Archive for Things to Do in Chicago

ROBOTS-4-U

Are you looking for educational activities for your children this summer? Look no further. See what ROBOTS-4-U and Dynamic Art Design have to offer:


S.T.E.A.M. Education: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math!

Campers having a BLAST, while learning and playing in a dynamic environment. Learning about Robotics and Science, in an independent and exciting way!

– Robot / Science / Engineering / Day Camp / Challenges

– Camps Girls and Boys – Aged 7 to 14

– Robot Camps and Dynamic Art Camps offered during June, July and August

ROBOTS-4-U 3

– Hands on Learning, Self-Paced. Beginners to Expert!

KEY INFORMATION

– 1 week (5 days) long

– Days: Monday to Friday Times: 9:00-11:30a.m. and 12:30-3:00 p.m.

– CAMPERS RATIO: 1 Instructor to 16 participants

-Register early as camps do fill up quickly!

ROBOTS-4-U

– Each Camper Individually uses a ROBOTICS or DYNAMIC ART Kit. Robot kits do not go home with campers but are available for purchase!

Visit www.ROBOTS-4-U.com and www.dynamic-art-design.com to see dates and locations for these day camps.


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Alexa Cafe an iD Tech Camp for Girls in Lake Forest, Illinois

This post is in partnership with iD Tech Camp and US Family Guide.

alexacafe

Do you have daughters, nieces or granddaughters? Do you like to gift them with fun, educational camps? Then this opportunity is for you! Alexa Cafe for Girls in Lake Forest, Illinois is a unique all-girls program. At Camp girls ages 10-15 will develop a passion for technology, design, and innovation – all while collaborating in a chic environment that emphasizes entrepreneurship, leadership, brand identity, and philanthropy. While all iD Tech summer programs are great for girls, at Alexa Cafe, BIG ideas come to life in a uniquely cozy setting filled with cafe tables and beanbags. Courses include: Sugar Coded, Electric Latte, Game Swirl, Design Barista, Cinema Twist, Javaccino, Cafe Electric, Game Pop, and Cinemocha. Whether designing a sleek webpage, producing a film, coding creatively, or developing wearable electronics with lights and sensors, technology shouldn’t be intimidating or uninspired. In the right environment, it’s cool. Meaningful. Life changing. Alexa Cafe isn’t just an all-girls summer tech camp. It’s a movement.

Weeklong day and overnight programs are held at Lake Forest College, Georgia Tech, Bryn Mawr, and select campuses nationwide .

For help selecting the right course, please contact a Program Advisor at 1-888-709-TECH (8324) or 1-408-871-2227. You may also visit www.AlexaCafe.com or email info@iDTech.com.

Save $60 with promo code LAKEFORESTAC2015 when you pay in full during registration by Feb 28th.


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First Milking Experience – Wordless Wednesday

I always said B’s first milking experience was when we visited a working farm in Schaumburg, IL called, Volkening Heritage Farm at Spring Valley…but then I came across this photo not too long ago. It is funny because it kind of predicted the future. What was a fun little homeschool activity turned into what real life would be like 12-13 years down the road. B milking, B has the bonnet on, with O helping her. O is standing at the chair by B’s side.

FFR B's first milking experience

By the way the Volkening Heritage Farm is an awesome place to visit as a family. For a few years we went there after an early 8:30am morning church service and visited the farm. Some Sundays we just walked, other Sundays we participated in farm events. One of which was B’s first time milking a real, live cow. She went to its tail first! She was only four at the time and had never been around a cow. It still makes us chuckle.

Gotta love memories, eh? What memory made you smile this week.


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Week #31 Saturday Top Five Laughs

Saturdays Top Laughs dentistmelsbbutton-11

I have been trying to keep track of all our funnies and laughs and doing ok with it but may come up short this week for my Saturday Top Five Laughs post this week. Without further adieu… we join Mel over at The Mommyhood Chronicles for week #31 (for us) in our Saturday Top Five Laughs of the week.

5. O, our 14 year old has been cracking us up lately. It all started a couple of weeks ago when we were weeding in the garden and she started making up words, which she has continued to do. So I had her sit down so I could write a couple of them down to share here.

Her words: If you have a sudden aching in your lower legs, in your calf muscle, if you have a sudden increase in heart rate, then you probably have read-i-obia – the fear of running.

4. If you have a sudden increase in your temper coming out and you don’t fell like doing your work outside, then you have weed-i-obia – the fear of weeds and work.

3. We had a customer stop by for eggs but we were all sold out so she asked what else we had for sale and I told her chicken and maybe a few vegetables. She chose tomatoes. She didn’t want grape tomatoes, which we have a ton of, but the larger sized tomatoes. Our oldest son went out to pick them and the look on her face when she saw they were odd shaped and one was red with speckled zebra lines, which is an heirloom tomato but for the life of me I cannot remember what kind. Her response was, “I guess I’ll take them since I had you pick them.” People are just too funny.

2. I was talking with some colleagues on Thursday and I was sharing something and said, “My husband had to go pick up chicks.” They all burst out laughing because of the play on words. He actually went to pick up broiler chickens but I just said chicks!

Young Eagles_Cessna 182

1. Our family went to a local small airport for a Young Eagles rally and our children got to take a flight for free. And I just forgot what funny occurred! Oh, anyways, my husband ran into a guy he use to work with. This guy owns his own plane and invited Robert to go flying with him. I think they had a 40-50 minute flight. They even went over our farm. Robert said they buzzed down over our farm and made the chickens scatter. So when we arrived home I open the truck door and all our young pullets come running out from out under the front yard bushes. I said to my husband, “Didn’t buzz down too close, eh? Then why were the chickens still in hiding!” Or something to that affect, giving him a hard time, of course!

How was your week? What things happened to bring laughter into your life and home?


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Milo’s Kitchen® Treat Truck Visits Chicago Plus Giveaway

“The Milo’s Kitchen® dog treats, gift cards, and information have been provided by Milo’s Kitchen®.”

Milos_USA_LOGO

You all have met Padfoot, our Newfie/Golden Retriever mix. Padfoot had the opportunity to try Milo’s Kitchen® Homestyle treats. These yummy treats came at a good time because Padfoot decided to get lose a couple of times and I decided that because he came right to the door of the house I’d give him treats to encourage him to keep coming to the door of the house if he ever gets lose or out of his dog run. If you could see the traffic we get on our rural road you’d know why I was encouraging this behavior.

About Milo’s Kitchen® Treats

Milo's Kitchen Treats

FFR Padfoot Trying Milo's Grilled Burger Bites

In the above photo Padfoot is trying Milo’s Grilled Burger Bites. They look exactly like they do on the package, just see the image below. My girls all exclaimed how good these treats smelled, especially the burger bites, good enough to eat they said. And I must say they did smell pretty good for dog treats!

0858_MilosKitchen_Sausage_SalesSample

We had Padfoot try Milo’s Chicken Grillers and tried to capture it on video…do you know how hard it is to contain a dog when he really wants a treat? He did well but after a couple of takes.

Lastly, Padfoot tried Milo’s Steak Grillers, which ironically resemble their packaging too. Sorry for the blurry photo! Padfoot displayed his eagerness pretty well in this photo!

FFR Padfoot Trying Milo's Steak Grillers

0858_MilosKitchen_Sausage_SalesSample

Padfoot loved all three flavors and of course wanted more after he was done.

Milo’s Kitchen® Treat Truck Visits Chicago

When: July 19th
Where: Chicago, IL, Windy City Pet Expo, 1033 North Villa Ave.
What: Milo’s Kitchen Treat Truck

· The Milo’s Kitchen Treat Truck will be coming to your area so plan what better place to have a special date with your dog!

*Dog parks are subject to change due to weather and foot traffic

· It wouldn’t be a food truck without home-style dog treats! Your dog is invited to try free samples of Milo’s Kitchen® treats so you can figure out which varieties will have your four-legged friend begging for more.

· There’s no such thing as too many pictures of dogs. Receive family portrait photos straight from the Milo’s Kitchen photo booth or take your own selfies. Don’t forget to show off your dog’s look on Facebook, or via Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #MKTreatTruck

Milo’s Kitchen® Giveaway

Milo’s Kitchen® is generously providing and ship an additional gift pack one of you! The gift pack will include three varieties of Milo’s Kitchen® dog treats, and a $25 VISA gift card so that you can stay stocked up on some tasty favorites! Giveaway ends Wednesday, July 23rd. Enter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Why We Aren’t Taking a Family Vacation #PGeveryday #Sponsored

My husband and I love to travel, so do our children. We have traveled to Texas, Canada, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Minnesota and Iowa on family vacations or weekend trips. We always have fun, make memories and of course face challenges.

Travel Map of USA
Copyright: hamik / 123RF Stock Photo. Used with permission

It has been a number of years since we took a family vacation. Probably 2009, if I remember correctly. Money has been tight, plus we have chosen to become farmers. Summer is our busiest time on the farm with our CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture), markets, egg and chicken business. That is one of the downsides to farming. One of the agreements Robert and I had when we decided to farm was that we’d still take vacations. Well…we didn’t realize how long it would take to recover from a bout of unemployment nor did we expect another season of unemployment so soon.

FFR CSA Week 2 062514

Like the author of this article on P&Geveryday™ titled, Why We’re Skipping Summer Vacation, I admit it is kind of hard sometimes when we hear of others taking their family vacation. I also confess to being green with envy sometimes. But like Christie Tate and her husband, we realize this is the season of life we are in. Extended family vacations are not in the cards for us due to our commitments at home.

That does not mean we cannot take day trips to Chicago to visit museums, the zoo, Navy Pier or the Shedd Aquarium or travel other short distances. It just means it will take a bit of planning on our part to make sure everything at home is taken care of first.

P&Geveryday™ has a section on Travel Tips that will be useful to parents planning trips with children. P&Geveryday™is committed to making every day just a little easier by helping you achieve a life full of rewarding moments. Every day. The site aims to inspire, support and empower you to unlock the extraordinary potential in your everyday life. It offers a variety of topics, helpful articles for family life, delicious recipes for the 4th of July, etc. Check out their informative P&Geveryday Facebook page too.

Do you plan on taking a family vacation this summer? If so, where? If not, why not?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.


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Have You Seen Maleficent?

We had a child ask to see Maleficent as part of their birthday celebration and we obliged. We went on opening weekend. If you haven’t gone to see Maleficent yet, it is still playing in theaters near you.

Maleficent is the backdrop to a movie many of us are most familiar with, Sleeping Beauty. There is more to the story than we originally thought. I really enjoyed the way the creators gave us with the reason for Maleficent’s curse on Aurora. I think we can all resonate with a broken heart, right? And many of us can probably also relate to being betrayed. It’s what we do with that betrayal and heart break that make us stronger or weaker. Maleficent did not initially choose wisely, unfortunately, and that led to her downward spiral.

It was hard not to love the characters in Maleficent, except King Stefan. My view of King Stefan completely changed, as did my view of Maleficent. Funny, isn’t it? Angelina Jolie was amazing as this character. I actually haven’t seen many of her movies and I think the last one I saw was SALT. My husband and I enjoyed her performance in SALT, but this movie made me want to see more her work, just to compare them.

I found the relationship between Maleficent and Diaval, her pet raven interesting and the relationship she formed with Aurora perplexing. Her relationship with Aurora showed the softer side of Maleficent’s younger days and it is what ultimately brought her out of her downward spiral. One of their last scenes together brought tears to my eyes.

Maleficent Sign

We took all of our children to see Maleficent and we all loved it. It is rated PG. Our youngest just got a bit scared in the Wolf scene but that’s about it. No one had bad dreams or anything. So if you plan to see it, use your best judgement as you know your children best. Our youngest has seen so much more than our other children did at his age just because he has older siblings and he watches super heros so we knew he’d be ok.

Maleficent gets two thumbs up from us!

Learn more:

Website: disney.com/Maleficent

Like MALEFICENT on Facebook: facebook.com/DisneyMaleficent

Follow MALEFICENT on Twitter: @Maleficent

YouTube Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTnR43JTLNs8AKNpJ4KFI6SSdpTzkcXjw

Instagram: http://instagram.com/disneystudios

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/disneystudios/maleficent/

Tumblr: http://disney.tumblr.com/


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Haying with Horses – Wordless Wednesday

FFR Haying with Horses

I am barely getting much blogging done lately. It’s been busy here on the farm, plus we are homeschooling through the summer and I’ve just been enjoying life too much to sit very long in front of the computer!


Haying with Horses

Yesterday we went to a fellow farmer’s to learn how he farms with draft horses. It was very interesting. He owns two Percheron horses, along with two Morgans which is is also training to work like his Percherons.

We actually got to see Farmer L hay. He had already cut the field so we got to see him use his hay loader (which he purchased for just $90, if I remember correctly) and a hay wagon he built himself.

The reason Farmer L farms with horses is because of his dislike for the use of petroleum. He is self-taught and very good at what he does. He teaches driving lessons (learning to drive a team of horses) to another farmer friend of ours and she is enjoying the lessons a lot.

As crazy as it sounds, I’d love to farm with horses. It would give me an excuse to own horses because it would give them a purpose on the farm. Not sure I could convince hubby though as he is very much a tractor man.

What do you think of farming with horses in this day and age?


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12 Last Minute Mother’s Day Ideas

Mother’s Day is drawing near and if you are anything like us, last minute plans are usually the norm. So in light of all you last minute shoppers and planners, here’s a list of last minute Mother’s Day ideas:

1. Picnic

2. Botanical Gardens

3. A quiet day alone to do whatever she wants

4. Flowers

5. Chocolates – can’t go wrong with chocolate!

The Greek Yogurt Kitchen Book Cover

6. New books (I’ll be posting about the book above this week!)

7. Dinner at her favorite restaurant

8. Something from the heart

9. Jewelry

10. Green Thumb basket

11. A gift card for a dress from Matilda Jane

FFR Moody Sisters Mango Peach Lip Balm

12. A gift card to Moody Sisters who has a new lip balm out called Mango Peach! Our children liked it.

What are you getting your mom this Mother’s Day?


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Grand Opening of Grocery Store Chicago Mariano’s

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #MyMarianos #CollectiveBias

FFR Grocery Store Chicago Mariano's Lk Zurich Grand Opening

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the grand opening of a new grocery store Chicago Mariano’s in Lake Zurich. I am so excited because this puts Mariano’s even closer to us! I took two children with me and they said the new store was nice and shiny. Neither of them have ever been to Mariano’s.

I have been to three Chicagoland Mariano’s and I have to say that besides the selection of organic products offered, the courteous and friendly staff stood out to me the most – at every store. For example, last week when I went to the customer service desk to meet up with the media contact I spoke with a couple of different Mariano’s employees. Then after the tour of the store I spent well over an hour shopping before heading to check out. I met up with one of those initial staff members near the check out area. He actually remembered me and asked if I found who I was looking. As busy as it was for a grand opening, I was impressed.

I finally signed up for Mariano’s reward card since I plan to be back often and forgot the other two times. Using the sign up kiosk was really easy once an associate got me started.

Lake Zurich Mariano’s Highlights

Those of you reading for any length of time know I love shopping at Mariano’s. It’s always more than a shopping trip, it is an experience. It was no different at the new Lake Zurich store. Below are a few highlights.

The first department I always shop first is the Produce Department. Mariano’s has more than 200 organic choices! We had to buy fruit and veggies for upcoming meals and birthdays!

FFR Grocery Store Chicago Mariano's Lk Zurich Produce Dept.jpg

Mariano’s in Lake Zurich is the only store to offer a specialty balsamic vinegar and olive oil “tasting bar” with 200 different kinds of each product in its International Aisle.

FFR Grocery Store Chicago Mariano's Lk Zurich Vinegar Olive Oil bar.jpg

We love the International Aisle. It’s filled with lots of interesting products from 15 different countries and it’s actually where I found quinoa (keen-wa), an ingredient we need to make Quinoa Hamburger Soup.

Mariano’s Specialty Cheese section is a fun place to visit, featuring hundreds of artisanal, imported and domestic cheeses. Not to mention cheese sampling as well. Yummy!

FFR Grocery Store Chicago Mariano's Specialty Cheese.jpg

Mariano’s health key (TM) is helpful in finding products that are gluten-free, vegan, organic or heart healthy.

FFR Grocery Store Chicago Mariano's Lk Zurich Health Key

Meat & Seafood Department. Did you know that Mariano’s will grill your meat or seafood before you take it home? No charge. All you need to do is ask. I didn’t know this. Though I am not fond of seafood, I do like the fact that Mariano’s brings much of their Chicago seafood from shore to store within 24 hours.

FFR Grocery Store Chicago Mariano's Grill Station

There is a dietitian available for consults and education, which was also new to me.

Squeez’d smoothie bar features made-to-order yummy, nutritional fruit and vegetable smoothies, plus Mariano’s signature fresh-squeezed orange and other juices. We got to sample the fresh-squeezed orange juice and it reminded me of my summer in Costa Rica, when our hostess served us fresh-squeezed OJ each morning, just like my grandma use to when I visited her house.

The Bakery Department will make your mouth water with its delectable scents of freshly baked items. We bought sandwich bread and Italian bread.

Coffee lovers will enjoy getting their morning cuppa at Mariano’s Vero coffee shop with authentic Italian coffee and gelato. Shhh….but I’ve never had gelato.

Mariano’s sure was busy and we even visited first thing in the morning! I was very happy it had ample parking and lots of carts, including little red children’s carts – so cute to see little ones helping their moms shop!

You can learn more about Mariano’s by visiting their Facebook page or following them on Twitter.


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