Palos Heights Pool
The boys are finally out of school for the summer and we can concentrate on what’s important. FUN IN THE SUN. I work nights so Summertime is great for family activities. We can spend a whole day doing things before I have to get ready to go in. Time is not an issue. It’s the money and motivation that I struggle with. Today was met with inclement weather predictions and was a little cloudy but ohhhh so Hoooootttt! We decided to go ahead with plans to swim until the rain shut us down. Well, we arrived in the parking lot and the sun came out in full force. Amazing! I found a chaise in the shade (ok. so I pushed it deep into the shade) opened a book and pointed the boys to the slides and diving board. They stayed busy for over three hours before whining for Taco Bell. The prices were inexpensive the pool was sparkling clean and well staffed and the snack bar was open for business. Not a single complaint…until we got home and realized that while still in the shade of an evergreen I was just as sunburned as the kids. See, I can always find something! Kids already want to go back tomorrow…We’ll see…….I still have a few dollars left over!
Palos Heights Pool 7607 W. College Drive Palos Heights, Il 60643
Gale Moore Park-Worth, IL
109th and Nordica-Worth, IL 60482
Fort Frankfort @ Commissioner's Park-Frankfort, IL
Fort Frankfort @ Commissioner’s Park
Sauk Trail & 80th Ave-Frankfort, IL 60423
Centennial Park-Oak Lawn, IL
Centennial Park-
93rd & Nashville, Oak Lawn, IL 60453
Best Day Ever!
I know that the term Best Day Ever! is used A LOT, but I never get tired of hearing it from the kids. Many of you know of our quest to visit as many parks as we can this summer (saving ME tons in entertainment expenses). We are also planning on dragging in as many friends as possible. Yesterday my friend Dawn and I (of Climb On post fame) said we’d hang out with the kids with some vague later in the day time frame. We have some weird psychic connection because at the same moment I called her on the phone saying it’s time to go, her daughter was knocking on my door saying we’ll leave in 15 min. (This stuff happens all the time.) I wanted to show her kids Mt. Greenwood Park. The water feature was on and all the kids had a great time. We stayed for a few hours then the inevitable happens…the Kids were starving. We stopped and ate and found that neither the 5 kids or the two parents were tired so we just keep on going. We took my kids to their first ever trip to Toys R Us. (went way better than I expected) Then we decided to just drive around and look for cool parks to explore. We headed to Oak Lawn and saw most of the painted chairs on display down the main drag 95th Street and even stopped and posed for pics. Though we did find one park done totally in pinks and purples near the police station (NONE of the boys wanted to stop). We stumbled upon and chose a really, really cool park with this gigantic 20ft high spider web thingie that they could climb on. We stayed long enough to get hungry again! Went to Burger King with a what else Playland and went back to the park and stayed til WELL after dark. All the kids got along, I wasn’t home cleaning house, hung out with a best gal pal all day. Even as grown ups we said…
It REALLY was the Best Day Ever!
McDonald's Playland/Playplace Park-Bridgeview, IL
McDonald’s Playland/Playplace Park
8611 S. Harlem Ave
Bridgeview IL 60455
Exploration/Exasperation
Many of you know by now that Ian has special needs. He is in a special needs classroom for most of the day at school only going into his brothers classroom (also first grade) for a few hours each day. Well, the last field trip of the year was planned and I was told that I was requested (insert required here) to come along. In the past Ian has been paired alone or in a very small group with a teacher but that didn’t work out so well. Ian thinks the world should accommodate him, not the other way around. I was told the teacher almost lost him at the Brookfield Zoo several times and came home feeling a nervous breakdown coming on. Ian doesn’t ask permission to walk away. He just goes because, with Ian, every decision is a power struggle to see who can outlast whom. (Ian usually wins) Ian is so strong willed in fact that not only was I required to come along but I needed to drive my own vehicle in case he became a behavior problem on the bus. Since it was a first grade field trip Caleb was also going. For this reason my mother was also “volunteered”. We went to the Exploration Station-A Children’s Museum in Bourbonnais, IL. We have actually visited here before as a family and we had made the suggestion for this field trip. Ian and a friend got double teamed by his Teacher and myself. (We split up when I went Ian chasing) We had a great time, I only lost him a few times, and only for a minute at a time…(I blame it on the identical shirts they had to wear. A sea of tiny teal shirts…yikes) If you get a chance to go here, do it while your kids are small. There is a farm with animals you can feed, a park and all of the indoor exhibits including a GIANT castle with dungeons and turrets, stores, a mock ice cream shop, costumes, the inside of an airplane complete with seats. So much I can’t begin to name. (Well, obviously I’ve begun to name, but you know what I mean) We had a great time. It’s very affordable and you can stay as long as you’d like. We were able to visit all of the exhibits with time to spare for the park, Ian wasn’t awful terrible half-bad. He could have ridden home on the bus…but hey, I wanted the company.
Exploration Station 459 Kennedy Drive, Bourbonnais, IL 60914
Newcastle Park- Burbank, IL
Newcastle Park
8050 S Newcastle
Burbank, IL 60459
We Rocked at Climb On!
Climb-On Indoor Rock Climbing Gym
18120 Harwood Avenue Homewood IL 60430
http://www.climbon.net/index.html
We were invited to go rock climbing and bouldering with a neighbor whose kids have tried it several times. I was a little nervous about the dangers but anxious for the boys to experience new things. I asked them if they wanted to go and like puppies when you say..”wanna go for a ride boys” they were on board. They had no idea what to expect and except for the testimonial of my friend and a web site neither did I. We went on a Sunday and the staff was minimal (one) but we brought our own belay (person schooled in holding the rope..and your life in their hands) and we were set. For $10 you can stay as long as you want and they will dress you in your rigging. For an additional $7 you can have one of their staff members give you a mini lesson while they belay and coach you to the top of the wall 2X’s. Bouldering (free climbing) is always an option but you can’t climb over 10ft in the air.
Two of the boys took off like a rocket. Hayden (9) and Ian (6) will be a force to be reckoned with. Caleb though really afraid of heights gave it a go and peaked about half way up. I think that made him the bravest of the three. (Caleb spent most of his time there doing martial arts flips and rolls on the extremely cushiony floor.) I was fortunate my friend Dawn’s kids provided great examples of how to boulder and climb and her oldest (the greatest babysitter in the world) was the belay, sacrificing her climbing time to help with 5 ambitious kids. I’m sure the boys would love to do this again. It was a great confidence builder. The location was small enough so that you can watch everyone at once and and TALL enough to be a bit awe inspiring. They have a couch right in the center where we held the water and cheered them on. The only other expense we had was the $2.50 Gator Aid. (gee mom…water? What was I thinking?) You should go! You may just love it!
Mt. Greenwood Park-Chicago, IL
Mt.Greenwood Park
3724 W. 111th St.
Chicago, IL
60655
