FREE Admission to a Garden on Friday

Did you know that Friday, May 11th is National Public Gardens Day? To celebrate Rain Bird & American Public Gardens Association are offering free admission to participating gardens. Those in Illinois can enjoy free admission to the Chicago Botanic Garden, The Morton Arboretum, Cantigny Park, Elmhurst College Arboretum, Klehm Arboretum, Nicholas Conservatory, Rockford Park District. . We've been to the Chicago Botanic Garden, Morton Arboretum and Cantigny Park. We love it all!! See my reviews here. If the weather cooperates, we may just have to visit The Morton Arboretum again.


What a great way to celebrate Mother's Day a little early!

FREE EVENT - Soldier Field Eggstravaganza

It's Easter time and you'll find lots of fun activiites to do with the little ones. This Saturday, March 31st at 9:00 a.m. you can enjoy the festivities at Soldier Field. Last year, we went to the Solider Field Eggstravaganza.It's free, fun and best of if you are a die hard Bears fun - you get to walk/run on Soldier Field. You can even take in a breakfast beforehand (additional cost).

The Nitty Gritty: We went here on a cold, Saturday morning for their Eggstravaganza egg hunt in 2011. There was no cost so had to just pay for parking ($10 then, $12 now)

The fun: When I heard their was a free egg hunt at Soldier FIeld, we were all over it. My husband is a die hard Bears fan, and the fact that you could actually go on the field was all he needed to know before agreeing to come to this event. We came about an hour after the event started and there was a line just to enter the stadium. There were sections divided by age range, and we waited our turn to get on the field where candy was waiting for us. The event could have been organized better as we weren't even sure if we were in the right line.  Once they set us free - everyone (and I mean parents included) ran to get their candy. It seemed sort of chaotic.

Son's fav moment: Grabbing (or trying to grab) the candy.

Parent's fav moment: Do I even need to tell you? Getting to walk/run on Soldier Field.

Bottom Line: Would come here again but we would make sure to come earlier and in warmer weather.

Tip: If you bring a stroller, you would have to park it as you cannot bring it on the field. There were TONS of strollers and the paranoid mom in me would not trust my stroller and belongings just out in the open.

Lorax freebies!

Are you excited to see The Lorax coming out March 2nd?

Here are some freebies to tide you over until then:

On specially marked packages of Seventh Generation diapers, there are codes you can enter for a free gift. I just entered the codes and am excited to have a Lorax themed scrapbook mailed to me in 6 to 8 weeks. My son will have fun with this. Read more info here.

You can also download a Valentine, bookmark and an activity sheet here.

Stop on by Target on Feb. 25th from 9 - 11 a.m. where they will be reading The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. It will include free goody bags, activities and more. I am looking forward to bringing the kiddos to this event.

i {heart} IKEA even more! Free kid's meals on Tuesdays

My husband and I used to despise IKEA Don't get us wrong, we LOVE the store - the prices, design inspirations and more. It's the crowds that got us. We are true suburbanites where we can't stand crowds. Since I've been in a redorating/reorganizing mood, we decided to check out Ikea but on a Tuesday. Lo and behold - we heard crickets chirping. Not really, but it was a whole different experience. A calmer experience where we could actually look around without feeling like we were holding people up.

I digress - so we love Ikea even more because they offer free kid's meal worth $2.49 to children under 12 on Tuesdays. You can choose from the meatball, mac n cheese or chicken fingers combo.

Happy (and full) child + more time to shop = Happy Mom

We'll definitely be enjoying Ikea especially on Tuesdays.

Family Fun Day @ The Museum of Contemporary Art

In 2011, my goal was to go to have a "Family Fun Day" each month. We had so much fun that I've decided to continue it in 2012. Stay tuned for reviews of everywhere we went last year.

I've never been to The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) but have been meaning to since it's on my Chicago bucket list.  Boy was I glad to hear that they have a Family Fun Day once a month where any family with children under 12 get in for FREE. They said the magic words so I was glad to check it out. They have a different theme each month. This month's theme is "I Heart Art".


The nitty gritty: 

We went on a Saturday morning. It wasn't terribly busy so I was able to use my stroller around the whole museum (though they offer stroller parking also). There were stations located throughout the museum where kids could partcipate in a hands on activity. That was really neat.

Admission: FREE for families with children under 12

Parking: Located right next to the museum (about half a block). Be sure to validate your ticket and get $3 off.

Kid's favorites: The fish pond located at the bottom floor and the hands on stations.



Parent's favorites: Free food at the bottom floor - clementines, goldfish, fruit snacks, waters, juice. All for FREE! You can also bring your own lunch and snack here.

Tips: Be sure to stop by the basement for the free snacks. The Puck's restaurant offered a free kid's lunch with an adult purchase. We didn't get to take advantage of this as our toddler was getting cranky, plus the newborn was being a little bit fussy at the time.

Total spent: Just $$ for parking

Would I go here again? I would probably only come here for another family fun event. My son didn't really enjoy the museum per se. Even without the kids, I don't think me and the hubs would come again. I guess contemporary art just ain't our thang.