Hi moms! I need your advice on a location as to where my family and i can go to in the fall. Our daughter will be 2 1/2 and we would like to do something fun as a family. Last year we took a trip out to Springfield when our daughter was 17 months and the car ride was not the greatest. But now that she's a little older I think it'll be easier to entertain her during the trip. I'm not really looking for anything with an indoor water park, so I'm not sure with that being said, if my options are limited. But if anyone can recommend a place that is kid friendly where we can all have a good time, it would be greatly appreciated.
The Osthoff Resort in Elkhart, WI is divine!! Fun by lake, cute little town and a wonderful spa too. :-)
Not really sure where Plainfield is....we have relatives in South Elgin.
How about Cincinnati (the zoo is one of the best in the country!) or Columbus
or Indianapolis. Go online to the Chamber of Commerce sites and see what there is to do.
Big key to mini vacation with small ones....keep the drives to a minimum. Plan a stop over and a hotel stay that has some cool things to see / do there. You can't push thru 8, 10, 12 hours in a car with young kids. Plan your route to get out and see things along the way. It takes longer, but everyone is SO MUCH happier.
Check out www.michigan.org they do have fall festivals. We went to St Joseph last summer and it was beautiful. It only took maybe 95 minutes to get there and traveling to other cities was quick and easy. My 18 month old was fine with the drive and we do not have dvd or anything like that in our van. You could also look into fruit picking while you're out. We picked peaches and raspberries and she had fun with that-- not that much that she picked actually ended up in the baskets.
Hi. We took our family to St. Joseph, Michigan for 4 days last year. There is the beach (lovely!), Children's Museum, downtown shopping. At the time they were starting to build a big carousel down by Silver Beach. That should be open this year. We took the kids blueberry and peach picking. They loved that! There are several other towns within a half hour of there to visit. If you like wine tasting, there are some local wineries nearby.
When going to the beach, bring chairs,fpood cooler, floaties, sand toys. I like to bring a beach umbrella along, too. The kids can play there for hours!
We stayed at the Holiday Inn in St. Joseph. It takes a couple of minutes to drive to the beach from there. They had a nice breakfast in the morning. There was an attached mini-bunk-bed room for the kids to enjoy. The room had a mini fridge, sink and microwave if you want to bring some food along. This is a must for us traveling with kids! There is also an indoor pool, if you would like to swim at night, or take a break from the beach.
We live in Naperville, near Plainfield. It took us right around 2 1/2 hours to get there. Not too bad. But, we aware that returning to IL from Michigan on a Sunday night has a lot of traffic!!!! If you can get away during the week, I would suggest doing so. The beach was much less crowded on the weekdays.
Good luck!!
Feel free to ask if you have any other questions.
S.
Milwaukee....we had a great mini vacation there last year and then took the ferry over to MI. You could go to a Brewers game(super kid friendly....they even have play areas), go to the Zoo, Children's Museum and the beach(depending when in the fall you are going). South Haven and Saugatuk MI are nice in the fall. You can still play at the beach and go apple picking.
If you don't mind a car ride, i would suggest st. louis. they have a number of kid-friendly things to do. the zoo there is great and it is free. There is also purina farms. I don't know the cost, but it is a great family place. there is also Grant's farm, where they breed the clydesdale horses. they have animals etc. a tram ride to see things(and parents get to taste some beer). it is free, but reservations are required. There is also a history museum and art museum at forest park(where the zoo is located) and all of that is free too! Of course there is the Arch, and the museum at the base of the arch, but 2 1/2 may be a bit young for that! From our area, the drive is about 4 1/2 hours.
How about a fall festival. Online the surrounding areas probably have annual festivals. Your child will love the colors, people music and activities.
http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp we first took our daughters when they were younger then that and they had a great time, but by the time they were 2 1/2 they were loving it and we were all worn out by the end of the day in a great way. TONS of hands on things to do, a great circus show, a train to ride - crawling and climbing too.
Also in St. Louis is the zoo, the botanical gardens (children's garden was so great, I was very impressed and I'm an daycare owner who has toured lots of them!), the arch and so much more right there. Plus it's not that far away.
We just went and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn (by the airport) and that was a GREAT hotel too. The pool was perfectly small and had long hours unlike most hotel pools and right next door was a playground.
Visiting your own backyard.... There are many historical site.
Naperiville, Il. Is one of the best.
Metro trains and Pace bases can take you from Chicago to our town.
We have Naper Settlement. our local Band gives free music during summer.
We love the Lord and wanted to serve our country.
9/11 proudest member is from our town.
Lot's of colleges play sports.
We have art series in town.
Famous Riverwalk.
Bell Tower.
