Rockford Children's Discovery Center

Yum Yum

Candy sampling will take place tonight. I admit one caramel might not have made it to the photoshoot.

Auction!

Yes, I'm still on haitus for another 6 weeks, but who can resist an auction? Not me. I have so much to tell you about when I come back, but this can't wait.

Fricker Auctions on the square in Le Roy is having a big auction January 26th. Decide what to bid on Friday from 4-7 pm, and Saturday from 7-9 am. The auction starts at nine am.

Myself? I want to take a look at the cherry bed and dresser, the bakers tables, two stained glass doors, and the bench from the old Bloomington railroad depot. I have two spots in my home for a bench and I'd love to lean a stained glass door against the wall with an uplight behind it.

Take a look here!

The Great Pumpkin Patch, Arthur

It has been 10 years since I've been to The Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur and it has grown from a quaint family farm operation to a huge agri-tourism attraction. It is easy to find, a couple miles directly south of Arthur with large signs pointing the way from highway 133. It's open daily from 9-6 with $3 admission for visitors over 12 years old, $1 for children 5-12 and free for children under 5.

The Great Pumpkin Patch has by far the largest selection of pumpkins, squashes, and gourds of any pumpkin patch we've been to.
Many displays have cooking information so you know what to do with your purchases. I can see how a novice cook would be intimidated by some of the unusual squash varieties.

The great wall of cucurbits. What a display! Don't. Touch. Anything.
Noah's Ark of cucurbits. See the pumpkins going two by two?Pumpkins of the world. Gourd mountain. This pile was probably 15 feet high.Lots of animals to check out too. Chickens, rabbits, chickens, llamas, chickens, sheep and more chickens.

As far as prices go, the jack-o-lantern pumpkins were more expensive than the other two pumpkin patches we've been to this fall but the giant pumpkins were a bargain. The 100 pound pumpkins were only $20. There were two straw mazes, a corn maze, a hay rack ride, a one room school house museum, a haunted barn, a children's garden, and food vendors. We spent several hours wandering around and playing at the Great Pumpkin Patch. We came home with a tall skinny pumpkin to complement the three other pumpkins we've gotten so far. Surprisingly, the Great Pumpkin Patch accepts Visa and Mastercards at the check out. Afterwards we went into Arthur to have phosphate sodas at Dick's Pharmacy and buy yummy Amish cheese.

Black Bart's Pumpkin Patch, Warrensburg

Black Bart's Pumpkin Patch is the place to go for giant pumpkins. They have a HUGE selection of HUGE pumpkins.

Black Bart's Pumpkin Patch also includes the normal pumpkin patch entertainment, a hay maze, a corn maze, a slide, and a petting zoo. There is a haunted house which was too scary for my son.

For sale you'll find multi-color corn, hay bales, squash, gourds, a stuff your own scarecrow station, and pumpkins galore. Admission is free to Black Bart's and then you can pay for activities a la cart. The corn maze is 75 cents, children under 3 free. Feed for the petting zoo is a quarter per serving. The haunted house and slide are free. Drinks are available in the store for 75 cents per pop or bottle of water.
My son and I walked and walked thru the pumpkin patch and never came to the end of it. We were so far away I couldn't even see the house anymore. I would guess there are thousands of pumpkins waiting for you. Giant pumpkins, white pumpkins, red pumpkins, warty pumpkins, flat pumpkins, dark green pumpkins, grey pumpkins, and jack-o-lantern pumpkins. It's amazing.

Black Bart's Pumpkin Patch is open Monday thru Saturday 9 am to 6 pm and Sunday 11 am to 6 pm. Pumpkins are 35 cents per pound. I'm putting it on the Google map.

Furrow Winery and Red Barn Pumpkin Patch, El Paso

Today I took my son to play at the Furrow Winery's Red Barn Pumpkin Patch. We had a blast! Admission is $3 per child and parents get in free. The children's play area is super fun. They have a bounce house, a swing set, slides for tots and bigger kids, a speed boat (sunk into the ground), a tractor, an old school bus cab, a hay fort, a petting zoo, and a corn maze. I would have paid $3 just for the maze. We spent half our time wandering lost through the corn.
Red Barn has a big selection of pumpkins, both picked and in the field. At 29 cents a pound they are a bargain too. We got a gorgeous 13 lb white, orange, and green striped pumpkin and two tiny pumpkins for $4.50.

There were 3 kindergarten classes there today and they were having a ball. The straw castle area was swarming with children, but I got a photo while they were eating lunch.
The tractor and the petting zoo were not a big hit with H, but I think he wanted to just be in the fray of kindergartners. And in the corn maze. He loved, loved, loved running around the corn maze.

Oh! Tractor train rides are also included in the admission price. My son got a big kick out of driving around the farm in these little train cars.

The pumpkin patch is well marked from Hwy 251 north of El Paso. We found it easily. The only negative was that the porta potties were very full today so we resorted to an emergency diaper. The staff was friendly, the play area was clean, the pumpkins were beautiful and inexpensive.

Before we left, I stopped at the winery shop for an award winning bottle of Panther Creek Red. This weekend Furrow Winery will be celebrating Oktoberfest with their special release wine (only 250 cases available) food and live music. This weekend would be excellent to take your children to the pumpkin patch and come back for Oktoberfest!

Starved Rock Adventures, Ottawa

This weekend was the most fun I've had in years. Our hosts plan great group trips, like a weekend at Cedar Point immedately before their wedding. This trip was in honor of our friend T's birthday and everyone had an excellent time.

We were able to join the trip for Saturday and Sunday, but the houseboat was rented from Thursday to Sunday. Saturday morning the golfers did their thing. We all met up around 2 pm to leave the marina and sail to the island where we would spend the night. The boat rental company owns a small island where you can park the houseboat overnight and watch the barges go by.

We spent the evening playing bean bags (alternatively known as cornhole), enjoying all the good brews everyone brought, listening to music, and catching up. There were friends from college there we usually only see once a year and some we haven't even seen that much. I swam in the river for awhile. It wasn't as yucky as I expected. At sunset the guys built a bonfire and we spent the rest of the night sitting around talking about pregnancies, babies, hobbies, work, and college stories that always get trotted out for laughs.

It was so relaxing to not be in charge of anyone or anything. I didn't say "Stop that" or "Be careful" for a good 26 hours. We did have big excitement when a very large barge came by in the opposite direction as the other barges. The anchors started coming out of the sand and the boat went sideways. But we recovered and got the boat straightened out and anchored much better around trees.

This was a great weekend activity for adults. One major thing was the expense though. We contributed what we could to the hosts for the weekend. But if you look at the Starved Rock Adventure website prices, those are not the actual cost. The actual cost is significantly more because of all the add ons you have to pay for once you are there that are not included in the web price (insurance, john boat, etc).

Good Morning, Illinois River

Central Illinois Round-up #9

My dad took me to many, many high school and ISU football games as a child. And later when I marched in the band on Friday nights he was always there. Did you get out your sweatshirts last week and enjoy a little small town Friday night football? I did, and so did Chambana Fanna Fo Fanna. Put them away again this weekend.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are working on the Pinto with my dad. This photo is probably 1978, my dad was B's age. Analog Periphery writes a moving post on the automotive section and his father.

I also installed and sanded a lot of drywall with my dad.

My dad did his good grandpa deed of the year this summer by hosting my teenage nephew in Maine. I think he'd enjoy this poem from Hilton Hightower.

According to my dad, this is about how new houses are built in Indianapolis. That really tickles me.

Sugar Grove Nature Center, Funks Grove

Sometimes a road trip yields unexpected surprises. Today's was no different. We wound our way through the country enjoying the golden corn and browning beans. We counted tractors and combines and sang Old MacDonald as loud as we could. I had printed out a Google map route for our destination, but missed a turn. I thought one country road is the same as the next around here, so I made my next right on a gravel road figuring it would meet up with the next part of the route a few miles north. Surprise! It did not, we landed smack dab in the middle of an industrial hog farm. Whoops! So we turned around and took the NEXT right and did find our way back to the route. Our target destination this morning was the Sugar Grove Nature Center near Funks Grove. We parked and made our way through the gourd tunnel following the path to the covered bridge and the woods.
In the woods there is a great play area for children with a cabin, tire horse swing, a fire pit, tractor tires, and a fort.We had a grand time exploring and climbing.
Walking back toward the nature center itself there are beautiful prairie vistas.

The nature center is a great place for small children. There was a tent to play in, lots of terrariums and aquariums, a reading nook, a sand table, and a "Nut House" with many puppets. I liked the bird sanctuary but my son was more interested in running hither and yon. So much tactile exploration to do here!

Remember the contest I mentioned Friday? Here's the 411. Write about your own Illinois road trip and enter to win a navigation system. Enter here.

Casey's, Oakland

On a reader tip from Midlife Mutations, I stopped to try the chocolate doughnuts at the Casey's in Oakland on Hwy 133 this weekend. These gas station doughnuts are REALLY good. They are super chocolaty and were very fresh and had a hint of clove in them.

I took a quick detour around the Oakland square and saw this wonderful and curious public water fountain. A lion! Does anyone have information on this water fountain? They also had a building labeled Public Restroom. I can't imagine seeing that anywhere else but a town with a population of 1,000.

Oakland is on the google map, and now I'm off to Springfield.

Weldon Springs State Park, Clinton

I took my son to Weldon Springs State Recreation area outside of Clinton on this beautiful fall morning. We had a great time walking around this well maintained park. There is a restaurant, boat launch, playground, and many picnic tables and benches every where. The Boondocks II restaurant seemed to have quite a crowd for a Tuesday. We brought our lunch so we just drove by the boat launch and restaurant area. The bathrooms were super clean for pit toilets. We parked by the playground and entered the walking trail behind it. That trail seems to go all around the lake. We saw signs for other trails as well. Lots of shore fishing spots both along the main road and in the woods.

Wonderfully maintained wood chip and gravel path around the lake mainly in the woods.
Super nice fire pits. We ate our lunch here and were besieged by flies.
Veterans Memorial. I hadn't given much thought to today's date until we climbed a hill out of the woods and saw a clearing surrounded by flags. The main flags on the lake were at half mast. B and I were on our honeymoon in Canada six years ago today with no access to TV and were buffered from the 9-11 images.

Pumpkin Patches

Within the next couple weeks pumpkin patches will be opening all over Central Illinois.

The Great Pumpkin Patch is the mother of all pumpkin patches near Arthur. Definitely worth the drive for a huge variety of pumkins and gourds. This is a great family day in the country. It's pretty packed on the weekends, so if you can hit it on a beautiful weekday you will really enjoy yourself.

Gail's Pumpkin Patch is east of Lincoln and opens Sept 15th. The Berry Patch is more than just a pumpkin patch, you can get berries there during the summer too. The Berry Patch is off Rte 54 on Lynn Road near Buffalo Hart in Sangamon County. Pumpkin Works near Paris is outside my usual territory, but it has 11 mazes! Black Bart's Pumpkin Patch outside Warrensburg opens later in the season, not until Sept 21st, and it includes a haunted house. Black Bart's is located between Warrensburg and Latham off Rt. 121.

Ultimate Play Space, Clinton

Last week my sister and I were driving around Clinton, Illinois on a blog research trip and boy were we impressed. The downtown area is much bigger and nicer than I expected. There seems to be some love for the square and lots of renovation going on in nearby commercial buildings. We saw one particular building with gorgeous copper work going up outside.

Why were we in Clinton? Specifically to visit the Ultimate Play Space! Located behind the YMCA is a 13 acre park with a elaborate wooden play area (fenced in!) plus a sprinkler park plus porto-potties, plus swing and the older equipment. The Ultimate Play Space is separated into a Tot Lot and an area for bigger kids. Awesome! I didn't get any photos, but you can check out the Chamber of Commerce website and photos here. Once you turn onto Alexander off Rte 54, it's a quick left following the sign for Kiwanis Park. It almost looks like you are turning into an alley or the Y parking lot.

Addendum! B is a great sport and we returned to the Ultimate Play Space this evening to test it out. It was awesome! This is such a nice park and our son had a blast running with the herds of children. Here are some of the pictures I took. The Tot Lot was a big hit for H. Perfectly sized steps and all kinds of fun hiding places. Very nice materials and deep soft mulch. These photos show about 1/3 of the big kid play structure. It was huge and packed with children. You can see the sprinkler park in the distance.Some older equipment is spread out over 13 acres of lawn. I thought the motorcycle club brick was humorous.
Hopefully we can make it back for the Apple and Pork Festival, September 29 & 30, the quintessential Midwestern fall festival. If you like crafts you'll love the Apple and Pork festival. Myself, I love apples and pork so I go for the food and stay for the art.