Monday, September 19, 2011

Dairy Star

Even though summer is over, we decided to try a new (for us) ice cream place.  We went to Dairy Star located at 3472 W. Devon.  The store is located on Devon where the south side of the street is Chicago and the north side is Lincolnwood so Dairy Star is officially located in Lincolnwood.  They offer soft serve chocolate and vanilla ice cream, with a wide variety of ways to upgrade the standards.  For example, Dairy Star offers 11 different dip flavors for your cone.  My daughter had her vanilla cone dipped in cotton candy flavor and she really enjoyed it.  They also offer vanilla cones with "flavor bursts" added to them.  Flavor bursts are flavored gels that are swirled into the cone.  About 8 different flavors are offered and you can combine up to three different flavors in one cone.  Since I had never had a cone with a flavor burst before I decided to try the strawberry.  It was actually pretty good and my daughter absolutely loved it.  Because there is so much more ice cream than the gel that is added you get more of a subtle flavor, which I think is good.  We all got smalls but it was A LOT of ice cream - way more than a two year could or should eat.  Although my youngest daughter freaked out when I threw her chocolate cone out even though the cone had pretty much turned into a squishy mess.  They also have other ice cream desserts like sundaes, floats, milkshakes, splits, and ice cream bars.  I can't remember how much each cone cost but for the three of us to each get a small cone it was around seven dollars.

We got there just in time.  They close for the winter September 29th so go there soon if you want to visit before next year.  During the summer they are open everyday at noon.  Dairy Star is really just a walk up window with a bunch of picnic tables nearby where you can enjoy your ice cream.  There is no inside seating.  Unless you live nearby you'll have to drive but there is a fairly large free parking lot. 

Overall we had a pretty good time when we went there and my older daughter enjoyed the ice cream so much that as we were leaving she asked if we could go back the next day. 

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Garfield Park Conservatory

I love the Garfield Park Conservatory at 300 N. Central Park.  Admission is free, it is generally not very busy during the week, and there are lots of things for the girls to look at and do.  My girls will generally spend more than the expected amount of time looking at the tropical plants, especially the cacti in the desert house.  In the lobby you can pick up a scavenger hunt that encourages your kids to find specific plants within the Conservatory.  Some of them are a bit hard to find but there are plenty of obvious ones that are fun for kids such as oranges and banana.  One of the must see attractions for us on every visit is a large pond located kind of in the middle of the conservatory that contains a lot of large goldfish.  There is a bench for sitting and watching the fish swim and that's what we do for as long as I am willing. 

The highlight of the Conservatory for families, however, is the Elizabeth Morse Genius Children's Garden.  My kids' favorite parts of the Children's Garden are the tall tube slide, the spray bottles that they get to use to water the plants, and the tubs of dirt that are put out for them to dig in with mini shovels and rakes.

We almost always go to the Conservatory on Mondays for the Morning Glories program.  The target age for this program is 3-5 and involves a small project and a story that goes along with the theme.  There is a suggested donation of $2 if you participate in the make and take activity but it truly is just suggested since they don't ask you for the money and instead there is box off to the side where you can put it.  The activities generally have a nature theme to then, are generally relevant to what's growing inside the conservatory, and are somewhat seasonal.  I think about once a month they do something edible (such as make herbal ice tea or ice cream).  A schedule of upcoming activities is provided on the Conservatory website at http://www.garfieldconservatory.org/early_childhood.htm.  They seem to have about 20 or 30 activities that they rotate.  Even though we've been there a bunch of times we've never done the same activity twice.  Some of the things we've done are planted a chocolate mint plant, decorated a twig with beads and ribbons to make a wish stick, made a butterfly and made bee goggles.  My two favorite things we did were a scratch and sniff bracelets and an orange pomander.  Both things smelled so good.  The orange pomander was basically just inserting cloves all around the outside of the orange to make a Christmas ornament.  The bracelets involved stringing small squares of sand paper that had shapes punched in them onto a bracelet.  The kids then got to choose from items that smell really good like a cinnamon stick or nutmeg and rubbed then against the sandpaper.  After the activity a staff member reads a story that is usually loosely related to the project.  Most activities need a little parent help, depending on your child's age, but there is usually ample staff to help your child if you have more than one kid to keep your hands and eyes on.  The format for the activities is a drop in program from 10 -12.  Every 20 minutes or so they gather a group of kids to do the activity and story.  If you arrive after one has already started you need to wait for the next one.  It can get kind of busy on Monday mornings but we've never had a problem not getting into to the next available session after we get there.  They usually try to make room for everyone who is there.  As always, I suggest getting there early, however.  A similar program is also available on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 1-3.

Strollers can be kind of tricky in the Conservatory.  It is not like you can't have one or even that it doesn't fit but pathways can be kind of narrow plus once you get to the Children's Garden there is not a lot a space to park it.  I've gone both with and without the stroller and it really depends on whether you need it or not.  I've gone with a sleeping baby in a stroller and it worked out pretty good (baby slept off to the side while we participated in the project) but now that I two kids who can walk it is just easier not to have the stroller.

As far as I know, the only bathrooms in the place are located just outside the entrance, near the gift shop, so have your kids go before you go in.  In terms of food, it is OK to bring a lunch in and there are tables where you can eat.  Also, I think you can buy sandwiches and snacks in the gift shop.   

There is a free parking lot adjacent to the Conservatory.  In addition, the Green Line drops you off right there.  I have done both and they both work equally well.  I'm not going to lie, the Conservatory is not located in the best neighborhood in the City but we've never had any problems there.

Every September the Conservatory hosts a County Fair and this year it will be held next weekend - September 17th from 11 -4.  We've never actually made it to the County Fair but it sounds like so much fun.  Admission is $5 and includes a petting zoo, garden display, bounce house, live music, farmer's market, and more kids activities.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Bakin' & Eggs

We went out to breakfast this morning at Bakin' & Eggs at 3120 N. Lincoln in Lakeview.  This is the second time we've dined there.  The first time we went for brunch on Mother's Day and the place was slammed but this morning it was much quieter.  We chose today because I wanted to go out for breakfast one last time before school starts and also because on Thursdays kids eat free.  I was a little concerned that the place would be swarmed with parents and little kids but it really wasn't that busy at all.  We got there at about 8:30 and we were easily seated.  There were only a few other tables taken and they were all adults so I was automatically concerned that my kids were going to drive everyone nuts.  Around the time we were getting ready to leave, 9:30-ish, the restaurant started to fill up with kids who were thankfully much louder than my kids.  Bakin' & Eggs is open from 7 to 3, serves breakfast all day, and starts serving lunch at 11. 

Even though Thursday seems to be dedicated to attracting kids and their parents, I don't think the wait staff were really "kid people".  They do give kids a little chalkboard and chalk to color on while they wait for their meals, which my daughters loved.  The food came pretty quickly on Thursday when there weren't that many people but took awhile when we were there on Mother's Day.

The menu is pretty good for adults.  They have a a good selection of frittatas, breakfast sandwiches, and pancakes.  They also offer five different kinds of bacon.  I ordered a frittata and it was quite good.  It came with potatoes that I really enjoyed, toast, and my choice of one of the kinds of bacon or sausage.  I think the kids menu is kind of skimpy.  Only two choices are offered for breakfast - a pancake or a breakfast burrito and only like three choices for lunch.  Seems like they could have offered kids a couple more options.  Kids breakfast meals come with teeny tiny cups of fruit.  Somehow, even though the kids meals were free we still ended up spending over $20 for breakfast.  FYI free breakfast for kids does not include their drinks or any add ons such as the scrambled eggs I got for my daughter. 

One of the things I like most about this restaurant is how large it is.  Most breakfast places are so tiny that you can barely get your kids inside let alone all their stuff.  At Bakin' & Eggs there is plenty of room to park your stroller.  When we were there when it was really busy, we had to wait awhile and we didn't feel crammed at all even though there were a lot of people waiting.  Part of the reason there is extra room is that one side of the restaurant is dedicated to a bakery/coffee shop where you can get cupcakes, cookies, and other baked goods plus coffee and tea drinks to go.  We haven't tried anything from this section yet but it all looks really good.  If you can't walk, there is generally plenty of metered parking in front of the restaurants. 

One other item I wanted to mentioned is that you pay your bill at the cash register in the coffee shop/bakery section.  Our waiter was quite clear about where we were supposed to pay but I hate when you eat at a restaurant and you are not certain where you are supposed to pay.  The only problem with this check out set up is that it forces you to go to the bakery section with your kids where they will inevitably beg for a cupcake.