Treehouse

Whenever my husband takes our daughters on a campout I take Little Man somewhere fun to play. At this point we've tried most of the places near us so decided to venture a little further today - to the Treehouse in Lake Zurich.

It took about a half hour for us to get there but it was great!! It's a play place and cafe. I've been to a bunch of those over the years (Nibbles in Wheeling, Little Beans downtown and the now defunct Little Village Play Place in Arlington Heights) but this is by far the best. $10.50 per kid (1 and under are free) a treehouse climbing area that kept Little Man happy for 3 hours, and the food was good.  What I liked best about it was all the little details that they got right.

1. The food is made to order and good quality.  No outside food allowed but they are nut free
2. Kids menu choices are the usual plus a few more adventurous choices for the older kids, and the parents options are extensive (12 different sandwich options, salads, etc)
3. Little Man had a grilled cheese and they used a cookie cutter to make a heart shape in the middle
4. Free refills on sodas
5. Free water with a sharpie by the water cooler so you can label your kids cup, instead of taking a new one each time.
6. Wipes, napkins and tissue boxes available in lots of easy to find areas.
7. Lots of comfortable seating with full views of the play area, a well stocked magazine rack and free wi-fi (get the password from the cashier).
8. The whole time I was there I saw at least one staff member cleaning something - either wiping down tables and chairs, vacuuming floors, or wet Swiffering the floors.  Not in an obtrusive way, but enough to keep things clean

View from the treehouse

9. The treehouse is made so parents can climb around too.  I'm 5'7" and could fully stand up most places. Most of the areas have at least two ways to access (one for kids and flexible parents, another that's easy for parents).
10. There is no age maximum and when we went back on President's Day even Little Reader (almost 9) had fun.
11. There were three birthday parties happening when we arrived but it wasn't crazy crowded.
12. They allow you to come back same day without paying again.  I'm not sure how it works (maybe hand stamp) as we didn't use it, but good idea if the littles need naps or you have errands to run.

Note: As with most places socks are required and they have all the kids use hand sanitizer when they enter.  Normally I hate that stuff, but they have a friendly staff member by the gate to squirt the kids' hands so you can't really avoid it.

Little Man climbing through the obstacles