Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Piano - NISRA


The private music lessons at NISRA are for piano, guitar, and voice.  They are half hour lessons with a professional instructor every week.  There are also 2 locations to choose from and a recital at the end of the season.  This was the class that I knew for sure I wanted Aiden to be in.  It was difficult deciding where to put him because piano, guitar, and voice were the exact 3 things that I wanted him to try out.  Aiden really didn’t care either way so I chose piano for him.  I figured that’s what he’d start with because it seemed that, for him, it would be the easiest to learn and learn he did!  He’d go to class once a week, we’d both have to learn something new, and then the rest of the week we’d spend practicing it.  I think it was during this time, when he first started taking piano, that I discovered that he could sing. 


I started noticing when we would drive in my car.  I’d have the music playing loudly and every now and then I could swear I’d hear another voice singing, and on pitch, with the radio!  Once I knew for sure it was him I was so excited.  I wanted to jump on this right away so I told his piano teacher about it and she said we could work on some voice lessons along with the piano and that at the end of the season he could perform both piano and voice at the recital.  He did end up doing just that and he did an awesome job on both, but his weekly lessons remained mostly focused on the piano.  He did a great job with the song that he sang at the recital but that was because he practiced a lot at home. He stayed with the piano for a couple years but we eventually stopped when it became a luxury we could no longer afford.  He still sings, still has a great voice, but doesn’t always know how to use it.  I will hopefully get him some instruction one day.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Discover the Dinosaurs - Rosemont, IL


This is an exhibit of moving and replica dinosaurs and dinosaur scenes.  You can touch these dinos and take pictures with them.  There’s also kid activities like inflatables, a dino dig, gem and fossil panning and a dinosaur ride.  It was a nice walk through the event but there were so many people it was difficult to get good pictures with the dinosaurs and the kid activity lines were really long.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Santa's Village Azoosment Park - East Dundee, IL


I think we’ve taken Aiden here twice. I’m glad we took him when he was a lot younger because he was almost too big to ride most of the rides by the last visit.  I think they’ve added newer older kid type rides since our last visit, but when we were there it was mostly younger children type carnival rides. It also has a petting zoo that I thought Aiden would enjoy because he really likes animals but he actually ended up getting pretty scared and started crying.  For the most part though, he did have a really good time here.  I think at his size now he’d only be able to ride half, or less than half, of the rides. This place is pretty pricey (around $24 per person at that time) so I’m not in a big rush to get him back there. But maybe one day.


Monday, August 17, 2015

Pirates' Cove - Elk Grove Village, IL


Pirates’ Cove is a children’s theme park with paddle boats in a shallow pool, a carousel, playground, bounce house, giant slide, climbing wall, train, and other fun stuff.  It’s designed for children between the ages of 1 - 9 and it is only open in the summertime, June - August.  I really liked this place.  We took Aiden here when he was younger and it was great.  He enjoyed nearly everything there and it looked so cute, like a little Great America for little kids.  It also has a craft activity area and concession stand, although you can also bring your own food if you’d like.  Aiden has aged out of this place now but I’m so glad we got to take him here!

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Fox River Trolley Museum - South Elgin, IL


This is a genuine historic trolley car that runs a 4 mile route alongside the Fox River in South Elgin. 


We thought it was pretty cool for it’s history.  Aiden was little at the time so he just enjoyed the ride itself.  

The conductor even let him honk the horn.  


We went on a typical weekend ride but they also have special events like a Polar Express ride in the winter and a Ghost Story ride in the fall.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Kohl Children's Museum - Glenview, IL


What’s cool about this museum is that it’s interactive, hands on learning. And many of the exhibits reflect real life scenarios like grocery shopping or taking a pet to the vet. All of the exhibits and programs here are designed to make learning fun and interesting for children up to 8 years old.  Aiden was very young when we took him here but he still enjoyed it because there was much to see and touch.  It also has outdoor exhibits as well.  This is really a great educational place for younger children but it does get very crowded.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Yu Kids Island Woodfield Mall - Schaumburg, IL


This place is an indoor kids play area, inside of Woodfield Mall, that is covered in soft padding.   It has several things to play on like a spinning tree, bouncy area filled with balloons, a revolving tube, etc. Aiden used to really enjoy this place. The only reason that we stopped going here was because he got too tall.  This place is only for kids 48 inches or shorter.