Summer Fun with Kids: Guest Post: Out and About

As part of the Summer Fun with Kids event I wanted to take our children to somewhere they have never been so their experiences would be completely new.  Given the intense heat, and have four young children I knew that we had to go somewhere indoors. We decided that the Chicago Children's Museum would be the perfect place; it was indoors, a place we had never been, and it is on Lake Michigan at Navy Pier (how cool is that?).

We live in Central Illinois so it was about a 3 hour drive, but I think anytime driving to Chicago is always worth the ride when you first start seeing that beautiful Chicago skyline.

The Chicago Children's Museum is located inside Navy Pier. It has three floors: two floors of entertaining and educational fun with a fabulous gift shop on the lowest level. 

There are so many features at the Chicago Children's Museum that I was so impressed with:  they have huge changing tables in the bathrooms, child-size toilets, and step stools for child-size sinks, and a nursing room equipped with books and toys to keep older siblings occupied. Also, with our double stroller with the additional seat for Keeley, we put any space to the ultimate stroller test! The Chicago Children's Museum has plenty of room for our "train", even in the various exhibits and there are elevators to get from floor to floor.  If your kids get hungry, but they are messy eaters, no worries, just stop by the "Snack Spot" and use their tables and highchairs. And even though the twins are still a little young for crawling around, I love it that the Chicago Children's Museum has several areas set up just for non-walking babies!

In the Big Backyard exhibit you can "catch" butterflies, hang out with some glow-in-the-dark bugs, and explore a really cool shoe! There also was an area just for non-walking babies! I love that the littlest visitors are thought about as well.

There was this really cool section where you got build things; Landon and Keeley were working hard on building a house! And how awesome is it that if you get tired, you can sit on the bench and watch your kids playing and then take a look out the window and see Lake Michigan?

In another exhibit your kids could drive a bus, wash a car, build a pipeline, and shop the produce section. I love the imaginative play that each exhibit encourages. 

One of my favorite exhibits featured inventions by kids. Throughout the exhibit items invented by kids were displayed. The kids, or should I say TJ, really liked the area where you get to build your own plane, send it up to the very top of the room, and then turn on the timer and see how long it takes for your plane to land. There were learning games on computers, as well as building blocks areas. And Keeley loved the slide that made music as she slid down!

In "Treehouse Trails" kids get to go fishing, rock climbing, camping and play in one of the coolest treehouses I've ever seen.  This was another area that is very baby-friendly with there section specifically for non-walking babies. This was one of Keeley's favorite areas and it was difficult getting her to leave the fishing area.

 Luckily we were heading to the "Water Works" section. Kids get to pick out raincoats and then get ready to have some water fun. They get to create their own maze for the colored balls to make it through. Landon loved being able to control which direction the water flowed.  Keeley's favorite part was the section where you get to change where the water comes out by connecting different clear pipes.

 

"Circus Zirkus" is where your star performer will shine! Kids get to dress up and put on a real circus show complete with tightrope and trapeze acts. This is the perfect area to let your kids clown around!

The Chicago Children's Museum has activities around every corner; the main corridor upstairs was full of games and activities to play. There was bowling, chess, dominoes, checkers, bags, and my kids favorite....real life "angry birds". Landon and Keeley loved using the catapults to fling beanbags into buckets. 

No museum would be complete without a dinosaur exhibit, and the Chicago Children's Museum did not disappoint! In "Dinosaur Expedition", kids to get to don archaeologist gear and go digging for dinosaur bones! There's a great sitting area for parents to watch their children explore the prehistoric world. Landon said that this was his favorite area. No surprise there!

The Chicago Children's Museum really does have something for everyone, including all ages and abilities. I feel that they have taken special consideration to make sure that everyone feels included. Here are just a few of the great programs and activities that you can take advantage of:

Open Playgroup

Sunday: 1-4 p.m.

Monday-Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Thursday: 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 5 – 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. – noon & 1 – 3 p.m.

Join CCM’s open playgroup every day in the Pritzker Playspace – it’s exclusively for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, and it’s a great place to meet other families, get inspired and play!

Summer Dance Parties

Fridays and Saturdays: 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

A dance party for the whole family! Enjoy a variety of music, learn popular dance moves and

boogie the night away every Friday and Saturday at Chicago Children’s Museum. We’re open

late, so come join the fun!

Kids Create: Clay Days

July 4, 11, 18 and 25: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Enjoy pounding, rolling and squeezing your fingers through beautiful, natural clay. Make

pancakes, snakes and other simple forms as you discover the qualities of clay. Then, paint with

clay and even play in clay mud!

Petite Chefs (Space limited; recommended for ages 4 and up)

Fridays in July: 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. and  Aug. 3 and 10: 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m.

Our healthy food series will introduce your taste buds to new, wonderful foods. Join chefs from

the Washburne Culinary Institute as they share their delicious secrets.

Jump Up! Family Music with Dana McCarthy

Saturdays: 5:30 to 6 p.m. and 6:30 to 7 p.m.

Join us for a fun, interactive performance! All are welcome to dance and sing-a-long.

Stuffed Art

July 31, Aug. 3-7, 10-14, 17-21, 24-28, 31, Sept. 1-3: 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m.

Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29: 2, 3 and 4 p.m.

Aug. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m.

Is it a stuffed animal or is it art? Yes and yes! Come create your own comfy creature to call your

own.

Play For All

Aug. 11: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Join in the fun as CCM welcomes children and families with disabilities for an exciting day

of multisensory activities. Please note: first hour is for Play For All visitors only. Pre-

registration is required, and the first 100 visitors to register receive free admission (limit 6 per

family). To register, or to request additional information, please call (312) 321-6551.

For more information on specific dates and times and other awesome events please visit CCM’s website calendar.

Hours and Admission

Hours:

Sunday – Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (Open Sunday at 9 a.m. for members)

Thursday – Saturday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. (Open Friday at 9 a.m. for members)

Admission:

Children - $12.00

Adults - $12.00

Seniors - $11.00

CCM members - Free

Children under one – Free

CCM is open every holiday except Thanksgiving and Christmas days.

Kraft Free Family Night

Thursday evenings, 5 – 8 p.m.

Free admission for everyone

Target Free First Sundays

First Sunday of every month

Free admission all day for ages 15 and under

We did take a break half-way through to get something to eat. The Chicago Children's Museum is conveniently located right by the food court inside Navy Pier. There are several dining options at Navy Pier in addition to the food court, so there is definitely something for everyone.  Since the Chicago Children's Museum is located at Navy Pier, you can make an entire day of your trip. After we finished up at the museum we did a little window shopping, and then went outside to look at all the huge boats. And of course there are the ferris wheel and swings!

And while the Chicago Children's Museum is smaller than other museums throughout Chicago, I thought that its size was a plus; you can get through and see everything in the museum and not feel like you are being rushed because you don't want to miss anything. It is the perfect size for a great day getaway, and was definitely worth the drive up! 

Mommy and 4 Peas in a Pod Disclosure:  I received free admission for myself and my family in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are 100% mine and were not influenced in any way.  I did NOT receive any monetary compensation for this post.

This post was written by Sarah of Mommy and 4 Peas in a Pod. Sarah is a stay-at-home-mother of four children. She spends most of her time running around chasing after her kids (5, 2, and 5 month old twins), but when she gets a free moment she enjoys blogging, reading, and watching movies with her hubby. 

Summer fun with kids: getting pretty

Today was a special day for my little girl. When I told her what we were doing today she got so excited. As Tabitha calls it, we got our pretties on!

Today was beauty day at our house. I painted Tabitha's nails and chalked her hair. She loved chalking her hair.
Hair chalking is so easy an I never thought that it would be.
All you need to do is wet the hair, and pull the chalk through the hair. I actually used sidewalk chalk because that's what we had. I put the chalk in water and it made the colors really stand out.
We did it with Tabitha's friend Afton and her mom and both girls had a blast. We also put on the sprinklers and played with the water and chalk.
The girls had a blast and Tabitha keeps asking when I can chalk her hair again.
Just and FYI dark colors will take a few washes to come out. Pink came out right away but blue stayed in after the first wash.

Summer fun with Kids: Picnic in the park

Tabitha's new favorite way to eat dinner is to have a picnic. Really I think she just doesn't want to sit in her booster seat, but she always asks for a picnic.
We have a pretty cool park here in Rexburg, (we actually have a few, but the one I'm referring to is Porter Park). Porter Park has a large grassy area, picnic tables, play ground with both little kids and big kids slides and swings, basketball courts, tennis courts, a 120 year old carousel and a splash park (thats free!). So last Friday I decided when I picked Tabitha up from preschool we would go home and get a picnic ready. I got everything ready then picked Morgen up from school and we went to the park. First we ate and had a fun meal together. Then we put the girls in their swimsuits and played in the water with them. After Tabitha was done in the water we went on the Carousel. Then we played on the playground for a bit. It was a really fun family activity. Had we been home, I probably would have turned on the TV for Tabitha while I made dinner. As it was we had 24 hours with no TV! That has been happening more and more lately. I love it! Over all this trip cost me maybe $3. Food I had on hand, we buy the carousel pass so it cost $9 for 10 rides and we used 2, plus gas to get there. It was a really fun and inexpensive way to have fun with the kids and not have to worry about how much it was going to cost us and if we could afford that.

Tabitha running in the water 

Close up of our splash park

The Girls enjoying the water

Even Eva likes playing in the water. 

While I know not everyone has a park like this i'm sure there is a park near you where you can have a picnic and enjoy your family. We would have had just as much fun at a regular park, because we were doing it together. 

Getting Crafty Weekend Wrap up Linky Party #3

Hey Everyone and Welcome to the Getting Crafty Weekend Wrap up Linky Party #3 at Crafting in My Closet! We had some great items linked up last week and I hope we have even more this week! Its always so fun to see the awesome projects that get linked up!

So lets start out with a few of my favorites from last week. We had some great projects linked up and I wish I could feature them all.

Red Headed Mommy linked up this AWESOME steampunk bridesmaids dress, How Amazing is this!? Seriously Love this. 

What's Cooking Love? Linked up this yummy looking strawberry mango layered smoothie! 

Craftionary linked up this super cute Pinwheels Wall Art. Love the colors. 

And Finally Chase the Star linked up this awesome mason jar to soap dispenser tutorial. 

For those of you who were featured this week, feel free to grab a button letting everyone know you were featured!

                                                                     <center><a href="http://TAPeschkecrafts.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Crafting In My Closet" src="http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac76/TAPeschke/featured.jpg" border="0" /></a></center>
On to this weeks Party! So for the Rules: (Every party needs rules, otherwise they end with the cops at your door. Maybe that was just the parties from college, oh well) 1. The project, tutorial, whatever you link up must be made by you. 2. Please grab my button and put it in your post or side bar so others can join the fun. Because what fun is a party with no one there?

                                                                      <center><a href="http://TAPeschkecrafts.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Crafting In My Closet" src="http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac76/TAPeschke/Crafting%20in%20my%20closet/weekendlinkup.jpg" border="0" /></a></center>

Summer Blog Challenge day 5

the theme for day 5 of the Summer Blog Challenge is what are your short therm goals for the month and why? Well to start off my first goal is to write every day. Mostly because I was so bad at keeping up with my blog last summer and I want to get in the habit of writing every day.
My second goal is to make at least 10 items for my etsy store. I have been really bad about keeping it up to date and stocked.
My third goal for the month is to make a tutorial for the Grace Dress. I made this dress for Tabitha for Christmas and I never made a tutorial. I have pictures but they are of random things (Morgen wanted ot play paparazzi, I have a million closeups of pin heads) so I need to try to make another one and take pictures of that one using the pictures from the first as a guide so I can write that tutorial. The dress was really complicated so it will probably be a sew a long.

my fourth goal is to make at least 3 meatless meals a week. I did this last month and was really good about it. Next month I'm going to try for 4 meatless meals a week. Its really not good to eat meat all the time, so I'm trying really hard to make nutritious meals for my family. Also since I have so many dietary issues from allergies and Evangeline's reflux its hard to come up with something new every night.
My fifth goal for the month is to clean up my sewing area and get it all organized. I've been combing craigslist looking for free shelves so I can put everything in its own place. I think I could get more done if I had a cleaner work area.
My sixth and last goal for the month is to get all the back laundry done. I usually do 1 load of diapers in the morning (three cycles, 1 rinse, 1 wash, 1 rinse), then I do one load of laundry. But I've been so crazy busy lately and the weather has been so nice I didn't want to get stuck inside doing laundry all the time. This goal also includes folding and putting away all the already washed laundry that is living in baskets. I hate laundry.

summer blog challenge day 3

Today's topic is 15 interesting facts about me. Not so sure I'm all that interesting but here goes.
1. My older sister taught me how to sew in High School while I was visiting her in LA
2. I got my first sewing machine as a high school graduation present.
3. I've been pregnant or nursing for 4 years straight
4. I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the day before my 21st birthday.
5. This November I will have been married for 9 years
6. I was married on November 15 2003, My sister was married on November 16 2002
7. I don't like wearing shoes, I would much rather walk around barefoot all the time.
8. I did dance from the time I was 2 till I was 15
9. The first pattern I made was because I saw a dress at a fancy boutique and wanted it so bad for Tabitha but wasn't about the pay the fancy boutique prices. I looked everywhere for a similar pattern and couldn't find one, so I just decided to try. The first 2 were awful, but after that I haven't had to make a dress more than once unless I want to.
10. Both of my girls were conceived using metformin and clomid (and I'm not shy about talking about infertility so if anyone has any questions feel free to email me)
11. I got both of our girls name's from dreams while I was pregnant with them. I had dreams where I was holding them and I knew their names, When I woke up and told Morgen he said they sounded perfect. So we never fought about names for our kids.
12. I'm afraid of dogs, even little ones. We had a dog when I was little that knocked me down and I'm terrified of them to this day, unfortunately so is Tabitha and she's never had a bad experience.
13. I got my BA in History with an emphasis in American history from the great Depression through the vietnam war.
14. When we lived in CA i was considered pretty conservative, but in ID I'm considered very liberal. (according to Morgen)
15. I've donated my hair to Locks of Love 3 times and hope to do it again.

This is Halloween!

Well we didnt spend Halloween in the ER (like last year with morgen) this year so thats a plus! Although we did end up there a few days before (stupid bad back!) Tabitha had her first real Halloween this year and she had a blast! (although I had to bribe her with pasta to get this picture!)

 Tabitha had her first Halloween party with was a sucess. the kids had fun and so did the parents! There were 3 Tinkerbell's there! haha! but they were all so cute!

 tabitha showing us where here nose is.

 Tabitha dancing in the kitchen during her party

 Tabitha and her friend Phoenix giving hugs (they are so cute!)

 Tabitha and I at the ward Trunk or Treat! At first she had no clue what to think about all this, but after a while she was so excited! She loved running up to the cars and putting her bag out! She never actually managed to say "trick or treat" but about half way through she started saying "takooo!" (Thank you) and waiving.

 We tried multiple times to get a good group picture at the party but It was  just not meant to be! We got some good ones of individual kids in each picture. These two are the best of the 6 or 7 I took.

Tabitha had more important things on her mind than a picture, like eating her wing. she also ate a jewl off her shoe that night. This kid will put anything in her mouth!
On Sunday night we went to Downtown safe Trick or Treat, which of course I forgot my camera for and got no pictures! grr! it was ok, but boy was I glad Tabitha and Chad wanted to ride in their strollers! It was so crowded and there were a lot of adults in not appropriate costumes which annoyed me since this is a "family event". Then we went to go see some friends of the family to show off Tabitha which was fun. We went to see morgen's old neighbor and after a bit of being there, she put out her bucket and said "Teet!" so they put the basket of treats infront of her and she took 2 full size candy bars in one hand and another with the other hand! Thats my girl! haha! Over all I think Tabitha's first real Halloween was a sucess!