Our family stayed at this hotel while visiting nearby Long Grove. The rooms are nice and accommodating, nothing fancy, but sometimes that is best when traveling with little kids. The pool facilities are very basic, but the kids loved it. The best part of our stay (in my opinion) was the breakfast buffet, which featured fresh fruit and an omelette bar, in addition to several other types of food. The hotel was very clean and the staff was friendly. There are several restaurants nearby and the proxmity to Long Grove made for a very nice family getaway.

The Mall of America is a must-see for us every time we visit Minnesota. Toddler Tuesdays are the best! With special offers and coupons for families with toddlers, it makes a great day trip for the whole family! Our daughter (who is in love with Dora the Explorer) loved the special ride pass, and definitely got a lot of use out of it (Access to all toddler Dora rides for $10). We also got special snack coupons for her, a free taco at Chipotle if we bought lunch there and a free hot chocolate at Caribou Coffee. On top of that she got to meet Dora, Boots, and Diego (costumed characters) and have her picture taken with them. Other family members not interested in the theme park can always go see a movie or shop, which makes it possible to stay the whole day there, even with younger children. We really enjoy going and look forward to our next visit!

The museum itself has a lot of exhibits that would appeal to school age children. There was not a lot for our toddler and infant to do. We saw a special exhibit at the time of our visit, The Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls themselves were kind of disappointing (more fragments than anything else), but the information provided in the exhibits was very interesting. Our daughter did enjoy the dinosaur exhibit, because of the size of the dinos, but didn't get much out of the rest of the exhibit. We also went to the movie theater to see the movie "Arabia", which was very well done. The theater itself was very clean and a great experience to watch on such a large screen.

Navy Pier does not have an entrance fee, but you will be hard pressed to keep from spending money once there. Besides shopping, dining, and the activities that all cost money, there is not a lot for kids to do for free. Our kids weren't that interested in the Stained Glass window section, but they did enjoy walking along the pier and looking at the boats out on the lake. Our kids did love the Build-a-bear store and some of the novelty carts that sell fun items. Some of the stores are fun to "window shop" in, but that's not always easy to explain to kids who may want to buy some of the things that they see. We did pay for the Ferris Wheel, to have the experience, and our kids loved the view!

The Shedd Aquarium is a fun trip for all ages! We even took our daughter when she was just a year old and she loved watching all of the fish. Older kids will appreciate the informative exhibits and hands-on activities. The aquarium is easy to get to, not a bad drive from the Chicagoland suburbs. The only downside is that the aquarium is one of the more expensive family attractions in Chicago, and I know that it gets very busy on free days!