I ate at the BEST Chicago Restaurant EVER!

Name: Wall Ball 

Location: Very convenient. Lots of parking and best of all, its easily accessible.

Ambience: Kid Friendly yet nice. There were candles on  our table with mood lighting. But at the same time, there was enough light for the kids to play with the table toys handed out at entrance. 

Food: There was lots of variety, ample vegetarian friendly food and spice level completely customized to our taste buds. As Sumit said, in one word: 'Delicious'. The menu was simple to read and the server was lovely in explaining all our options, how its made and above all the healthy part of the meal. Apparantly the menu is hand written by the server every Friday. How intresting, talk about keeping it fun and fresh.

The best of all, the drinks. Sumit ordered a Mango Lemonade. It was a lovely fizzy lemonade with fresh basil and a raspberry in the middle. The server explained, its freshly plucked Basil leaves. Yumm!

Service: Top of the line. No other way to describe it. The server/ waitress was super friendly. She was knowledgeable and happily helped Sumit make the right selection. The food was brought out promptly and in very creative service style.

The server was interested in playing with the 8 month old Little Lady. The server got kid friendly fruits and cheerios for the Little Lady to play with and eat.

At one point, Little Lady was super tired and Sumit wanted to leave, but the server volunteered to hang around the high chair and entertain the baby.

 What can I say, it was the best Friday Night restaurant experience for us a family. We are contemplating making it a weekly tradition. It is the perfect way to unwind from the week, have delicious and well served food and above all, its a restaurant experience which is very relaxing!

 Here is a picture of the lemonade with our server:

Haha! Yes, the server was Vedika and the Chef: A La Moi.

The not so little Miss V, prepared the menu with the price, took the order, commanded the chef to make it look pretty and above all- it was her wonderful idea.
We had a memorable time at : Restaurant Wall Ball (The server: V gets to choose the name!)

 

So to more Friday evenings in the BEST Chicago restaurant EVER.

Plan for next installment:

Chef: Sumit

Server: V

Customers: Little Lady and Me

Wild Wild West

The name 'Wild Wild West' was enough to pique my interest. No not the movie but the adventure park. When I got the email to go here in the middle of winter, trust me I jumped on it. Hell, I was interested. Of course the distance from the city was a bit much. But in the middle of dead winter, even an hour plus seems okau. The kids can take a nap. It is a short drive.

On fathers day weekend, I invited another family to join us for this trip. So 5.5 year, 3.5 years and 0.5 year old, four adults made it to the Donley's Wild Wild West and I must start by saying, it was awesome. For all the ages. Within the first twenty minutes we realised we have five kids instead of three's since the fathers became kids here.
While my preschooler enjoyed the canoe rides, my husband and his fried were busy trying their hand at shooting and archery. While the toddler screamed with fun in the roller coaster, the husbands were taking challenges at sling shots. My friend and I were having a blast just looking the kids and the husbands and of course the shooting! Need less to say, I lost all the time to Sumit.
There is a show in the park, which I think left a lot to be desired. It was okay but the little ones didnt find the  jokes entertainig or the story captivating. I am very happy that they started with a warning that playing with guns at all levels is wrong and telling the kids what they should do if they ever see one. Considering the current air in politics around gun control and the impressionable age of the kids, this was the right move.
I am a nursing mother and was a bit dissapointed to find a lack of mothers room or something to give me some privacy. However the front desk was very understanding and kind. They let me sit in there movie theater with an outlet for pumping. I must say, having the entire theatre playing old movies while you pump, was an amazing experience. I really applaud the presence of mind and the consideration I got.
Food wise, I didnt know that outside food was not allowed and we had packed a picnic with us. Which I am glad we did. Being vegetarian, we didnt have much choice there. But again I think the management was adjusting and let us enjoy the picnic.
It was a rainy day, so there were not a lot of people in the park. Which turned out to be advantageous. The kids did multiple pony rides, sling shots, played in the park without any lines and best, without any tantrums. They give you a punch card which lets you do a combination of the activites here. Trust me, we didnt get through all the punches even at the end of the day.

I think the 5.5 and the 3.5 year olds did so many carousel rides that they wont be asking to sit in abother one for a very long time.

Over all it was a wonderful day, at $16.99 for a ticket, its perfectly priced to include lots of rides, experiences, and fun. I think the one hour drive away from the city was so worth it. And it helped that Huntley's outlet mall was on our way back. So nothing like shopping for a bit on your way back.
It was a very good fathers day gift for my husband. I asked my 5 year old what her favorite was and she said:

Searching for gold and carousel and pony and rides and plaing and... you get the idea!!!

Beauty and the Beast

 All I wanted for Mothers Day was a relaxed day with my family. The kids all over me and my husband next to me. And that is exactly what I got. It felt so good to hold on to my pre schooler and sleep at 11 in the morning when the rest of the family snoozed away as well.

There was this sweet nothingness of the day which made it all the more special.

I had tickets for 'The Actors Training Center RepertoryCompany' for their production of 'Beauty and the Beast' for the Mothers Day evening. And I was a bit skeptical about driving to 'Wilmette Theatre' due to the distance. But I got over the laziness of the Sunday evening and made the trip. I was so very glad I did.

The theatre itself is small. We picked up more than our share of the Pop Corn from the concession stand and headed over to the theatre. The performance in my five year old's words was 'Breathtaking' She loved the songs, the beast and Belle. She was very scared when the wolves come to take the father away and above all she loved the dancing Tea Cups.

I thought the timing of the play, the characters and the music was just perfect. It was enthralling for the little kids and very simplistic for us. The production quality was ok though. But for the size of the theatre it was just right.

Right after the performance all the characters stood outside to chat with the guests and I think that was so sweet. You get to meet the characters, who were 12-16 year old kids. My daughter was so pleased to take a picture with Belle and was asking the director, Carol DIno all sorts of questions- Where did you get the clothes from, how did the music come etc etc. She was patient enough to answer all the questions.

My husband was outside for a bit and saw that the girl who played Belle had fallen down on her knees during the performance. She was icing her knee in between the shots. When he told me, I was shocked. The Princess didnt show it for the play and the meet and greet after. So very professional.

It is an inspiration to see these kids perform with so much confidence, grace and attitude. It is a lifetime's learning’s for the kids from the Training Academy.

Overall, my Mothers Day got sweeter with this lovely performance.

I received free tickets for the performance for review. The views expressed are solely my own