We took our daughter here when she was 1 yr old and again when she turned 3. She had a lovely time here on both occasions. We always buy the all access pass to see the dolphins and penguins. The admission is a bit on the expensive side so it may be worth looking into family membership if you plan to visit often within the same year. The second time we went on a free day. General admission is free on free days. You only need to pay a little bit extra for an all access pass. It is a great deal but the crowds on free days are crazy. It took us an hour to get to the ticket counters. However, the weather was good so our daughter did not complain.

We had a lovely time at Time Square. It's is great for people watching. They have steps to sit on and take pictures. Be sure to go here once during the day and once at night for the lights. Kids will love visiting the Toys R Us and M and M stores close by. My daughter loved the sugar coated peanuts sold by the street vendors in this area. We also ended up having a falafel sandwich for dinner at another vendor and that was really yummy.

Millenium park is a great place to be in the summer time as they have a fountain area for kids to splash around. There is also a great restaurant with outdoor seating and a nice park for kids to run around. You can also catch quite a few concerts in the amphitheater nearby. In winter time, the area is converted into an ice rink. They do have skates rentals nearby.

This mall has everything that a child loves - Nice play area, Disney store, Build a Bear Store, Great food court. There is also a train that runs in the upper level starting near the food court. There are a few ride ons near the play area that my daughter enjoys a lot. The restrooms near the food court have a kid size toilet and sink - very convenient. They also tend to be very cleanly maintained. There is a gelato store right by the play area. It is yum!

This is a lovely holiday lights show organized every year by the city of Vernon Hills. It runs from Thanksgiving to New Year. The entrance fee is $5 per car on weeknights and $10 on Fri, Sat and Sun. On the way to the ticket counter, they have cut outs of cartoon, fairy tale and movie characters. This was my 3 year old daughter's favorite part. She loved telling us the names of the characters coming up. Then we got to see the lights show which includes some fairy tale characters, Santa's house and more. The first time we went on a weekend and the wait was about 20 mins. The second time we went on a week night during the Holiday week and the wait was like 45 mins. So it is better to avoid going here in the Holiday week.