Winter Break

We are a week away from kids being out of school for their winter break.

Parents all over are wondering what to do with kids and their pent up energy for two weeks. Some can take vacation, others cannot. I happen to be taking vacation and I always look for free and affordable things with my daughter, niece and nephews. When they were little, it was easy to take them to the Museums, Zoo Lights Festival (depending on the cold) and just to their cousin's house. Now, it is a little more trickier with tweens and teens. They want to hang with you, but they want to assert their independence and hang out with their friends.

Museums are still cool and you can go visit on the free days. See http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/supporting_narrative/events special_events/special_events/tourism/Museum_Free_Days.html for all free days for the remainder of 2010. I am not an advocate of letting a group of kids run around unsupervised/unchaperoned around the mall, museums, etc. So, I always go with them , but stay a respectable distance, take a book, etc.

My personal favorite is Winter Wonderland at Navy Pier. There you can let the kids loose with their friends to go up and down the giant slides, ice skate decorate cookies, eat too much junk and then be too tired out for the remainder of the day to say, I'm bored. Meanwhile, I wander around, looking at the Christmas trees, decorations and even sneak downstairs to see the stained glass exhibit. It is best to take a girlfriend, sister, mom, etc, so you can catch up, share the over sized cookies and indulge in hot chocolate. For information on Winter Wonderland visit http://www.winterwonderfest.com/kids/kids_corner.html.

Admission is free, but you do have to purchase wristbands in order for the kids to ride the attractions and ice skate. Don't fret, they offer discounts that can be found on the website. It is a little pricey, but my kids are old enough to ride by themselves and I can just wander around for free. This is a trip to plan in advance in order to take advantage of the discounts that are being offered. I am very happy to be there for them to check in periodically, come back to get more money and sometimes just ooh and aah over the Christmas trees with me.

Believe me, it is a day of peace from hearing "I'm bored". If you have any fun ideas to do with the kids during the break, please let me know.

Otherwise, enjoy the madness and noise of having the kids around for two whole weeks.....

Peace and Love,

Sandals,

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