Dancing with Super Stolie

As you can see, they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Which made me wonder, what other music can we seek out this summer?

1. The band at Adam’s park that evening actually has a summer schedule … Super Stolie Summer Schedule.

2. Mr Singer. This is the person coming to Ben’ birthday. Sometimes we go see him at the farm at the Zoo. Kids love him! The Sharp Cookies Schedule. A small donation is suggested but not necessary.

3. Whole Foods. For rainy days or days you need to shop, the Whole Foods in Lincoln Park welcomes Bubbles Academy to it’s stage from 10 to 10:30. It gets crowded so go early if you want a good spot.

4. Millienium Park. They put on the The Family Fun Festival from June 13 to August 21st. The free show, by Wiggleworms (Old Town School of Folk Music) has a show every day at 10am. There is also a whole pavilion of stuff to do.

5. Ravinia. Every so often they have a kids concert. For city folk, it’s quite exciting to have a big lawn to spread out on. Here is the full Ravinia Schedule, all the kids concerts are shown with parentheses.

This summer I’m going to try to hit all of the above at least once. If anyone wants to join me for some of these activities, let’s set it up!

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