The Midnight Circus Ticket Giveaway!

Come one, Come all!  Enter to win a pair of tickets to see The Midnight Circus at either Commercial Park (October 15th or 16th) OR Chase Park (October 22nd or October 23rd). This is a $30 value :) 

This photo was taken from: http://www.midnightcircus.net/photos_halloween.html

Entering is easy!  Follow my blog for one chance to enter and/or "like" Urban Green Space on Facebook for a second chance to enter.  For a third chance to enter you can refer a friend to my blog, if he or she follows, you will both be entered!  Simply leave me a comment or message to let me know which of these methods you used.  

I will be collecting entries until October 9th at which point I will have my daughter randomly pull a name from a hat.  If you already follow my blog and like me on Facebook you can leave a comment here or on my FB wall for a chance to win.  

The Midnight Circus puts on a show that is perfect for both kids and adults and ALL proceeds go towards park improvements - AWESOME!! 

This photo was taken from: http://streetsofwicker.blogspot.com/2010/09/midnight-circus-appearing-live-at-park.html

A. Montgomery Park

This park has had more name changes than Prince!  Or, the artist formerly know as Prince.  Either way, the park started as Park 511, then became known as Erie Park and now has officially been named A. Montgomery (Montgomery Ward ring a bell?)  It is located in River North at the intersection of N. Kingsbury St. and W. Erie St.

Maybe because I reside on the north side, but when I visit areas like River North I am completely astounded by the amazing surroundings and city views.  A. Montgomery is bounded by all things city.  Big buildings, the Chicago River, an amazing river walk and cool views of the skyline and bridges.  As we entered the gate into the park my children ran completely past the playground and headed to the river.  We spent a lot of time walking up and down it and admiring the passing boats.  There were tons of ducks and geese and the kids loved chasing (and being chased, careful!) them around the beautiful green and hilly landscaping.

We finally made it back up the hill to the playground and it was the perfect size for allowing me the chance to relax and keep an eye on both kids at the same time.  There are a few rubberized hills throughout the playground that were tons of fun to climb and run back down.  For the most part there was standard playground equipment: slides, a climbing wall, monkey bars and swings.  While I understand that the park designers did the best they could with it's smaller size, I was bummed to find only two baby swings and four big kid swings (one handicapped).  There was actually a wait for the baby swings while we were there and I felt guilty keeping the little guy in for more than 5 minutes.

Can I review people in my park reviews?  Of course I can, it's my blog :)  No joke, all the moms at this park were very well put together and good looking.  I felt a little self conscious that I did not have on Tom's shoes or Lululemon workout gear.  But, hey - good for the women of River North, I am definitely not putting down anyone who is raising kids and has their stuff together!

Love:  the surroundings, the river, the hills, splash park, benches, drinking fountain, ducks and geese, smaller size, gated areas.

Hate:  no bathrooms, no shade near the playground, lot's of goose poop outside of the playground, parking is metered and can be hard at peak hours.

Special Feature:  has to be the river and city views!


I would highly recommend this park to tourists of the city who have kids.  You can take great photos while letting the little ones get some energy out.



*There is a Caribou Coffee south of the park on N. Kingsbury, great for a bathroom break, quick snack and a pick me up!

Indian Boundary

While I live pretty far north to begin with,  I would still make the drive to Indian Boundary Park from downtown and beyond. Seriously, take advantage of this warmish fall weather, pack a picnic, grab the kids and head to N. Rockwell and W. Lunt Ave for a mini city escape!  I have heard the word "magical" to describe this park and I couldn't agree more.

Upon arrival we walked past a row of heavily occupied tennis courts.  We followed the side-walked trail towards the playground and stumbled upon a fenced in area full of animals!  What!?  How did I not know this place even existed!?  We saw some chickens and a few goats and this made both of my children very happy.  There were even more cages, but either the animal was inside it's house, sleeping or didn't exist.  Either way, this pleasant surprise set the precedent for the rest of the day.

The playground is a wooden one with tons of tunnels, bridges, nooks and crannies and secret hiding spots.  It is completely maze-like with little castles, a wood constructed train and tons of tires to climb on and under.  It the center you will find a little sandbox that appeared to be well kept and clean (for a sandbox).  If this isn't enough, you have the option of sixteen swings to choose from.  My only gripe here is that the big kid swings are low riders, you really have to keep those legs up when nearing the ground.  And then the baby swings are set incredibly high.  Little strange.

My only concern with the playground is that it is incredibly hard to keep track of your children if you have more than one.  So many hidden areas make it easy for a kid to disappear, which can be more than a little nerve racking. While we were there a mom lost track of her young toddler and he ended up falling about three feet to the ground. Scary stuff.

Surrounding the park is the mini zoo, a large water sprinkler, tons of grass and trees, a lagoon full of ducks and a really cute field house.  The field house is closed on Sundays (the day we visited) and the bathrooms on the outside of the house were locked as well.  I do know that the field house has a stage and that there are often free performances and concerts that are put on.  I wish I could describe it, but hope to check out the inside in a future visit (which there will be!).

We spent our time exploring the playground, saying hi to the goats and walking around the lagoon to check out the bird and butterfly sanctuary.  We loved all of the ducks, monarch butterflies and pretty flowers.

Love:  a unique playground, tons to climb, plenty of swings (one tire), trees, grass, lagoon, mini zoo, sandbox, bathrooms, drinking fountains.

Hate:  while I love the wooden playground, I hate the nails and splinters that come with, wood chips (even though they really make sense), low riding swings, hard to keep track of kids.

Special feature:  splash area, lagoon, mini zoo

*Check out the events, always something going on:  EVENTS

*As we were driving for home I passed a Baker's Square, finally a place to get my French Silk fix!!

*Please "like" Urban Green Space on Facebook (bottom of blog) to stay up to date on my newest park adventure and to see tons more pictures of every park I visit!

Horner Park

Looking for a large grassy hill to run up and down?  Horner Park has got you covered! The park is located in the Irving Park neighborhood at the intersection of Montrose and California. Have I mentioned that it is absolutely HUGE!?  Just under 55 acres of lush grass (complete with hill), tons of baseball diamonds, tennis courts, basketball hoops, a field house and a soccer/football field.  There is also a lovely little garden next to the field house with huge rocks to sit on and enjoy.

The playground is very large and spread out.  Although it is filled with wood chips, which are not my favorite, they are spread on the thin side so it is still easy to walk and/or run across them, even for my little guy.  We went on a Tuesday afternoon around 2:00 p.m.  The playground was pretty vacant and there were a few sunbathers on the grassy hill.

The equipment was typical of a renovated playground.  There were tons of slides, bridges, and climbing structures.  The playground has two areas: one for younger toddlers and the other for older kids.  There are a great amount of swings, both big and little!  If you leave the playground and explore the rest of the park, you will find that you almost feel like you aren't in Chicago anymore, which let's admit it, can be pretty nice sometimes :)

Another bonus is that the Chicago River runs just east of the the park, my little ones love going to the bridge and watching the river passing by.  If you continue south on one of the side-walked trails, Horner Park connects with California Park (more popularly known as McFetridge Sports Center) just across Irving Park Road where I hear there is ice skating in the winter, yay!

Love:  So much grass you feel like you are not in the city, a big parking lot, bathrooms, drinking fountains, relaxing garden, hilly terrain, lots of swings (including one tire), well spread out.

Hate:  The wood chips - but that's it!!

Special feature:  For us the best part was the large hill.  We seriously took turns running up and down, rolling down and relaxing in the grass.

*October 15th from 10 a.m. until
2 p.m. the park will be filled with a pumpkin patch!  Families can pick their own pumpkin for a very small fee!


























*For additional photos of Horner Park please "like" Urban Green Space on Facebook located at the bottom of this blog!!

River Park

River Park is most notably known for it's Olympic-sized pool.  However, this review will be geared towards the playground and splash park.  You can find River Park, next to the river, at the intersection of W. Foster and N. Francisco Ave.  The actual playground is south on N. Francisco.  Warning:  N. Francisco is a one-way street, this proved to be a little tricky while I was looking for parking.

Overall we were really pleased with River Park.  The playground had a few unique climbing structures, a good amount of space, and plenty of shade.  One of the highlights of the playground was the adventure of walking from our car to the park.  There are side-walked trails under a canopy of trees that lead from the street to both the playground and the pool (and beyond, N. Shore Channel Trail runs through this park).  The kids loved the freedom to run without the fear of cars and it was refreshing being under the shade of the trees.

Obviously my favorite, we were welcomed by a rubberized surface.  Tons of stuff to climb on that is geared at an older age (6 and up?).  Also, a small section for the toddlers, a good amount of swings, and benches (in the shade) for the parents.  Everything was lovely.

Without making this post too long, I also want to talk about the really amazing splash park located next to the pool.  The splash park is a toddler's dream!  It is completely fenced in and has numerous sprayers.  While there is no shade in this area, you won't need it because you will be plenty cool in the mist.  I can't wait until next summer to really take advantage of this place!

Love:  full of trails and trees on the way to the park, next to the river, rubber surface, tons of things to climb, drinking fountains, splash park, benches, grassy areas, a volleyball court that substitutes as a sandbox.

Hate:  parking was tough with all of the one ways, the bathrooms were not the cleanest, there was an area of the playground that was collecting fallen berries and TONS of bugs.

Special feature:  the spray park, climbing structures, trails