The Abbey Resort & AVANI Spa Hosts All-Star LEGO® Show President’s Day Weekend

I mostly dream of running away to The Abbey Resort and Avani Spa withOUT my family but since that never happens, maybe a trip with them is more realistic.  This looks like a fabulous family event at a GREAT price!

The Abbey Resort & AVANI Spa Hosts All-Star LEGO® Show

President’s Day Weekend

Professionally Created LEGOo® Exhibits and Workshops Offer a Weekend the Whole Family Will Enjoy

FONTANA, Wis., -- February 4, 2013 –The Abbey Resort & AVANI Spa is helping families build memories this President’s Day weekend (Feb.  15-18) an All-Star LEGO® Show offering activities to help inspire future engineers and architects.  The Northern Illinois LEGO Train Club, The Chicago LEGO User Group and the Kenosha LEGO User Group will offer LEGO® exhibits and workshops throughout the weekend -- a creative alternative to playing video games on a DS device or iPhone.

“In honor of The Abbey’s 50^th anniversary, we are scheduling celebratory events throughout the year like the All-Star LEGO® Show. A weekend at The Abbey Resort & AVANI Spa on Lake Geneva offers plenty of indoor and outdoor winter fun,” said David Lindelow, general manager of The Abbey Resort. “Partnering with regional LEGO® clubs to provide engaging and fun LEGO® activities is one more experience families can enjoy together during a winter getaway.”

The All-Star LEGO® Show will feature exhibits and workshops throughout the President’s Day weekend. Team members will be on-hand to field any questions from participants touring the exhibit. Featured exhibits will include:

A miniature winter village with trains
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hardy House
Wild west inspired scenes
Large sculptures of popular cartoon and historical characters such as Marvin Martian and Buzz Aldrin
Classic Lego city and space settings from the 1980’s

The three interactive workshops each an hour in length will focus on the building process including inspiration, design, and building techniques.  Kids will get a chance to play with various brick pieces and try important techniques for combining elements.

The exhibits will be open Saturday, February 16 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Workshops will be facilitated at 1p.m. and 4p.m. Saturday and 1p.m. Sunday.   Both exhibits and workshops are complimentary to guests of the resort as well as members of the community.

Rates for a two-night extended stay at The Abbey Resort & AVANI Spa for President’s Day Weekend start at $129 per night, double occupancy. Rates are subject to availability and based on best available day rate.

For more information or reservations, visit www.theabbeyresort.com.

About The Abbey Resort & AVANI Spa 

Located just 80 miles from downtown Chicago and 50 miles from Milwaukee, The Abbey Resort & AVANI Spa is a treasured icon and the only full-service resort on the shores of Lake Geneva. The resort is celebrating its 50^th Anniversary in 2013 and is completing a multi-million dollar renovation of the exterior, meeting space and common areas. The resort boasts a breathtaking setting on 90 acres of beautifully manicured grounds, award-winning dining and banquet facilities,nearby championship golf courses and a wide range of outdoor activities. This only scratches the surface of all the activities and offerings that The Abbey Resort provides. With impeccable customer service, the team at The Abbey Resort consistently meets the needs and expectations of both guests and meeting planners. The 35,000 square-foot AVANI Spa enhances the resort experience with innovative spa treatments and modern luxuries.

The Abbey Resort & AVANI Spa is managed and operated by Hostmark Hospitality Group of Schaumburg, Ill. For more information or reservations, visit www.theabbeyresort.com,join Abbey Resort & AVANI Spa on Facebook www.facebook.com/abbeyresort or follow @AbbeyResort on Twitter www.Twitter.com/abbeyresort.

Our Kalahari Resorts, Wisconsin Dells Stay Part 1

 Last Saturday I woke my kids up at 4:30 am and made them get dressed and get in the car, headed for an unknown destination.  I will regularly keep our plans secret from them just in case things fall through, someone gets sick, etc but we aren't usually driving three hours.  I have to say I was impressed with how well they did with the tight quarters (we took my compact car), long drive and early hour.

This photo is them seeing our destination...Kalahari Resort, Wisconsin Dells.

There was a special little welcome at the front desk when we arrived.

And we had just a minute to check out our room before we had to go to breakfast.
We had a two bedroom, two bathroom suite.  This is the master bedroom.

 Check out the adorable towel elephant.

 The fabulous living area complete with a fireplace and large balcony.

 Master bathroom with large whirlpool tub that I tried out Sunday morning and didn't want to ever leave.  But having TWO bathrooms in a hotel was amazing.  I don't even have that at home and its so nice to have after getting back from the water park when everyone was wanting to change.

The second bath was small but plenty for the boys.

 We found some fun Kalahari shirts and toys waiting for us so we changed before we headed to breakfast.

We had a delicious breakfast buffet while hearing about the plans for our stay.

We preordered our lunch before we left breakfast.

 And then we were off to the waterpark. 

We were thrilled with Kalahari's indoor water park.  With a great wave pool (with a small play area in it), a lazy river, a huge water play area with about 8 small slides, a great play pool with floating lily pads and basketball hoops.  And Bryan's favorite was Tiko's Watering Hole which had a pint sized lazy river with small intertubes (with bottoms for the center) and small fountains and slides.  Of course there were also a TON of large water slides and the FLow Rider surf area.

After some free time in the waterpark we checked out the Flow Rider with their pro who took each of the boys out to try it despite their apprehension.  I MAY have bribed my kids with $5 for going on their tummy and $10 if they attempted to stand up.  They both did give it a go and used thier $10 to buy the photo of their ride.

 Timmy above, Johnny below

I was so proud of them for getting in there and givin it a try.  They originally wanted to go again but we ran out of time to do it right away and they were either too distracted or lost their nerve cuz they never made it back.

We then had lunch and a little more time to play in the waterpark before I hosted a twitter party poolside.

I will share about the rest of our stay next week.  But for now, if you'd like to stay at Kalahari Resorts, go enter my giveaway for a 1 Night Stay HERE.

Disclosure: Our family  was hosted by Kalahari Resorts in exchange for my posts. All opinions are my own.

Weekend in Chicago Thanks to @adlerskywatch #WTTU2012

In the last year and a half or so, I've made more trips to Chicago than I have my entire life before that (even though I've lived in the burbs for my entire life). Several of those trips have included the kids and several have included over nights stays...for me.  But the kids hadn't even stayed downtown overnight.  But thanks to Adler Planetarium, Swissotel, Shoreline Sightseeing and Landshark Beer Garden we were about to change that.

So early one Saturday morning, we hopped on a train headed downtown.  My littlest man was SUPER excited, can you tell? (So were the other two...really it was just early and mom was at it with the photos...again)

Did I mention we left EARLY? Yeah we wanted to maximize our time downtown and we arrived well before the hotel had a room for us. But they were super helpful in pointing us to a place where we could hang out while we waited. And of course they gladly took our luggage.

This super cute park (with splashpad and a sand area, not pictured) was just behind the hotel.  It was really pretty and the weather was perfect.

While the kids played, I headed across the street to sneak in a quick meeting.  And happened to notice the great view of the Swissotel across the river.  (Its the pointy one right in the middle.) Isn't it beautiful?

After a couple hours, we got a call that the hotel was ready for us!!  

But I have to say...we were NOT ready for the hotel.  At least we weren't ready for how amazing it would be.  We had a corner suite that was literally breath taking.

Timmy was instantly in love with the telescope.  Though I don't think he was able to succesfully view and stars, he did a lot of people watching during the day.

And Bryan got cozy with the adorable friends the fab folks from Adler Planetarium sent over for him in our comfy 'king' bed. (He is still telling people how he got to have a sleepover in a king bed in a hotel in Chicago.)

And Johnny enjoyed the space books from Adler Planetarium. 

This is the view from one of our windows.

But THIS was the view the boys will most likely talk about for the longest.  The TV IN the bathroom mirror.  Well at least their digestive systems were fully cleaned out during our stay since they wouldn't get out of the dang bathroom!

This is the view into the office area from the living area. So much room, it didn't feel like staying in a cramped hotel room AT ALL!!

My kids are weird....give them an empty spot and they feel the need to fill it!

Kicking back in the bedroom.

Some pics of the office area.

And just as we were settling in there was a knock at the door with a little treat for us!

I'm pretty sure my kids are going to expect to be spoiled like this everywhere we go now!

I think Big Bird and Elmo may have over indulged in the cheese and fruit. (I swear it wasn't me!)

Boys in front of another view from the room.

And Bryan taking care of business...

After our snack and thoroughly exploring the room we headed out to Millenium park. Despite my many trips downtown, I had never been.

I thought the boys would LOVE Crown Fountain. 

And they DID but it was a little cool to play in the water. But Bryan was totally into it until he ran (despite my constant reminders not to) and fell and was quickly over the water.

And of course we couldn't miss 'the bean,' which is actually called Cloud Gate if you want to be proper.

It was very crowded but with just a little patience we were able to get around and get some fun shots without much trouble at all.

This is under 'the bean' looking up.

It really is pretty cool and I'm thrilled we were finally able to make it there!

And since we were out and about we decided to keep on a walkin to Buckingham fountain.  If you're a child of the 80s you may commence singing..."Love and Marriage...Love and Marriage" (theme song from Married with Kids, who's opening featured the fountain)

Tried to get tricky with shots that looked like the boys were spitting out the fountain but it was super sunny and hard to see the screen.  Still thought they were funny pics.

From the fountain we decided to go back to the hotel to get cleaned up before heading to dinner.  We decided to check out Landshark Beer Garden which is at the far end of Navy Pier.    Here's a shot of Navy Pier from the window by the elevator of the hotel. It could be walkable distance but we decided we deserved a little break and took a cab. 

Landshark Beer Garden is only open May-September and features a smallish sit down area but also has walk up service as well.  I thought the food was reasonably priced and was really good.

Timmy got a burger.  Johnny had chicken tenders.

Bryan had pizza.

Tom tried the brat.  Which in case you can't tell from the photo, was HUGE!!

And I had a chicken ceasar salad which was delicious, but also made me feel less guilty about indulging...

In desert....

amazing key lime pie and cheesecake. YUM!!

As the sunset it got a little cold on the pier. So after purchasing some Navy Pier sweatshirts everyone was happy....

no really...he WAS happy.

And I ordered a Landshark recommended Miami Vice (strawberry daiquiri and pina colado mixed) and I was happy.  And ready to wait for the fireworks.

Just so happens that Landshark Beer Garden is actually the perfect place to watch the fireworks from.

Fire works are on Wednesday at 9:30 and Saturday at 10:15pm all summer long! 

After the fireworks we grabbed a can and headed back to the room. (Cab tip, walk up the street away from the cab line (in the direction the cars are coming from so they will get to you BEFORE the rest of the crowd to get a cab quickly at the end of the night.)

After a full day, someone was ready to hit the hay!

But I had to take in a little of our view at night.  It was gorgeous!!!

But he didn't wait for me.  He was out cold with his new buddies.

Check out my post tomorrow to see all our fun at Adler Planeterium.

Thanks again to Adler Planetarium, Swissotel, Shoreline Sightseeing and Landshark Beer Garden for this memorable weekend!!