Share the Love: Don't Miss the Chicago Botanic Garden's Brand New Regenstein Learning Center Grand Opening {Giveaway!}

Forget the X-Box. The iPads. The Wii and all the screens and games for which my boys beg.

And bring on the hills -- medium-sized and closely spaced together and perfectly padded, green-grassy hills.

Hills {who knew} are apparently the very thing that've been missing all of my boys' childhoods.

We discovered this secret of the hills when we attended last Friday the preview day for the Chicago Botanic Garden's Regenstein Learning Campus' grand opening, and my kids immediately mad-dashed for the perfectly crafted rolling hills that comprise a good chunk of the new outdoor Nature Play Garden. As we toured the outdoor garden, our boys promptly ran to the top of the biggest one ... and began rolling down without abandon in the soft green grasses.

Likely, though, hills and the greatness of the outdoors in general is what's increasingly missing in a great majority of our kids' lives as they grow up in an ever-increasing electronic world, making the unveiling of the Garden's Regenstein Learning Campus even more exciting and, honestly, necessary.

Nestled to the right of the parking lots when first entering the garden by car, the Regenstein Learning Campus is home to the Grunsfeld Growing Garden, The Kleinman Family Cove and the newly constructed Learning Center and outdoor Nature Play Garden. The grand opening, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday September 10 and 11, 2016, is just around the calendar corner, and if you're looking for something wonderful to fill your weekend, this is it!

During opening weekend of the center, the Garden will offer refreshments and free activities like seed play, soil sandbox, watering activities, yoga, make-you-own smoothies, water play and a walk and talk in the Nature Play Garden with the goal of showcasing just a sampling of the 500 classes offered at the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School.

In addition to the free activities, the Garden also is generously giving away one parking pass so one family here can attend the grand opening of the center for free! See below to enter for the parking pass giveaway.

Here's a little cheat sheet of what to expect when you visit during the grand opening or beyond:

Photo courtesy of the Chicago Botanic Garden

The Nature Play Garden is a sensory-rich outdoor play space thoughtfully and intuitively designed for all ages to enjoy interacting with nature in a hands-on way. Roll down the grassy hills, play in the open grassy areas, splash in the streams of water, climb on the logs and tunnel through the willow tunnel at the Nature Play Garden. It's designed just for that!

The Learning Center is home to learning rooms, the classrooms that house the Garden's preschool and camps, multiple bathrooms, water-bottle filling stations, Chicago-area history and a bee hive! Explore the classrooms, use the bathroom, take a breather and check out the busy bees bustling around their hive in this new building.

The Grunsfeld Growing Garden gives children an up-close view of the growing fruits and as well as the opportunity to help take care for these plants by watering them and tending to them. Often times, family drop-in activities are planned in the growing garden.

The Kleinman Family Cove features 800 feet of shoreline gardens for exploration and observation of flora and fauna as well as stepping stones that visitors can navigate as they explore and enjoy the beautiful waterfront.

And don't forget, mom and dad, to make a long pitstop at the hills; they aren't just refreshing for the kiddos.

Disclosure: My family loves the Chicago Botanic Garden and the great outdoors, so we are thrilled to be Garden Ambassadors, sharing our love the Garden here and across social media! In exchange for writing and sharing, we receive a yearly membership to the Garden so we can continue to explore and learn and grow and share! 


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Share the Love: Alice in Wonderland {Marriott Theater for Young Audiences}

I've mentioned before that I am blessed to have married a Renaissance man, and as a future mother-in-law {very, very, very future} to two young women, I thought it would earn me bonus points if we succeeded in raising Renaissance young men who could not only go hunt their food but also sautee it lightly in garlic-lemon olive oil while reciting their favorite lines from Shakespeare as well as Star Wars.

I kid about the last part, but in all seriousness John and I have been theatre lovers since our high school days, and we love sharing our passions with our boys, so we're extremely fortunate to have the Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences nearby our home in here in northern Chicagoland.

A few weekends ago we ventured down to the theatre to view Alice in Wonderland -- this time dressed to the nines at my oldest son's insistence after he heard a friend who attended the last performance ask me why weren't dressed for theatre. {What can I say? Kid's got mad style sense.}

And Alice in Wonderland was wonderful!

Photo courtesy of Peter Coombs and The Marriott Theatre

The boys very much enjoyed the lively singing and dancing and the heavy audience participation, all of which was executed brilliantly by the actors and actresses in the show.

Unlike Cinderella, which was the last show we saw at the Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences, this performance really appealed to my boys, ages 3.5 and 5.5 because of the plot's deep roots in silliness rather than whimsical romance.

The Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit were two stand-out characters that our boys exclaimed about long after the proverbial curtain was drawn; I think we've stolen imaginary sugar tarts in play more times than I can count, and we've had a few silly tea parties since the show that have sent them into fits of laughter all over again at the ridiculousness of that silly Hatter.

Photo courtesy of Peter Coombs and The Marriott Theatre

John and I very much enjoyed the show, too. It was very quick-moving and entertaining for the youngsters as well as the parents! We laughed along at the silliness and "nonsense" of the nonsensical Wonderland so wonderfully brought to life by the cast members and decorated well with fitting, vibrant music, costume and scenery.

Only one thing disappointed my oldest thespian in the making and that was that the story line for the musical differed quite a bit from the movie, which is completely and totally normal for movies turned stage productions; however, if you have an Alice and Wonderland aficionado perhaps prepare him or her for such so he or she can sit back and enjoy the show without wondering what happened to certain scenes.

Overall, Alice in Wonderland is a spectacular performance, and we'd excitedly see it again. The show runs now through May 18, 2013. Tickets are available for purchase by visiting The Marriott Theatre's site.

Disclosure: My family was invited to preview Alice in Wonderland at The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire and I agreed that I would like to share a review of the show here on my blog with you, my friends. Hope you enjoy the show as much as we did!

Share the Love: Cinderella {The Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences}

I married a Renaissance man.

Not only does my talented husband hunt all types of game, play tennis with gusto and fix our cars/house/computers, but he's also an inspired chef, talented babywearer, writer of poetry and thespian. As his wife, I very much enjoy his vast array of skills and talents.

So, naturally, I want to inspire the well-rounded growth of our little men for their good {and for the sake of our future daughters in law!}.

Enter an invitation to see Cinderella at The Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences.

As my boys, ages 3 and 5, light wielded their light sabers in the living room, I typed an emphatic acceptance email saying we'd very much like to attend the show; John and I have attended several performances for the adult crowd in the past, but Cinderella was to be our first experience with the young audiences theater and a theatrical production with the boys in general.

Overall, we enjoyed our morning watching the bright, beautiful production.

There's not a bad seat in the house at The Marriott Theatre, as the stage in planted in the center of all the seats. We easily navigated the theater; with the help of friendly ushers found our seats and got comfortable before the show began.

From the first moment the show began with cheery music bursting forth from the vibrantly costumed cast, my 3-year-old son, E, was mesmerized by the song and dance. I peeked over to catch a glimpse of my 5-year-old son's face, and he was also intently watching the production.

Aside from the talented cast, one of the first things I noticed was the carefully crafted props and scenery; everything looked very lovely and elegant -- perfect for the Cinderella fairy tale.

Consistent giggling erupted from the audience and my boys during a scene where the king, clad in long underwear and unable to button his pants, and queen were discussing the ball they were going host for their son, the Prince Christopher, to find true love.

Both boys really enjoyed the show the first half of the hour-long production.

My youngest became antsy when the story line turned from lively song and dance to a more romance-based, elegant storyline, detailing the prince and Cinderella's love affair; I had an inkling that the story line could go this way seeing as I knew full well that Cinderella is a fairy tale with a love story interwoven. But the love story element remained center stage for several scenes -- the bulk of the last part of the production and even my oldest who is a sucker for a good love story {Anniken and Padme Amidala in Star Wars, anyone?} found it drawn out.

I enjoy a good love story, too, but as a mother attending a young audience production with little people in tow, I would have preferred less romance-driven scenes as those parts seemed to actually slow the show's momentum.

That said, the adults very much enjoyed the other continuous theme of impossible dreams becoming possible if one believes in the dream.

We also were tickled by a small break in the show toward the end when one of the characters began asking audience members to try on Cinderella's glass slipper. The boys thought that was hysterical, and we loved the character's banter with audience members.

All in all, our first theater experience with the boys was enjoyable and easy and we're looking forward to the upcoming performances at The Marriott Theatre as we try to instill a love of the creative in our little guys.
Gifting Cinderella tickets for a holiday present and then seeing the show during school break would likely be a lovely and enjoyable way to spend a morning with your favorite small people, especially if those little ones are smitten with the story already.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella runs through December 31, 2012. Tickets are available for purchase by calling the box office at (847) 634 - 0200.

I received four tickets to Cinderella so that I could review the production for my blog. As always, all opinions are my own. I was not compensated in any other way for this review.  Photos are courtesy of Brett Beiner and The Marriott Theatre