The Park district of La Grange inside playground is amazing! It's great for those really hot days…read moreand you still want to enjoy the day with your little. My son enjoyed the bridge. He was running up and down for a long time. Besides the playground they have a fitness center, basketball court and I'm sure plenty more!

Lots of Equipment, space, and a variety of fitness classes included in the membership. They just…read morerenovated the parking lot so it's nice to finally park my car within a reasonable distance.

We had my 4-year-old daughter's birthday party at ArtSpace with a glow-in-the-dark princess theme,…read moreand it was absolutely amazing! From start to finish, everything was so well organized and stress-free. The glow setup was magical -- the colors, decorations, and lighting. The kids were completely engaged the entire time and had so much fun painting. The staff was friendly, patient, and great with the kids, which made a huge difference. As a parent, I really appreciated how smooth everything ran. Highly recommend ArtSpace for a fun, unique, and memorable birthday party. My daughter is still talking about her glow princess party!

Awesome place for people of all ages!! Everyone was so nice and our group had a great time.read more

We have LOVED our 5 years at TGS Oakbrook. I can't believe we are about to leave behind this daily…read morepart of our lives! The people at The Gardner School of Oakbrook Terrace have helped to raise our daughter to be the beautiful, smart, hilarious, creative, sweet little 5-and-a-half-year-old lady she is now. These women have changed her diapers, fed her nutritious meals, played with her, read to her, soothed her, encouraged her, loved her, taught her, shaped her, and helped her grow in every way possible. They've helped me be a better mom (& teacher, too). They've helped my husband in myriad ways as well. The teachers, administrators, and other staff are supportive and caring in all their interactions. The administrators were understanding whenever "life" happened and you needed to bend protocol to make all the things happen, whatever they might be. In our case, when our daughter was an infant, we actually pulled her out of TGS for a 6-month period because she was getting sick so often and so intensely. (Former preemie with low immune system plus she had the stereotypical childhood recurring ear infection.) When we decided we wanted to have her return, TGS welcomed us back with open arms. And...no matter what...every day during high traffic/morning drop-off/evening pick-up times, one of the administrators was there with a smiling face to greet parents and families at the front door. That meant more than it might seem on the surface. First of all, there were plenty of days where I blew into the building in quite a mood from my own long, trying school day with 100+ kids, but after I was greeted by a smiling Ms. Natalie, Ms. Jen, or Ms. Brittany and walked to my daughter's classroom, that interaction had managed to shift my focus to what kind of day my child had. Second, consistency is key with children and at TGS, it's demonstrated even in this area. Third, knowing you can count on that presence at a particular time makes it simple to plan quick verbal check-ins with TGS staff. The teachers were forever gracious about everything, including me dropping off incredibly late in the summer. :-P Enrichment teachers like Coach Janelle helped our daughter explore ballet, gymnastics, and theatre in a friendly, safe environment. We counted on Chef Nicole to prepare and serve tasty, healthy food several times a day every day & she always delivered. Most of all, we knew that daily our daughter's classroom teachers were doing absolutely amazing things, instilling in her a love of learning and an understanding of how school works... Ms. Angelika, Ms. Abbey, Ms. Tameka, Ms. Jessica, Ms. Angela, Ms. Jennifer, Ms. Cassi, Ms. Adriana, Ms. Ann, Ms. Anna, Ms. Lonnisha, Ms. Vanessa, Ms. Elyse: you are forever in our hearts. Beyond everything mentioned above, these women at TGS Oakbrook have always understood who our daughter is. That means they know what she responds well to and what she needs in order to feel safe, loved, & happy. It also means they knew what gaps needed to be filled and what she needed to work on. So at TGS, she has learned soooo much about how to be brave, to write, to play with friends (or to play alone when she's not feeling it!), to wash your hands at all the right times, to listen when others speak, ... Because of TGS Oakbrook and the women who work there, my daughter will walk into kindergarten at our neighborhood school the most prepared she could possibly be. And for that, we are forever grateful.

After moving from the city to the suburbs, our family was in search of a new daycare and were lucky…read moreto have found The Gardner School. Our son started at The Gardner School around 1.5 and is still there 2 years later. During these 2 years, he has had caring / passionate teachers who have taught him countless things in fun and exciting ways. He has made many friends and gotten to experience extracurricular activities (basketball, karate, music class, etc.) throughout the year. During the summer, children not only continue learning, but are treated to ice cream trucks, petting zoos and more! If you are in search of a daycare, do not hesitate to visit The Gardner School Oak Brook!

The joy of participating in live theatre has been sucked out. Politics has taken over and only the…read more"chosen" can survive. After years of diligent volunteerism being snubbed for the last time has taken its toll. Don't go here to be seen, heard or developed. If you're not "golden" you're "gone."

Theater of Western Springs is a wonderful night out where you can see a play that is as good as and…read moresometimes better than seeing a play on Broadway - and I have been to NYC. The actors are really good. Set's are professional, acting is stellar. Price of tickets is very very reasonable. If you want a fun night out, subscribe to TWS - please support this local theater.

Does not engage children well, make sure to sign up for swimming In the mini pool or your child…read morewill be sitting in the sun for six hours on the first day like mine was. Maybe I recommend you go over there and check out the pool first yourself considering it's about the size of a postage stamp.

My daughter went here a few years back when she was 6 years old. She was traumatized. They do not…read moreunderstand childhood developmental stages or individual children differences. They used high school teenagers to take care of the kids instead of trained staff, which was a disaster. Our experience overall was that they are intolerant and have a very hostile attitude both towards the kids and the parents. We ended up pulling my daughter out and we never wanted to go back there. My daughter was so happy when we pulled her out of what we thought was going to be a wonderful camp experience, especially with a school with the reputation that Avery Coonley supposedly has.

The chair yoga and senior fitness instructors are very good and understand the needs of the older…read moreadults who attend classes.Their dedication and commitment is commendable. The Cons: There is a mask mandate but no social distancing. The senior classes are crowded and all who wish to attend cannot be accommodated. The website for registration is not user friendly and is cumbersome. That being said, I enjoy the Y, the employees and the classes.

Perfect for my needs. Good virus safety measures include appointment-based workout times.read more

York Center Park District has a very professional staff and team work ethic. I find they are very…read moreprofessional and sincerely caring of our children. My boys looked forward to going to camp and there was always an exciting story to tell.. unfortunately, Kai was upset that the fun always comes to an end. Looking forward to another great summer with the crew.

I am giving one star only because my kids love the summer camp teen couselors. What has been an…read moreaffordable Summer Camp has now become unfortunately out of our price range. The price increase from 2019 to 2020 is unbelievable! A $90 increase PER WEEK?? For each child?What family can budget for that? Unless the Camp activities and facilities have changed dramatically, this feels like a pure money grab. I did not think Park Districts were for profit. Upsetting, to say the very least. We miss Sarah, the old program director.

I have mixed feelings about this kayak tour company. I signed up because although I'm a very…read morecapable and seasoned kayaker, I didn't know this river and I like learning about the ecosystems and local wildlife. For this reason I like having tour guides. Going up the river was fine. Coming back went a bit sour. I went as slow as I was capable of paddling or not paddling, but apparently it was too fast for the preference of our tour guide. I was barely touching the water with my paddle. I have no idea how I could have gone any slower. It wasn't humanly possible. After shouting at me several times, he took to chasing me down and ramming my kayak so it'd spin in circles. Would I rent a kayak here and kayak the river alone? Yes. Would I personally use a tour guide here? No I wouldn't. Would I recommend? If you're a family with little kids or a drunk sorority house, absolutely. If you know what you're doing, just go it alone. You'll probably enjoy it more. Edit: If the tour guide had concerns for group safety, he could have said so. Although ramming my kayak with his seems to be a bit of a conflict as far as my safety goes. It was an unprofessional approach when he could have simply explained why he needed me to slow down

It almost seemed like a dream. From the very start, cruising through a large patch of lotus plants,…read moreit felt otherworldly. Very peaceful, going at our own pace. Enjoyed the cliff walls of Buffalo Rock and the shallow waters of some side passages. We paddled for 5 hours, covering 8 miles total. After we were done we headed to charming, historic downtown Utica for drinks and dinner at Skoog's Pub & Grill in North Utica, IL. I was impressed with the logistics and operation of the kayaking experience, from the guide* to the equipment and online booking process. *Full disclosure, the guide was my twin sister, but I am being objective...seriously.