The spring weather is finally starting to creep through after a long, long winter. My family has been counting down the days until Easter which is when we officially feel like we are over the winter hump. In order to get more into the spirit of Easter we decided it was time to make a visit to the Easter Bunny, now that our kids are old enough to understand who he is...and more importantly what he brings to them on Easter morning!

We chose to visit the Easter Bunny at Gurnee Mills - I was there a couple of weeks ago and noticed that the set-up looked very nice and festive, and since it is close to home it worked perfectly. When we arrived there was a very short wait which was a perk. As I mentioned, the set-up is really cute and great for the pictures with a lot of colorful flowers, eggs and spring decorations. The Easter bunny was very friendly, waving at all the kids as they walk by. My daughter Reese is very nervous about anyone who is dressed up in a costume, she was very weary about Santa Claus as well. However, after staring at him for about 15 minutes and determining that he looked nice enough and was harmless she was eager to go sit on his lap for a picture.

The packages they have to buy the picture(s) are very reasonably prices. It was a painless process, we didn't wait long and got the kids' pictures taken quickly. Now that the kids have met the Easter Bunny and we have our picture, all we've heard about is how we need to go back to get another picture taken with him and visit some more since he was so nice! It was a great experience and lots of fun for the kids, we'll be back next year.

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I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself.

My name is Jesse Mendoza, and I've been a resident of Lake County almost my entire life. I have lived in Waukegan, Wauconda, and currently reside in Round Lake Beach. The best thing I enjoy about Lake County are its forest preserves. As a runner and outdoor enthusiast, I frequent them all year around.

Forest Preserves such as Old School and Independence Grove, both in Libertyville, offer paved and gravel trails long enough to do double digit miles for bikers and runners alike. One of my favorite runs on weekends includes a round trip from Independence Grove, to Old School, and back again. This particular trip is good for 16 miles!

If you are a runner or a biker using the trails that traverse the Lake County Forest preserves, I'd like to offer up a few of my own personal tips to make sure your hike is safe for you and others.

All of these apply to both bikers and runners:

1. Stay to the right of the trail and always slow down around blind curves.
2. When coming up behind walkers, kindly say, "On your left." or, "Passing." Small bells work too!
3. When stopping, pull off to a safe, visible area, off of the trail.
4. Always wear a helmet.
5. When wearing headphones, leave music loud enough to hear things happening around you.
6. Where the trail crosses a street, stop, look both ways, and continue when safe to do so.
7. Always respect the environment. Don't leave garbage behind, and don't disturb nature.

With the warmer months quickly approaching, the preserves will be filled with all sorts of activities from nature walks, star gazing demos, canoe/kayak lessons, bird watching tours, fishing expos, and much more.



I'd like to send along a thank you to Anthony and the folks at the LCVB for giving me the opportunity to write for the blogs section. I hope to bring you more of what Lake County, IL. has to offer and hope you'll enjoy the adventures with me!

For more information on your preserves, be sure to visit http://www.lcfpd.org.

Places to find me on the web:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jessejstreet
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jessejstreet

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My Friend Georgia agreed to take my husband's ticket to "Fiddler on the Roof" at the Marriott Theatre. First, we decided to go to a later lunch and since I had not had the chance to eat at Enzo & Lucia's in Long Grove, it seemed like a good time to go. I've heard wonderful things about the restaurant as they offer gluten-free pasta, the food is good and they are great for group dining.

It’s a lovely, two-level restaurant right across from the Visitor Center. Our server gave us a lovely basket of bread and (I should have asked the Italian name of this) mixture of garlic, olive oil, tomatoes and such for dipping. I tried a sample and it was so wonderful – lots of garlic. I have to tell you, bring lots of mints with you.

I ordered Pollo Saltimbocca which is a flattened chicken breast topped with prosciutto and mozzarella cheese. There was also sautéed spinach and grilled veggies. As I learned from Georgia that saltimbocca means “jump in your mouth” and boy, did it ever. A truly enjoyable meal and I had the leftovers the next day for lunch. Georgia ordered Eggplant Parmigiana which she could hardly touch after eating all the bread and garlic mixture! We had a bit of time to visit the shops in Long Grove and were glad to get back to the car with all of our bags.

As always, the Marriott Theatre never disappoints with the quality of talent and the variety of the shows. “Fiddler on the Roof” was a true joy. Tevye was played by Ross Lehman who also portrayed Edna in “Hairspray”. Ross’ interpretation of the main character was a little different than what I remember in the movie. I had never seen the musical done live before so that was my only comparison. His portrayal was a little less gruff and more loving I think. The strong themes of the musical were still there, giving us a glimpse of what it must be like to be driven from a home they have always known. That even during oppression, hope and love can continue on; faith, family and friends will carry us through.

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Growing up we had a lot of traditions in my family. I never realized how much of an impact those little special moment had on my childhood until I reflect back now. One of those traditions was big breakfasts with my whole family on the weekends. Now, as we've expanded our family to four, it is important to me that we make fun traditions for our family to enjoy as well. So I've continued this tradition of weekend breakfasts with my husband and kids. Sometimes we make a big breakfast at home and other times we head to local restaurants.
Last weekend we decided to head to Wildberry for breakfast. Wildberry is one of our favorite places to go for breakfast. It is located in Libertyville right on the corner of 137 and Milwaukee. One of the reasons we love Wildberry is the uniqueness of the items on the menu. In addition to standard pancakes, or French toast, they have options like Banana Bread French Toast and Tiramisu Pancakes and other creations like that. Each time we go I try to order new things because there are so many things that sound good and I have to say I haven’t been disappointed!
Depending on the time you arrive on a weekend morning for breakfast, there may be a bit of a wait, however, the great thing about Wildberry is that they have a little café in the lobby where you can get coffee and a little something to hold you over if needed.

On this visit I decided to have the whole wheat crepes with fresh berries. These had a little bit of powdered sugar on them with fresh strawberries and blueberries inside the crepes and on the top. They were delicious; however, the best part for me is that I left feeling like I had a good healthy breakfast which is important to me too.
My husband Luke decided to go with a skillet. He chose a ham, cheese and onion skillet. They also put potatoes in all of the skillets. He really liked it and I had some as well and thought it was great. My daughter Reese loves the pancakes at Wildberry so she had an order of the Silver Dollar Pancakes and was a happy camper (not to mention she had plenty leftover to bring home for a snack later too).
My father also joined us for breakfast. He ordered a Dutch Baby Pancake. This is a German pancake that takes around 25 minutes to make (he arrived early to get his order in so we didn’t have to wait too long with the kids!). He’s had this before and loves it. It is served with powdered sugar and lemon slices. It is very light and tasty…worth the wait.

We enjoyed our breakfast at Wildberry and look forward to returning to try some of the other things on the menu. I’m glad we’ve carried on this tradition!

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