❄️January Funletter❄️

Things to do with kids in Chicago Winter + Staycation Tips + Party Balloon Resources

January 15, 2025

A quick note: Hello! And welcome to the VERY FIRST EDITION of Big Weekend! I'm SO glad you're here! I'm Kaitlyn, a mom of 2 living in the suburbs of Chicago and like many parents, I found myself saving kids' activities across Pinterest, Facebook groups, screenshots, emails, and Instagram posts. I wished I had all these helpful links in one place—so I decided to create exactly that!

I have a background in design, content strategy, travel, and retail, and Big Weekend is the culmination of all these experiences, with two kids in tow. Lately, I've been craving long-form content that isn't just a 30-second reel or mindless clicks through affiliate links. I miss the days of sitting down to read a magazine article or blog post—something that felt meant for me and authentic, something I could pick up and come back to.

And while I love getting a letter, postcard or package via snail mail - I can’t say I find myself excited to open Gmail to face 100 new marketing promos, a dozen school emails, more bad news from the world or more items for my to-do list - so I wanted to change that!

My goal is for Big Weekend to show up in your inbox as something you're excited to curl up with (coffee, tea, wine, a mocktail) and read at your leisure. Feel free to skim and save for later, knowing it's all in one spot when you want to return. If you have feedback, tips, or just want to say hi 👋, feel free to respond to this email.

🫶🏻 With gratitude
- Kaitlyn

✨ January Top 8 ✨

Remember when someone was your favorite, they were in your Myspace Top 8? This is kind of like that minus the teenage angst and glitter graphics. Here’s a list of my favorite things I saved this month from my feed and the interwebs.

  1. Best Kids Travel Bag: Got kid’s holiday gift money to spend? Instead of more toys, consider a kids Lands End Travel Tote. I bought the XL size for both my girls with Xmas money and it goes everywhere with us. It easily fits a week's worth of kids' essentials and grandma was happy her gift money went to good use.

  2. Holiday Card Saving: While I was packing away the last of holiday decor, I came across this holiday card book from Sugar Paper for preserving holiday cards. Even though I am still working on my 5 year old’s baby book 🫣 (yikes) - this I can commit to. (I used their WELCOME20 code making it $40)! Our cards are always worth saving thanks to the talented Andrea Kinnear and Annie Steele - Bookmark those names for future family photo sessions!

  3. Toy Organizing Essentials: Like every other mom on Instagram the toy purge after Christmas is not only necessary, it’s therapeutic. These are perfect for storing and organizing board games (I bought both sizes) and these 11×8×2 bins fit perfectly inside those 3-tier art carts. Also can never have enough of these in lieu of zip locks.

  4. Butter Noodle Hair Clips: Lookout butterfly clips, the butter noodle has entered the chat. Obsessed with these clips for my butter-noodle loving kids.

  5. Liberty London / Adidas collab: I have always admired mom-and-me looks form afar, but this Liberty and Adidas collab has me seriously contemplating matching track suits (which says a lot).

  6. Hey now, hey now, these are what plugin scent dreams are made of:
    In very random celeb news, Lizzie McGuire (aka Hillary Duff) has gotten into the plugin game and has a non-toxic wall fragrance brand (hey, every 2000’s Disney channel star needs a business niche, amirite? ) - and they are actually great. I found these after reading that the Wallflowers are apparently toxic and the very popular Pura brand needed Wifi and an app (no thanks). So far, the Below 60 work like a charm with no unnecessary tech, and the citrus is a subtle but still a boogie-smelling room scent.

  7. Morning routine checklist: The first week of back to school morning routines hit our household hard. When the chaos became overwhelming, I turned to my beloved Etsy—my go-to resource for any parenting challenge I can solve with wooden or pastel colorways. Jokes aside, I found a helpful, inexpensive checklist that now hangs by our door that has slightly moved the needle from chaos to calm. This is another good customizable option.

  8. California Support: A couple of my favorite brands like the Little Words Project, Tubby Todd, & Clare V are donating proceeds to LA wildfire relief efforts. These adorable fire truck pajamas are my in cart for upcoming birthday gifts and baby showers. ❤️

❄️ Things to do in Winter Temps

Keeping kids of any age entertained in below freezing temps - for the third weekend in a row - can be tough. Here is a list of ideas to get out of your house:

  • 🎂 Take a Bon Vivant Cookie Decorating Class - I can confidently give these workshops 5/5 stars. The vibes, the helpful instruction, the snacks, the playlists - all awesome. You must be 15 to participate so not for little ones but this would be the perfect activity for a teen group or mom / daughter hang.

  • 🎳 Kids Club at Pinstripes Bowling - On the second Saturday of each month Pinstripes offers a free kids’s event from 9-10 AM. Includes activities like themed crafts and a free brunch voucher. If old-school bowling ally is more your vibe, hit the lanes at Avondale bowl for some vintage charm - under 21 is permitted before 7:30 PM.

  • ⛸️ Outdoor Ice Skating: To avoid long rental lines (and fees) look on Facebook marketplace for gently used ice skates and hit up one of the many outdoor rinks in the city or burbs. Some options: Rosemont, Maggie Daley Ribbon, Park Ridge, Niles Iceland, Willmette.

  • ⛳ Indoor Mini Golf: Are their kids or adults that don’t like mini-golf? I’ve never met them. Puttshack in Oakbrook can accommodate big groups and Big Mini Putt is free for kids on Sundays.

  • 🐧 Penguin Encounter at the Zoo: This would be a great add-on activity if you are a zoo member since admission is $50 per person. For ages 5 and up you can book to get up close and personal with a behind the scenes penguin visit!

  • 🏀 Catch a Windy City Bulls game. The NBA 'G league’ play in Hoffman Estates and this would be perfect for younger ones just getting into basketball and you aren’t quite ready to shell out United Center bucks. Bulls Kid Nation also does weekend skills clinics that look reasonably priced.

  • 🧵 Make Friendship Bracelets: The Bead Bar @ Little Words Project (Old Orchard) is a super cute group activity or mom / daughter date. You can book 30/45/60 min time slots here.

  • 🥤Revel in Mall Nostalgia. Show your kids what fun looked like in 1997 by heading to an indoor mall. While the iconic Water Tower is not exactly what it once was, there is still a lot to do to burn off a weekend morning. The indoors farmers market is open through March, and they have some great kids stores like Unicorn World by Lola and the Boys plus pottery painting at the Painted Penguin and a delightful cotton candy vendor.

🗓️ Mark you Calendar

Even more stuff to do in the month of January and early February

⛄ Long Weekend Fun

With multiple long weekends coming up - here are some ideas for staycations or short weekend getaways to break up your routine.

🛷 New Buffalo Winter Weekend

For a Family Trip: While most of Chicago flocks to the third coast every summer, I actually love the New Buffalo area in the winter. Get a cozy cabin with a hot tub - like this Scandivian-inspired one - and get out of your routine with new restaurants that have recently opened like PostBoy or splurge on a Farm to Table dinner at Granor Farm. If it’s snowy you can partake in outdoor activities like sledding at the Dunes or cross country skiing. The Harbor Grand Hotel also has an indoor pool and the New Buffalo Pubic library has a very large and awesome kids section.

For a Girls Trip: Need a break from the kids? Being only a 90 min drive makes this an easy and fun girls weekend. The Marina Grand has 2 and 3 bedroom suites, perfect for groups and has a great hotel restaurant, Brentwood Tavern. Next door is the Harbor Grand Spa and you can rent a sprinter van to do wine tasting rooms even in winter. Also, many antique stores and boutiques like Stockholm Objects and Lakeside Goods are still open during the off-season.

🏨 Chicago Staycation:

If staying local is on the calendar, nothing beats staying at a fancy hotel - even in your hometown.

  • Book a Northern Lights themed room at the Lowes Hotel (this looks v cool)

  • If you want to splurge, The Four Season Chicago has a room dedicated for kids with games, activities, crafts and a huge, historic indoor pool (fun fact: this was the pool they filmed for Home Alone 2! ) Also, The Peninsula Chicago offers a “Kids Camp” experience (perfect if like me, your idea of “camping” is a 5 star hotel.) Complete with a tent, kid-friendly amenities, and you get access to the indoor pool.

  • If you don’t want to stay the night, you can use ResortPass to book pool access at many downtown hotels including the Waldorf Astoria, Intercontinental, and Le Meridian in Oakbrook. The Hyatt Lodge in Oakbrook also has indoor pool access you can purchase directly on their website.

But seriously, if you have little kids - birthday parties are now your life so plan accordingly 😜

😔🪅 RIP Party City

Is it a party if there are no balloons?! I was shocked and sad to see that Party City is shuttering its doors as it was my go-to for party balloons and I liked the option to pick up party supplies in person instead of always turning to Amazon. Thankfully there are still good local options:

🎈 Local Helium Balloon Options:

🛠️ DIY Options

DIY Helium:You can also buy cheap balloons from Amazon or Etsy and get a helium tank. While this works, IMO it's tricky to use, only fills one party's worth of balloons, and recycling is difficult. Rating: 5/10.

Balloon Stacks: Need budget-friendly balloon towers? These Etsy kits are perfect. Trust me - they're super easy! Even as someone who's never built a balloon arch before (though I love a good party), I found them simple to assemble. Don't forget to grab one of these. Rating: 10/10

🎉📈👩‍💻 Small Business Shoutout

With a family history of entrepreneurship, I like to support small businesses whenever possible. While I'm no expert—despite watching a alot of Shark Tank—I enjoy learning from and highlighting local entrepreneurs, especially women business owners!

 🥂 Opened this month

Le Village Co Working Space - Des Plaines

Le Village, a parent-focused co-working space, just opened another location on the northside of Chicago. They offer flexible working space from 8 AM - 6 PM with curriculum-led childcare in the same building. As a work-from-home mom, I wish I had known about this concept when my kids were babies—I'm so glad to see this type of business growing in our city! Le Village also has a second location in the Irving Park neighborhood.

📮 But wait, there’s more!

Be on the lookout in February for the next edition and I will aim to send the monthly Funletter at the beginning of every month.

You can also follow me on Instagram where I will share more content regularly and please tag me if you find yourself doing any activities from this list!

Also, If you know someone who you think would like this content or if this email was forwarded to you, you can sign up to be on the list here.

P.S. While I do my best to highlight as much as possible I may miss an event or business or two since as this is a one-woman show.💃 Feel free to send me any leads or ideas for future letters by replying to this email ([email protected])

PPS If you spot any spelling mistakes know they are on purpose to keep you on your toes! 😉

XOX
💌 Kaitlyn