Family Vacation 2013: Chicago Land, Pt. 4

50% chance of rain on my family's second day in Chicago Land, but I convinced Erin to try Santa's Village Azoosment Park once more. I'd let it go, I told her, if we got rained out again; I knew the forecast for my family's third (and last) day in the area was good, but I wasn't willing to give up our plans for that day.

As it turned out, we chose the perfect day to go to Santa's Village. Only a handful of people were willing to chance the forecast, and no kidding: end of June, and we saw, maybe, four other families? No lines whatsoever, and no rain: sweet!

The similarities between Santa's Village Azoosment Park and Santa's Land Family Theme Park & Zoo in Cherokee, North Carolina are multitudinous, as you can well imagine. I can't say which I prefer. The latter offers so, so! much more in terms of kitschy, tacky, vintage structures and stuff, which I love. At Santa's Village, there's little beyond concrete mushrooms, and I'm not so much into concrete mushrooms.

Eat Up and Affected

Santa explained twice why the mushrooms make sense, but I failed to grasp his words. Something about elves being descendents or relatives of different, small beings who love (live in?) mushrooms. Santa explained about everything. Which goes to my very favorite thing about Santa's Village: Santa himself.

Santa at Santa's Village can tell you about its mushrooms, North Pole, and artwork. He can tell you about every Santa who's ever worked there. He can show you his bells, keys, and (best of all) his map: explaining how he zips in and out of time zones so as to travel the world in one night. ("I kind of teared up," my Erin said, later, "when he was explaining how he does it; it was just so magical.")

Santa at Santa's Village can turn a Santa hater into a Santa hugger so gradually, so quietly, that she doesn't even realize what's happening. No one does. It's just like magic; it really is.

(Since returning home, I've learned: Santa from Santa's Village has a blogspot; check him out!)

Here are some additional photos from our day:

 

 

 

The North Pole at Santa's Village is frosty!

 

 

She was so very proud of herself for riding the pony; she really was saying: "I'm a cowgirl!"

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Brandee's and Jim's Travel Tips

Jim and I are big fans of deal sites like Groupon and Living Social. Jim had purchased Groupons for Erin's and my trip to Santa's Village; we were able to take all the little kids for a total of $40 in admission.

Family Vacation 2013: Chicago Land, Pt. 3

Here's a fact you may (or may not) find interesting: aside from How the Grinch Stole Christmas on tv, every year, I didn't grow up with Dr. Seuss. Not to throw anyone under the bus (cough, cough), but my mom isn't a fan. My ex-husband, on the other hand, grew up with Dr. Seuss and loves him, so I think my kids have every Dr. Seuss book known to man. I'd left right many of them behind when I moved out, but a year ago or three, my ex-husband came over with a box of books so big and heavy he could barely carry it.

"Cade's outgrown these," he said, trying to catch his breath. "I want his sisters to have them."

So Dr. Seuss is well known and loved in this house, and I wanted to take the kids to see some of his characters while we were near Naperville.

 

The Cat in the Hat statue is in the gorgeous, downtown part of the city. I look at my photos and feel happy all over again thinking what a beautiful evening we had together on the Riverwalk. Even Cade exclaimed over and over again how cool he thought it was: how he'd like to live there.

 

Charleigh was completely enamored with this statue and told us she was going to stay with her.

 

The nine of us enjoyed frozen yogurt at Red Mango, and then--after our families parted ways--I asked Jim to take me to Superdawg in Chicago. "What the heck," he said. "We're on vacation." And so it was that--of the five restaurant meals (counting the one at McDonald's) we ate in eight days--two were in the same, second half of the same day.

We each went for a classic Superdawg: a "pure beef hot dog (no pork, no veal, no cereal, no filler), formally dressed with all the trimmings, escorted by [...] often imitated, but never equaled, Superfries™. Served with all the trimmings - golden mustard, tangy piccalilli, kosher dill pickle, chopped Spanish onions and a memorable hot pepper."

And it was pretty good, but--while I'm not necessarily a connoisseur of hotdogs--I think I'd just as soon have a Skeeter-dog, myself.

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Do tell: where do you get your favorite hot dog? And while you're talking to me, which is your favorite Dr. Seuss book?

Family Vacation 2013: Chicago Land, Pt. 2

Before reconnecting with the "big boys," Erin and I took the little kids to Niles, where they tried to push over the Leaning Tower (a 1/2 size copy of the original, in Pisa). Can you see the little poots, in the photo, below? I can't even imagine what it must be like to stand near the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

While in Niles, we also took the little kids to hang out on a couch with Honest Abe. These sorts of things amuse me; besides, I was thinking of Erin's and my good friend Erin Quigley because...you know that Barbara Mandrell song: "I Was Country (When Country Wasn't Cool)?" Yeah, well, Erin Quigley was a Lincoln fan when Lincoln wasn't cool. Not that Lincoln was ever uncool, in reality, just that we were college kids, and everyone had a movie or music poster on his or her dorm-room wall...everyone, that is, except Erin Quigley. She had an Abraham Lincoln poster on her dorm-room wall. So here's to you, Erin Quigley, and God bless you for always, always being your own person and for having sense long before we did and loving us, anyhow. Here's to you, My Love: Lincoln on a couch in Niles, Illinois.

Okay, so, train restaurants are evidently a thing in the Chicago area, and when I say "train restaurants," I mean restaurants wherein one's hamburger and fries are delivered via a train. As I've already blogged, Jim and I had agreed to avoid restaurants while on vacation, for the most part, but had planned before leaving to give the girls a train-restaurant experience. Erin suggested All Aboard, a train restaurant near their home.

I look back at my photos, and Jim and Cade seem more enthralled than anyone else. Let's compare the two photos below; shall we?

 I'm just playing around; we all had a great time. But the photos do make me laugh.

  

We had many more adventures after our early dinner, but I'm going to have a hard time narrowing down my images, so I'll save them for the next post. Besides, my brother's coming for a visit, tomorrow (thus, my exceedingly good mood), and my living room's trashed.

Family Vacation 2013: Chicago Land, Pt. 1

When we pulled up, Erin and Mira were waiting outside their apartment building in Lombard. They ushered us inside and (along with Dave) filled our bellies with tacos and Garrett Popcorn: The Chicago Mix, which is caramel and cheese popcorn tossed together and was, for the record, my favorite thing I ate on vacation.

Everything was already perfect, because we were all together.

The next day was rainy, but I insisted that Erin and I have faith and head toward East Dundee with the little kids; Jim had already paid through Groupon for our admission to Santa's Village Azoosement Park. We stopped at Schaumburg's Prairie Center for the Arts on the way, because Don Lawler's and Meg White's "Awaking Muse" was high on my list of things to see in the area.

It was raining pretty hard as we pulled up, and I prayed out loud in the minivan: thanking God in advance for clearing up the rain for us. Not long after, the rain stopped entirely, and I give all credit and praise to the Lord. I have to say: in terms of the (many) things I sought out on vacation, nothing impressed me more than this sculpture, carved from Indiana limestone. The park in which it's located is beautiful, in general.

Someday, I will tell my Chippy that he spent a moment, once, in the hand of the muse...but his every moment--just every, single moment of his life--in the hand of God.

While we were at the park in Schaumburg, the one in East Dundee closed for rain. It was okay, though, because I was with my best friend, and I had a long list of things I hoped to see. All of them were outdoors, but the rain didn't bother us for the rest of the day.

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Jim's and Brandee's Travel Tips

Have a back-up plan in case of bad weather, a good amount of faith, or both.