• Family Fun,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz

    He Blinded Me With Science. #StreamTeam

    I am a member of the Netflix #StreamTeam and will be happily sharing monthly tips and stories about how my family uses Netflix on a regular basis. (Okay, that’s an understatement. I should say CONSTANTLY. We use Netflix CONSTANTLY.) This post is sponsored by Netflix, of course! My older son D has been a science nut his whole life. When he was just a toddler, he loved taking things apart to see exactly how they worked, and, slightly related, he adored Thomas Dolby’s “She Blinded Me With Science”, which we listened to in my minivan just about every day along with other 80s favorites. When he was in high school…

  • Best Thing Ever,  Blessings,  Family Fun

    On Holiday

    I just returned home from out of town, again. I spent the last couple of days in Madison, Wisconsin to attend a conference for women in leadership (more on that next week). I’ve visited Madison a few times this year, since D works and lives there, and I’ve truly fallen in love with it. It’s an awesome town with beauty everywhere you look, radiating out from the center of town and the Capitol building. Last night we were lucky enough to catch this sunset on the campus of UW-Madison. No filter!! I am terribly blessed to have the ability to gallivant all over the country; traveling is one of my…

  • Family Fun

    I Want To Go To There Again, With Netflix #StreamTeam

    I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team and will be happily sharing monthly tips and stories about how my family uses Netflix on a regular basis. (Okay, that’s an understatement. I should say CONSTANTLY. We use Netflix CONSTANTLY.) This post is sponsored by Netflix, of course! Coming in just under the wire with my April Netflix Stream Team post (because that’s how I roll, especially during LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER show season), I decided to write about revisiting old favorites.

  • Family Fun,  Fun in Chicago

    They Blinded Me With Science Humor

    When I was researching my Chicago family travel book (Wait. You didn’t know I wrote this book? Huh.), I found all kinds of places around the Chicago area that my family had never experienced before. One of my (and my boys’!) very favorites was American Science & Surplus. This is not a sponsored post, by the way. The store contains what you would expect: science stuff and odds and ends. Lots of it is VERY odd, in fact. You can get test tubes and bottles, but you can also get little motors and paper and maps and crime scene tape and marbles and lava lamps and frames and military stuff…

  • Family Fun,  Favorite Things,  Food

    Next Year At The Same Place!

    For the last eighteen years, we have spent various Jewish holidays with a group of five other families from our temple. We all got together when our oldest kids were in the three-year-old and four-year-old preschool classes there, and it was great to have plans with friends nearly every Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Passover. Everyone didn’t go to every get-together, but back in those days it was nearly always a full house. I have pictures—somewhere—of the times when the kids were around but I’m too lazy to look for them so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Those preschoolers and their siblings, thirteen kids in…

  • Best Thing Ever,  Family Fun,  Friends,  Fun in Chicago,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Something That Could Change Your Life

    Whirlyball, Where Have You Been All My Life?

    Actually, I guess it’s the other way around. Whirlyball has been a Chicago staple for years and years, right here in front of me, but for some reason–and I’ll be kicking myself over it for a long time to come–I had never tried it…until this week. (Disclosure: the fine folks at Whirlyball invited me and some friends in for some complimentary play. I was not compensated for this post.) Whirlyball, which is a combination of lacrosse, basketball, hockey, and bumper cars, is a fast-paced team game and SO MUCH FUN. Players are buckled into “WhirlyBugs” with a plastic scoop in hand. The idea is to get a whiffle ball through…

  • Family Fun

    Just A Traditional Christmas Around Here…

    December 25th already? Wow! This year has flown! Today, in honor of it being Christmas and all, the Wells family is planning to—as tradition indicates—see a movie (“Unbroken”) and then, of course, enjoy the Chinese food that Jim will make for dinner. Same fun stuff, different fun year. Besides that? Well, you know: Merry Christmas to all of you who are celebrating!

  • Family Fun,  Fun in Chicago

    Celebrating Holiday Traditions With Target

    I was thrilled when the folks at Target asked me to write a post about one of my favorite Chicago area holiday traditions. After they provided me with a gift card to purchase items that I thought could enhance the fun, they just turned me loose and let me do my thang. (Thanks, Target! This was fun!) All words and opinions are mine, as usual! Oh, and stick around for the end: I’m giving away a $75 Target gift card to one of you lucky readers!

  • Contest,  Family Fun

    Netflix #StreamTeam Celebrates The Holidays!

    I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team and will be happily sharing monthly tips and stories about how my family uses Netflix on a regular basis. (Okay, that’s an understatement. I should say CONSTANTLY. We use Netflix CONSTANTLY.) As a member of the Stream Team I was provided a voucher to apply towards my Netflix account. Naturally we on the Netflix Stream Team are celebrating this month: it’s December after all! I have a gift for one lucky reader, too: a year of Netflix! More on that in a minute. Netflix has lots and lots of holiday viewing options for families, and it’s a good thing since the…

  • Amazing People,  Best Thing Ever,  Family Fun,  Something That Could Change Your Life,  Travels

    Neverland

    This was originally going to be a Throwback Thursday post but as it turns out, yesterday was a crazy work day and two things happened since then which will help this be a better post. It’s all good. First, last night, many of my friends were watching “Peter Pan Live” on NBC, which is something I probably would have tuned into if our antenna would allow the Peacock Network, but it doesn’t and so I lived vicariously through everyone else. I enjoyed reading everyone’s tweets and Facebook posts, and thought fondly about Peter, Tinkerbell, and the rest. It’s a great story. Second, this morning, I overheard part of a conversation…