DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville

Ranking: Value - 4; Dad Fun Factor - 4 out of 5; Kid Fun Factor - 4 out of 5

We hit the road today for one of our boys' favorite spots on a cold, cold, day: Naperville's Children's Museum. I say Naperville because that's where it's located but they call themselves the DCM. We like to hit the popular spots as close to opening as we can, on Saturday that is 9:00 am, so we arrived right at 9:45. It was already a mob scene with little gangs of birthday celebrants running rampant around the various play areas. At least out membership (recall that you want to buy that at the Rockford CM) got us in a few minutes faster than the the common folk. We immediately headed to the Light and Sound Room. This room is the home to photo-sensitive walls (paint with light), percussion instruments galore, shadow theatre, and many other fun things. One section we really enjoy is a where your movement generates music and a light show. It is really cool.

Adjacent to the Light and Sound Room is the heart of the DCM, what I call the Wind and Water Room. Here you can play with bubbles, make the perfect river system, sit and watch the fish, or play with a whole host of wind contraptions. The wind area is particularly neat because of the center piece: a functional wind tunnel. My boys love to run in and out of the tunnel pretending to be super heros flying through the air.

The DCM is two stories with a fully built out basement. The basement houses the party rooms for birthdays. It also provides space for the rest of us non-birthday participants to buy vending machine yummies (today that was popcorn) and microwave up some snacks. The bathrooms scattered around the building are all pretty little-man friendly. I can't say much about the ladies room but the men's room is well equiped for dad but the urinals are too tall for junior tinklers. They do provide stools for the sinks though. The locker room right at the entrance is a little tight for the crowds we experienced today but normally it's not a big deal. The whole place is wheel chair accesible with an elevator between the three levels.

We had a great time today at the DCM but the crowd was a little much. That, of course, is our problem. One benefit of a large number of birthday parties is the increased quality of lady guests. Not that I'm looking or anything. I think they all tend to try to look better than the rest of their competition. It must be a chick thing. Anyway, plenty of dad's without showers and mom's done up. Again, I can't complain.

I recommend the DuPage Children's Museum for it's simple and fun activities. I still like Kohl's best and, when we get there, the Chicago CM at Navy Pier. It's simply great. Add this one to your rotation.

For more information visit their website at: https://www.dupagechildrensmuseum.org/

Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm

Ranking: Value - 3 out of 5 Dad Fun Factor - 3 out of 5 Kid Fun Factor - 4 out of 5

We went to the Huntley Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm yesterday. I'm not sure if it was me or the weather but I was ready to go home about ten minutes after we got there. Actually, it was the weather, the 45 deg temp, and my shorts (I thought it was warmer than it was). Not important. My one beef with Goebbert's is the cost of things. The place is definitely fun for the kids so the cost is less important than their fun factor. We got there early so parking was a plenty. We also had the in-laws in tow so that adds to the cost. We chipped in another $1 a child to have them do the haunted bouncy thing and the two year-old refused at the gate. To the Farm's credit they refunded me the $1 ticket. Value goes up. Then we popped into the Haunted Mine and my 4 year-old almost crapped. It was down right scary for that age and not a sign to be seen. Fun Factor drops. We then head to the Pumpkin Eating Dinosaur. It's one of the funnest parts of the place. A big hydraulic crane arm thing with a set of jaws and munch on pumpkins. Nothing but cheering kids egging it on. Love it!

We did the hayride out the actual pumpkin patch. A little like a picked over swamp by the last weekend of October and some rain. Either bring boots (not us) or be prepared for mud (us). I made up this story with my son where we had to find the "Magic Pumpkin of Candy" (should have made it fruit or something healthy). This pumpkin is signified by a red smiley face on it (thanks to a magic marker) and starts making candy nightly once carved. He as pretty psyched to find it and it made the whole thing fun.

We walked around the "farm" and saw every farm animal they have. We also watched the Pig Races which were fun but the announcer was a little creepy. We'll leave it at that. One thing they have that I've never seen at any other place is Camel Rides. They are pretty cool animals and the boys really got into the ride. I wasn't into the $4 tab for a short lap around the pen. I think most of that is for the photo op. The pony ride is also $4. My favorite part of the whole trip, actually pilgrimage, is the check out. They have awesome apple cider doughnuts! They alone are worth the price of admission. Except you can get them without going through the main gate.

One thing that my older son and I really got into was the Corn Maze. He loves mazes and I love that he loves them. He mucked our way through some muddy spots and finally out of the field. He was really proud of himself navigating it and I was eating it up. If you have the chance do a corn maze somewhere.

Check out Goebbert's at http://www.pumpkinfarms.com/

Day at Brookfield Zoo

Ranking: Value - 5 out of 5 Dad Fun Factor - 3 out of 5 Kid Fun Factor - 4 out of 5

Good evening from Chicago. Elgin actually. If you know where that is you are likely to know where the rest of the places we'll talk about are as well. My first post is going to be about one of my favorite places here in Chicago-land: Brookfield Zoo. I know people say to go to Lincoln Park Zoo but I live in the NW Suburbs and I avoid downtown like the plague. It's just not a friendly place for the fam for a day trip. We go to Brookfield about 6 times a year. That warrants a membership. We buy the Family Plus because it get's us and guests in the gate for the best price. We also dig the Hamill Family Play Zoo. For little guys (I have two if you didn't read what this Blog is all about) you can't beat the play-learn combination. It's where they've learned to nicely touch small animals and that's great. Brookfield is not just about the animals. There are two large play areas for working off steam. The zoo also allows coolers full of what ever you elect to bring in. We bring most of our food and drink so it's a cheap day. They also sell lots of beer so dads can enjoy (I do).

Two pieces of advice. Firstly, if you don't have a wagon or a stroller, even if your kids can run marathons, bring one or rent one at the front gate. The wagons are cheap insurance that you won't have to carry the exhausted little one. They also have cool dolphin-shaped push carts. Kids love them but beware; they aren't for kids over about 38" tall. Secondly, get there early for a good parking spot. And you avoid Soldier Field traffic if you are coming in on I-290.

That's the generic. Now this weekends trip. We went during "Boo at the Zoo". It's a fun, Halloween themed event. It's great for seeing Mom's in costume as well. Not that that's the reason to go. But it's nice. If you don't take your kids in costume expect to be asked why about a thousand times and deal with tears. I know from experience. All in all, a great reason to go to Brookfield. They also have nice goodie bags on the way out. One thing I noticed this year that I didn't like is the complete sell out to Fisher-Price toys. They had stuff all over the place but I suppose it helps to pay the bills.

If you want more info on Brookfield Zoo check it out at http://www.brookfieldzoo.org/.