Family Fun

I love this time of year. That magical month between Thanksgiving and New Years when I can hear Christmas music everywhere I go and the Christmas fun is endless! Buuuut some of this fun is expensive for a family of four, especially after Santa steals my debit card and goes nuts in the Target toy aisle. Happens every year. (WTF, Santa?! Control yourself!)

After the crazy popularity of my Good, Cheap Fun and Good, Cheap Getaway posts from last summer, I thought some FREE Christmas Fun would be much appreciated by my local followers. This post is about a little Christmas car ride you can take through Chicago’s west suburbs. We do this tour every year with the kids, and they love it! Plus it is a totally free night out with the whole family!

First things first, if you are going on a Christmas car adventure you need a few things:

Candy canes
Christmas cookies
Obnoxiously large holiday bucket of popcorn
Thermos full of hot chocolate
1 roll of paper towels (because somebody always spills their hot chocolate)
Your favorite holiday music playlist
GPS (because who tries to find random addresses without one anymore)
Christmas cheer

Sooo…all packed up and ready to go have some free Christmas fun???

READ ON!

Stop #1: Candy Cane Canyon Trail

371 Canyon Trail, Carol Stream, IL 60188

This display is totally FREE. The lights are on 4:30 PM – 10:00 PM Sunday – Thursday and 4:30 PM – 11:00 PM Friday and Saturday through January 1st.

This house is literally a gingerbread house, and the evergreen trees sing! This is so cute and perfect for little kids to watch. You pull up and tune your radio to 101.5 FM, sit back and enjoy. They play a rotation of Christmas classics and even added “Let It Go” to the playlist this year. You can get out of the car and take a closer look, but keep in mind you can’t hear the music since it broadcasts to the car radio. My girls loved it.

Mom-to-mom notes: It can get a little congested on weekends. Plan to visit on a weeknight if you want to pull up to a good spot. There is no bathroom, so plan potty stops accordingly. You do not have to exit the car for anything unless you want to, so just pass out the snacks in the warm car and relax without the need for bundling up!

Stop #2: The Festival of Lights at Cosley Zoo

1356 North Gary Avenue, Wheaton, IL 60187

This event is FREE, however, optional donations are accepted. Lights are on from 3:00 PM – 9:00 PM through December 30th.

Adorable. Just adorable. I love this cute little zoo on a regular day, so seeing it decked out with the lights is just awesome! Walk through the zoo to check out all the light displays, stop in the barn to warm up and visit some animals, grab some hot chocolate by the gift shop and even pick out your Christmas tree to take home. There were Christmas carolers singing by the duck pond when we were there, and I loved every second of it. The kids were happy to stretch their legs and check out the animals.

Mom-to-mom notes: Bundle up! You will be getting out of the car and walking around outside to see the lights in the zoo. The paths are all stroller-friendly, and there are bathrooms for potty checks and diaper changes. Parking gets INSANE on weekends – plan to wait for a spot to open up. On a weeknight we were able to pull right up with no wait.

Stop #3: Aurora Festival of Lights at Philips Park

1000 Ray Moses Drive, Aurora, IL 60505

This event is FREE, but optional donations are collected at the exit. Lights are on from 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM Sunday – Thursday and from 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM Friday and Saturday through December 27th.

This is a drive-through display. No need to bundle up – Just pass out the snacks, crank up the Christmas music and enjoy! The kids absolutely love this. There are animated light displays of Christmas trains, Santa’s workshop, flying reindeer and more. Plus the woods are literally glowing with twinkling lights, icicles and snowflakes. It is a beautiful display! The whole family enjoys it every year!

Mom-to-mom notes: I didn’t time it, but if I had to guess I think it took us about 15-20 minutes to drive through the whole thing. There is no bathroom, so plan your potty stops accordingly. You cannot stop your car once you enter the display. We were able to drive right up on a weeknight, but last year we had a bit of a wait on a Saturday. Try to come on a weeknight if you want to avoid long wait times.

Ready for the grand finale?! Drum roll please……

Stop #4: Larsen’s Light Show

42W891 Beith Road, Elburn, IL 60119

Totally FREE, but there is a donation box at the entrance and exit of the parking area. Lights are on from 5:00 PM – 10:30 PM Sunday – Thursday and 5:00 PM – 12:00 AM Friday and Saturday through January 2nd.

You guys. This house. Amazes me. Tune your radio to 88.5 FM, pass out the last of the snacks and prepare to be blown away. Literally every tiny Christmas light bulb is synchronized to the music. This entire house comes to life. I am telling you it’s magical. In addition to some classic Christmas tunes, they play songs from the Frozen soundtrack and support the Blackhawks! CLICK HERE to view videos of this house in action. I promise it is worth the drive, and worth the wait! The kids go nuts over this display – and, clearly, so do I! 🙂

Mom-to-mom notes: Be prepared for long wait times, ESPECIALLY on weekends! You will still wait on a weeknight, but it won’t be as bad. I recommend pulling into the parking area so that everybody in your car can relax and watch the whole show. If you choose to stay on Beith Road, you must keep moving. Follow the posted traffic signs – police are enforcing them. There is a port-a-potty in the parking area, but it is pitch black and freezing inside… because it’s night… in winter. (You might think this is common sense, but I learned this the really hard way during a terrorizing potty emergency with my 3-year-old.) Bring a flashlight along if you think you might need to use this port-a-potty, or make a potty stop before you get here.

I hope your family has fun on this Clark Griswold adventure – I know we do! Happy holidays, everybody!

This is my family’s new favorite apple orchard!

Look at those cute little apple pickers! :-) — Look at those cute little apple pickers!

*** #basicwhitegirl alert!!!! ***

IT’S FREAKING FALL, YA’LL!!!!

Do you even know what that means!? No?!

Well…..Good thing you have me here to tell you….

It means apple and pumpkin EVERYTHING. (It also means football season. Which consequently means buffalo sauce and chili everything. In fall I tend to gain a few pounds to help me hibernate through the winter. Don’t tell anyone, but leggings have an elastic waist band and coordinate perfectly with flowy tops that hide said pounds. Shhh. Our secret.)

But back to my APPLE EVERYTHING state of mind…

I have a love for apple season that goes deep. Every fall, my mom and Grammy would make homemade applesauce with freshly-picked apples. In case you live under a rock, or perhaps were not as fortunate as I was growing up, that equals the BEST damn applesauce you have ever tasted. I will post the recipe for you. I promise. I just can’t post it yet, because that would be putting the cart before the horse. Before you make awesome applesauce you need some freshly-picked apples!

Where do you get those?

Ummmm…..Apple picking farms. Silly.

Going off the success of my “Good Cheap Fun” post I wrote at the beginning of the summer, I decided throwing some good cheap FALL fun your way was a good idea too. My first post of fall 2015 is below! 🙂

JONAMAC ORCHARD

19412 Shabbona Road, Malta, IL

We went there this afternoon, and I have to tell you how much we loved it RIGHT NOW. This just can’t wait. We had so much fun. I’m serious.

It is adorable. Everything is so darn cute and clean. There literally was not a piece of hay out of place here. Right off the bat they have cute photo-ops set up just waiting for you to snap your daily Instagram photo! (Feel free to #jonamacorchard #applepicking #ilovefall to your little social media heart’s content!)

It really is good cheap fun here, because admission on weekdays is FREE. No joke. FREE. You just walk right on in, no questions asked. This includes all kinds of activities like:

rubber ducky racing,

tractor bike racing,

pretend tractor driving,

playhouse exploring,

rope climbing and mini-maze maneuvering,

sliding,

old-school gaming,

corn silo swimming,

and hay bale mountain climbing! Recap – all of that is FREE on weekdays.

On weekday afternoons, you can add this awesome jumpy pillow and animal barn to all the free activities I already listed for $4.00 per child and $2.00 per adult. Children 2 and under are free with paid adult. I promise you will want to participate in the jumpy pillow because you are cool parents like us. Soooo $2.00 of fun is coming your way! Read more about the weekday after school special here.

If you visit on the weekend, you will have to pay admission. Don’t worry though – there is good news! The corn maze and tractor rides are only open on weekends and admission prices are actually pretty affordable. Jonamac even offers a family pass – $32.00 for a family of 4. Not bad considering what you pay at some other orchards and fall farms! Click here for more information about activities and admission prices.

There is also a pumpkin patch that was not open when we were there – It opens this weekend 9/26! Click here to find out more.

So now that you have had a crap-ton of fall fun on the farm, you need to get to work doing what you came to do: Go pick some apples!

Before you venture into the orchard, stop by The Country Store or The Apple Hut to purchase your picking bags. There are no admission fees to the orchard, but you can only use the purchased bags to hold your apples. Don’t waste your time bringing your own sacks. Click here to find out more pricing and picking information.

I recommend checking the apple chart before heading out for the day to see what varieties are available for picking. You can also use the chart to decide which apple variety would be best for you, especially if you are unfamiliar with apple varieties. (Some are better for baking, some are better for snacking.) Check their Facebook page for updates as well.

Once you are in the orchard, get picking! There are crates that the kids can stand on so that they can reach the tree branches. My girls loved it! You can have a freshly-picked apple for a snack while you pick. Clearly, my Emmy took full advantage of this offer. Yum.

A few other tidbits you might want to know….

This place is stroller friendly! (There are so many fall farms and festivals that aren’t, so when you find one that is, you hold that precious gem close to your heart until your kids can log their own Fitbit miles.) The farm grounds have well-maintained gravel paths connecting the attractions.

The paths even run into the orchard! You can definitely feel confident bringing your stroller or wagon here. If you have a young family like me, it is worth noting that the bathroom situation is waaaaay better than other seasonal fall farms. You have a couple of options. They have plenty of port-a-potties, complete with a hand washing station and hand sanitizer. There are also real, working bathrooms inside The Country Store. There are only a couple stalls, but if you just can’t handle port-a-potties with your kiddos then head over there!

While you are in The Country Store, check this cute board for upcoming events and browse the adorable fall decor, apple butter, apple donuts, apple pies, apple cider and APPLE WINE for sale. (I had you at wine, right?) Buy some. I have tasted it. DELICIOUS. Then go ahead and impulse buy lots of fall crap! I promise you won’t regret it. (You really did need a bunch of distressed signs and mason jars filled with cinnamon. Your house rocks now. I know. I just get you.)

Stop by The Apple Cart, Kettle Corn Barn or The Country Store if you get hungry on the weekends, but head to The Country Store if it is a weekday. There is also a nice pavilion full of picnic tables, and plenty of grassy areas to spread out a blanket if you brought your own food. Even if you packed a picnic, you should still grab their apple donuts for dessert. Feel free to thank me for telling you to do that – because they are freaking amazing.

Give the drive a chance! Jonamac Orchard might look farther away on a map, but it was way more convenient for us to visit then some of the comparable orchards over the Indiana border. It is 10 minutes from DeKalb (GO HUSKIES!), and basically in the opposite direction of all the crappy traffic and road construction surrounding the city, burbs and Indiana border. It took an hour for us to get there, but I promise you that we didn’t see a break light the entire drive! So worth it!

Jonamac’s husky! NIUUUUU!

Now go visit Jonamac Orchard and tell me how much you loved it in the comments. We already have plans to go back, so see you all there!

Happy apple picking!

🙂 Kaitlyn

Doing Dishes Making Wishes

conquering womanhood, one sink full at a time

Free Christmas Fun!

Jonamac Orchard