McHenry County Holiday Fest - Crystal Lake, IL

 

This is a holiday marketplace that took place at D’Andrea Banquets & Conference Center in Crystal Lake.  It’s flyer description says it has 32 exhibitors for shopping, visits with Santa, Santa mailbox, crafts, face painting, live entertainment and a man cave.  We saw everything listed except for the face painting, live entertainment, and man cave. Not to say it wasn’t there, maybe we just weren’t there at the right time, but we didn’t see it.  This event was free and we received a free reusable bag when we walked in.  We saw that Santa was there so we stood in line to see him.  

 

 

The line wasn’t too bad so not a long wait.  Santa was nice and showed Aiden the bottle of magic he carried with him to get all the gifts delivered on Christmas Eve.  He told him that because Aiden asked him if he was real. LOL.  After that we went over to Santa’s special mailbox so that Aiden could drop off the letter he had written him.

 

 

From there we looked around at all the vendor booths. Some of them had cute craft stuff but a lot were also corporate booths.  After that we headed downstairs to the kids craft making area. That was as packed and crazy as you’d expect. Each table had a different craft going on. We took the first table we saw and Aiden got to decorate a cookie with frosting and sprinkles. He enjoyed that but wasn’t really interested in doing any other tables.  I was thankful for that because they were all packed and so tightly crammed together.  

 

Overall, I would have to say this event was underwhelming.  There wasn’t a lot of vendor booths and it would’ve been nicer if there were less corporate stuff.  It would’ve also been nice to see the advertised live entertainment. But the short line for a picture with Santa was nice, and he was a good Santa. The special Santa mailbox was a nice touch as well. And Aiden definitely enjoyed decorating a cookie.  All that stuff was good, and free, so it was worth the trip for us.

 

 

Apple Fest - Long Grove, IL

Apple Fest is a yearly event in downtown Long Grove.  There are hundreds of apple-inspired treats and dozens of local merchants.  There is also live music playing on 3 stages throughout the fest. There is a Kid Zone with activities for smaller children and a carnival for all ages.  This was our first time here. Parking was difficult but we got lucky and didn’t have to walk too far. There was a $5 admission and kids under 12 were free.  

There were lots of people here the day we went and it was super hot. It’s an apple fest, yet when I remember it, all I really think of is chocolate.  There were lots of booths with different chocolate covered foods.  It would’ve been nice if these booths had more “taster samples” available but they didn’t and food wasn’t exactly cheap.  We did however get to try a sample of Belgian chocolate covered grapes, which we all liked.  

We saw the Kid Zone area when we first walked into the fest.  I don’t know what different kinds of activities were taking place, besides blowing bubbles, but we could clearly see that it was an area for much younger children so we did not take Aiden there.  

The streets were lined with vendor booths of food and other products and all the little specialty shops were open.  There was one store there that I really liked called Creative Hands. We ended our day at Morkes Chocolates for some really good taffy apples and chocolate treats.  We actually never saw the carnival area until we were in the car leaving.  That’s ok though. It was just way too hot to continue.

Chicago Trolley & Double Decker Bus

This double decker bus is what Aiden calls the “London bus” thanks to the London portion of the Sharknado 5 movie.  We decided to try this bus out while we were at the Chicago Air & Water show. 

Aiden was excited to try out something he’d seen in a movie and we were excited to relax and just take in the sights.  We saved about $8 each on tickets using Groupon ahead of time and a kids ticket is about half the price of an adult.  We sat on the top level with great views and a great breeze. Aiden was a little taken back because there were no seatbelts.  He wasn’t scared, just surprised.  The thing that was scary, though, were the tree branches that we passed by.  We learned quickly to watch our heads and duck.  And also to keep our hands inside.  The bus drives really close to the sign and banner posts on the sides of the streets.  

The tour had several stops all over downtown.  You’re allowed to hop on and off the bus as much as you’d like for the day.  Our tour guide seemed to know her Chicago history pretty well and although her jokes could use work, they were still appreciated. This was really a relaxing ride and it was a truly awesome view of the air show.

Chicago Air & Water Show 2017

This was our 2nd year going to the Chicago Air & Water Show.  Thankfully we got almost the same spot as the last time, under the only shady tree in Chicago.  Again it was super hot that day but we got there early in the morning and snagged a spot under the shade and on the cool sand of the beach so it was really quite nice.  

This time was different from the last in 2 ways.  One was because Aiden was physically reacting differently, initially.  I think he was a little bit nervous about going and his stomach was hurting when we got there.  Why he may have been slightly nervous this time around? I have no idea, but I do think I know why his tummy was hurting, allergies!  It’s something I’ve begun to notice with Aiden over this summer.  When the days are super hot he tends to start sneezing and sometimes gets a runny nose and now, to add to the list, a stomachache.  Once I gave him the handy Zyrtec that I had packed he was fine for the rest of the day.  

The 2nd new thing was that we decided to leave the beach a little early and take a ride on the double decker bus, which Aiden calls the “London bus”  because he had seen it in a London movie before. That actually made the air show even better!  Now we were directly below the jets and it was really an awesome view!  Aiden really enjoyed it and we all did as well too.

Veggie Fest - Lisle, IL

Veggie Fest is a festival of food vendors, cooking demonstrations, health products and practitioners, music and kids activities.  Basically anything and everything that promotes a positive healthy lifestyle. 

This was a trip that I requested and my boys went along with for the ride.  I wanted to go for the opportunity to try out different foods. That’s not a strong suit for Aiden but I give him a lot of credit because he tried every freebie we came across.  

We visited all the food vending booths and most of the products ones but, of course, what Aiden appreciated the most was the kids activities area where he made a couple of craft projects.  All in all, I would say Aiden handled this “mom excursion” quite well.  

Couple things you won’t learn from their website; most food products are not actually for sale at the individual booths, they’re just for show, you don’t purchase food with money, you purchase with tickets so get tickets before standing in the super long lines (although they do move at a good pace). And lastly, a good chunk of time was spent just trying to park the car!  We waited in an extremely long, extremely slow moving line before we ever even reached the parking lot.

Lambs Farm - Libertyville, IL

Lambs Farm is a non profit organization that provides residential services and employment for adults with disabilities.  It includes attractions like a petting zoo, pet shop, miniature golf course, carousel, bounce house, thrift shop, restaurant, and a bakery. We visited all these attractions except for the carousel and mini golf.  

The carousel was too small for Aiden, and we intended to do the mini golf last but forgot about it when we walked to the opposite side of the farm to explore what they had on that side. The whole area is divided in two. 

One side has the admission area, bounce house, carousel, and petting zoo while the other side has the pet shop, thrift store, bakery, and restaurant.  The food at the restaurant, Magnolia Cafe, was awesome! As were the goodies at the bakery.  

Aiden really enjoyed seeing and feeding the animals and brushing the goats.  There were even a few loose cats walking or sleeping around the pet shop that he got to pet, so he was very happy about that. 

This was really a nice place to visit and we were very happy to support an organization that provides opportunity and community to adults that might not otherwise find it.

Gail Borden Library - Dinosaur Giants Exhibit

The Gail Borden library currently has a Dinosaur Giants exhibit going on. It ends on September 24th. There are 6 life size skulls and skeletons on display. There is also a flesh model, dissected neck, and photo opportunities.

We came here to return and check out some dinosaur books so of course we had to take the dino tour of the library while we were there. We were greeted by a huge 2 story dinosaur on the main floor and then we went upstairs to see 5 additional displays.

I always find these kinds of exhibits fascinating, just trying to wrap my head around the fact that these creatures were actually here millions of years ago.  Aiden liked this exhibit too but, just like when we took him to the dino exhibit at the Field Museum, I think he would’ve preferred to see them with skin on their bones. :-|

Wahoo Woods & Library Springs Natural Area - East Dundee, IL

This is a 50 acre parcel of “nature” land directly behind the Dundee Library.  The idea behind this was for kids to have a natural play area rather than a traditional playground.  We hadn’t planned to explore this place on this day but since we were at the library and it was a nice day I figured we should check it out. We didn’t get really far because I was wearing sandals which doesn’t work well on hiking trails, but what little we did see I really liked. Aiden wasn’t thrilled, but that may have been because it was not on our “schedule” of things to do that day so I think he was too preoccupied with getting back on track. 

Nonetheless, we did get to see some things like the climbing stones, a fort building area stocked with sticks, hay bales, loose stones and small branches, hollow logs for drums, rock slabs kids can draw on with chalk, and log and stump balancing. 

There is also an area for displaying items found in open space (The Curiosity Shed) it includes bird nests, old bones, odd-shaped rocks and even antlers.  

We walked a little beyond that play area onto the Wahoo Woods gravel trail and it was really very pretty and peaceful scenery.  We got to a 2 seater bench and sat down for a minute. It had a beautiful view.  We didn’t go beyond that point because my sandals were sliding all over that gravel so we headed back and checked out the Library Springs trail. 

That one we traveled even less on.  It is not a gravel trail it is just a natural path through the woods.

I’m sure it’s probably very nice as well but I had to get out of there right away because we were so much closer to the vegetation on that path that there were so many insects flying way too close for my comfort.  I don’t think Aiden was bothered by that, but he was really ready to go at that point.  I would definitely like to go back but this time, dressed appropriately, and with plenty of notice for Aiden’s schedule.

HoverPark - West Dundee, IL

This is a “park” to ride on hoverboards.  Hoverboards weren’t completely new to Aiden.  His cousin has one so he has tried it before but not for very long so he didn’t have a whole lot of practice before we came to this place.  If you’re a first time rider you have to get a free training lesson first. It really did not take Aiden long at all to get really, really good at it!  I mean within just a few minutes.  

I, on the other hand, took a whole lot longer and I’m still not that great at it.  It was also killer on my feet and legs but Aiden had no pain and really no problems at all with it.  The fee is $20/hour and you get a wristband that you need to scan at each different maze that you use. Only 1 person at a time is allowed in each maze.  The only area that can have up to 4 people at once is the open play area. Aiden really enjoyed Hoverpark and I can see us going back, except this time I’ll just be watching.

Extended School Year

Extended school year (ESY) is a special education service that goes beyond the usual school year, into the summer.  It is provided by the federal law, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The issue is whether the benefits obtained during the regular school year will be significantly jeopardized if the child is not provided an educational program during the summer months. The child’s IEP team makes the ultimate decision on whether the child can attend ESY services.  Aiden has been fortunate to have had pretty good IEP teams that have always pushed for him to attend ESY services. That decision was based on their efforts to prevent or reduce possible academic regression (decline in knowledge and skills that result from an interruption in education) and to minimize recoupment (the amount of time it takes to regain the prior level of functioning).  ESY is not exactly like regular school. He only goes for 3 hours a day, 4 days a week, for 5 weeks with a week break in between, but I’m grateful that he goes. Aiden relies heavily on routines and schedules. Stopping all that, once the school year ends, is difficult for him even with ESY and the routines that I keep for him at home. Fortunately, Aiden also likes ESY.  He doesn’t love it, but he does like it.  I think all the familiarity of being around his school friends and school routines makes him feel more comfortable.  I hope he’ll continue to receive ESY services every year.

Parties

We’ve been to a fair amount of parties in Aiden’s day.  It usually goes okay if Aiden finds someone to run around with or if he has a phone or tablet to use during the party.  But since we haven’t had any huge problems occur in that area lately, it gets easier to take it for granted and think that he’s just fine with everything that’s going on around him but that’s not true and he reminded me of that recently. We were at a more formal party this time so he had no toys and no electronics to keep him content. Thankfully he did have his little cousin there to help keep him entertained but throughout the time we were there he kept asking me when we were going to leave.  When could he get back on his Chromebook? When could he back at home? I answered him with “I don’t know”, “later”, “in a little while”, etc.  These are not concrete answers and so they were difficult for him to understand and accept.  I know that but didn’t think of it at the time.  This went on all night.  From the outside it looked like he was fine. 

He said his hellos to everyone, he played with his cousin, he even danced on the dance floor for awhile, but really he wasn’t okay on the inside and my vague abstract responses to his questions were only worsening the sensory overload he was most likely experiencing. Unfortunately this wasn’t apparent to me until later that night after we got back home.  After he was comfortably settled in. After he was happily back on his Chromebook. Then about 30 minutes later he came to me crying.  I asked him what was wrong, I thought he was feeling sick (that’s usually the only time he really cries just out of the blue) but that wasn’t it.  I kept asking him what was wrong but he doesn’t always speak in complete sentences and when he’s upset, even just simple words are difficult for him to get out. So it took me a minute to figure out why he was crying but I eventually realized that it was because of the fact that I didn’t give him any concrete answers at the party as to when we would go home. He didn’t understand what I was telling him at the time but he did very much sense my frustration at him for asking me over and over again. It took him the whole ride home, getting comfortably settled in doing what he really enjoys, plus an extra 30 minutes to process what he had been experiencing and feeling at the party and then tried his hardest to explain it to me.  I still don’t even know if he’s done. He could bring it back up to me again tomorrow.  

I always think that once he’s really mastered language/speaking that things like this will be easier to handle. Maybe not his sensory input, but at least being able to talk about it.  So I told him that next time we would bring a little notebook this way if he had a question we can write it down, along with my answer, so that he could refer back to it when he’s starting to get anxious again. This way he’ll have a physical reminder that he can actually “see” and “touch”.  And I will continue to work on making my responses more concrete. Ah, the journey continues...