Mt Prospect Recplex Indoor Playground

Since my oldest is 8 I figured that by this point I had been to or at least heard of all of the indoor play areas around me. Yesterday I found another one.

Inside of the Mt Prospect Recplex is an indoor playground. It has a climbing structure, slide and ball pit. Kids are supposed to be at least 3 and no taller than 48 inches, although I don't think anyone checks.

I took Little Man there and he loved it. We got there about 10 and ended up staying for two hours! There weren't a ton of kids there (maybe 8 at the most) even though the weather was kind of blah this morning.

It's located at 420 W Dempster in Mount Prospect and is open whenever the RecPlex is open - which on weekdays is 530am to 11pm.

The play area is not supervised. There are restrooms, vending machines and water fountains in the Recplex. Little Man had a lot of fun, and the price can't be beat for an indoor place. Best part, since it's about half way between us and Woodfield, I can use it as a reward for being good at the mall or a place to get the wiggles out before we get to the mall.

Back And Forth

At the beginning of this series I wrote about my new old fashioned time management system. Yesterday I had one of my most productive days yet, but still had lots of good time playing with Little Man.

We.....
dropped his sisters off at school and ran a quick errand
had a snack
dusted/vacuumed the basement
played superheros
sorted two loads of laundry
played with Legos
I posted a couple of things on here
We had lunch
tested all of last years' Christmas lights to see which still work
built a pile of leaves and jumped in it
changed the light bulb in the garage
played soccer
changed an exterior light bulb
cleaned leaves out of the pond
and a few more things that I now forget

The funny thing is even though I got a lot of things done, it didn't feel overwhelming because we went back and forth between chores and fun stuff.  Little Man has gotten so used to this back and forth system that now whenever the cuckoo cuckoos he'll ask me what that cuckoo means, and if I hadn't already planned on doing something, I'll say he's just saying hi.

I know some people are more efficient cranking out 3 hours worth of tasks and then enjoying the rest of their day with the fun stuff, but right now with a 3 year old in the house (all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays) that's just not going to happen, so I'm glad I finally found something that works.  I was still feeling good after the kids were in bed, so kept the momentum going tackling some of my crafting projects while watching Scandal (my guilty pleasure show).

Back To It

Yes, I guess I kind of cheated a little yesterday but that's because as much as I planned ahead I ran out of draft posts that I could just hit publish on, and I was having a good day with Little Man so didn't want to ruin it by spending time on the computer.

After dropping his sisters off at school, we ran a quick errand and then came home and played. He had decided that morning that he wanted to wear a bandana on his head so we played Jake and the Neverland pirates in our jungle gym for a while and then went into the playroom and played with Legos and then built a train track.

We had grilled cheeses for lunch (and amazingly he ate the whole thing - well minus the crust) and then headed off for his basketball class. It was the last day so the parents got to come in the gym, and the kids played with us so we could see what they learned. We practiced dribbling, passing, shooting, and finally had a game parents vs kids. The kids beat us 18-2. The coach helped the kids but admittedly none of us parents did that well shooting. I had one airball. Little Man got two baskets and legitimately stole the ball from me twice (and once I kind of let him take it). The kids all got ribbons to take home, which he is very excited about.

After basketball we stopped by the library for about an hour, and then to the playground while Little Reader has her dance class. It was a perfect fall day. Sun is out so even though it's breezy, not too cold.

Once we got home the kids made a big pile of leaves in the backyard and took turns jumping in it til it got dark and they had to come inside.  A good day.

Let's Go Fly A Kite

Little Man and I were playing outside yesterday when I found a tangled up kite buried under our other outside toys. I was ready to just toss it in the trash but I managed to get it untangled. Since it was a little windy, I figured we'd go up early to the school and fly it in the field before picking up his sisters.
He had a blast!!

Spring Break Wrapup

It's been a busy but fun week.  My daughter's were off school for the past 10 days and we had a little staycation here in Chicagoland.

Monday we went to the Skokie Exploritorium.  It's a great place for my middle daughter - 4-5 years old is the perfect age for this place.  My little guy is a little too small to use the climbing area which is the main attraction (although he would love to).  My oldest is outgrowing the place, but my 5 year old LOVES it.  We had her birthday party there last year.

Tuesday the little man had his feeding group, but first we made a stop at the Fire Zone. As usual the drop-in times are one hour sessions, which is plenty as the place is not very big, but my little guy loved it, and had fun showing his sisters around. They all enjoyed the presentation by the firefighter at the end.  Very silly but still informative.  Feeding group went well, but I have to say I'm a little disappointed that they aren't pushing things further.  He seems to be at the head of his class, eager to do what he is asked, while the other kids are more cautious. 

Wednesday was our best weather day so we headed to the Morton Arboretum.  We've been members there since last summer, but unfortunately haven't made it back since then.  We started off in the Children's Garden and then drove around a bit, had a picnic, and then to the daffodil grove and then stopped at one of the ponds.

Thursday my son's feeding therapist came to our house.  My daughters were eager to be a part of everything he did. We tried working with hummus this time, something not sweet to give him something else to try.  He was pretty good in the beginning but shut down pretty quickly.  I'm not sure if it was because we were all watching him, or because he just didn't like the new taste. I did tell her my concerns about his feeding group, and she agreed, but felt confident that he would be making the transition to table food very soon. That afternoon we took my husband to the airport for a golf trip with some friends to Myrtle Beach.

Friday we headed downtown to the Shedd Aquarium.  If you go, bring a stroller so that you can use the accessible entrance as the line at the main entrance was down the block.  At one point they even stopped letting people in as they were at capacity.  I've never been to a museum that got full, but I guess that can happen during spring break.  We got in around 11:00 and visited the wild reef where the sharks and other tropical fish are. This was our most expensive day (about $75 for the 4 of us, plus parking), we brought our lunches but I couldn't find an indoor spot to eat, so we ate outside in a tented area.  There is a jelly exhibit going on right now, which is interesting but not very big. 

The polar play area was a lot of fun for them, seeing the belugas and dolphins from down below, putting on penguin outfits and playing on the rocks

Saturday, we went to the Children's Museum, and finally after all that fun, today was errand day.  My husband is still out of town so I had to take the kids with me on my weekly shopping trip.  Adding a stop at Sports Authority to pick up soccer equipment for my daughter and lunch at Potbelly's, it all took 4 hours.  They did pretty well , but were definitely starting to lose their patience at the last stop, but at least I'm done for the week. 

Legos are just for boys?

Absolutely not!!!!

A few days ago I read a post by someone about girl vs boy toys and why does there need to be a difference? I can't remember who wrote it or where I found it, but the author commented on the Lego aisle at most toy stores and how there were lots of sets that would be considered "boyish" - Cars, Pirates, vehicles, etc and the girls are stuck with basic sets that included pink bricks but didn't have a theme. My oldest daughter wished for (and got) one of the pirate sets for Christmas last year and loved it.

My younger daughter is more interested in things that are traditionally girlie and wishes they would bring back the Belleville Legos. I just got the new catalog and there are some more "Friends" sets in there this time around. I'll probably get her the Heartlake Vet or Tree House for her birthday. Admittedly some of the other sets are a little too girlie for my taste but at least there is an Invention Workshop which would have been perfect for my oldest last year (she had a science birthday party) They also have a dinosaur series that I bet my oldest would love, it's never too early to buy the birthday presents, especially since I have a coupon that expires at the end of the month.

The other day she was playing with duplos with her younger brother. When it was time for his nap, he asked her to build him a beach. She said she would work on it while he was napping and he could play with it when he woke up.  I put him down for a nap and a little while later she brought me this. 

The details that she came up with crack me up.  Just to explain a little bit.  The blue is obviously the water.  The fences are to mark off the areas where kids are allowed to swim.  The red and white gate marks the deep area so kids can't go past that.  She is the little girl standing in the shallow end and the little boy holding on to one of the gates is her little brother who is practicing kicking as he wants to learn to swim.  Above him is a diving board. Bob the Builder is sitting in the lifeguard tower and he has his tools with him as sometimes the diving board breaks. In front of Bob is a small area for babies to play in the sand (she had a name for it, I don't remember).  Behind Bob on the beach are my husband and I sitting in beach chairs. 

 

I think it's pretty cool and they've been playing with it for a couple of days now.  

The grade school has a Lego Club and both my daughters are in it.  They meet once a month after school and the leader gives them a theme and they build stuff and at the end show their creations to the other kids.  I dropped them off the other day and bumped into a neighbor and his father on the way home.  The neighbor asked where my kids were and I told them that I had just dropped them at Lego Club.  He then introduced me to his Dad saying my two daughters go to the same school as his son.  The father then questioned why my daughters were at Lego Club.  "Is that bisexual?" he asked.  Ok, I know he meant unisex, so I didn't correct him, except to respond, "Absolutely not, all my kids love Legos". He has three grandchildren, one grandson plays with Legos all day, his sister has never been interested so he assumed Legos were a boy thing. I said I always played with Legos as a kid too, but as we were already at my house at this point, I didn't tell him that one of the Lego bins we have is one that I bought for myself long before I had kids when the Lego stores first opened in Chicago.  I would come home from work and build things. So not only are they for girls and boys there is no age limit :)