Chicagolanders: Choo-Choo Johnny's, Great Family Outing

I wanted to take my daughter somewhere fun for her 1st birthday last month. I had remembered hearing about a place called Choo-Choo Johnny's on the radio. (I believe it was Star 96.7?) I found them online HERE and I immediately decided I had to check out the one in Frankfort, Illinois.

We had a blast! My son was excitedly pointing and shouting, "Choo-Choo" throughout the meal and he just thought it was the best when a choo-choo actually brought him his food. When they found out it was Kaydi's birthday, they offered us a free ice cream w/ a candle to celebrate. I ordered some for Nathan as well and, of course, it was delivered by train. Here's a picture of us there on her birthday:



After our meal, we played some games they have there and Nathan was just fascinated by their train set display. It was hard getting him to leave! He had been so good lately that we decided to take them back yesterday and it was just another fun-filled family outing for us.

This is now our new favorite place to go with the kids. Meals are reasonably priced at $6-10 and around $5 for the kids. Most of them include a side and drink. The wait staff is super sweet and the "eatery" itself is just immaculately clean. They don't take reservations so you may want to call ahead to see how busy the counter area is, if you want the train to deliver your food.

I just found out that they also opened their branch in Naperville on Rt. 59. You can check out hours and locations HERE.

As a family with two little kids, it's so hard to find a place to be able to enjoy eating out together but this was just so fun. I hope you are able to check it out, too.

NOTE: This was not a review for them but just something I wanted to share. Yes...I liked it that much! :)

Review: The New Swiffer WetJet

Up until this point, I was still using the old fashion mop/bucket method to clean my floors. So when My BlogSpark asked me if I wanted to test the new Swiffer WetJet, I was all thumbs up! Despite them giving me a description of what they'd send, I was in absolute hysterics when it showed up. (Pictured below.)



It arrived in this giant briefcase that included sunglasses, magnifying glass, jelly jar, Swiffer WetJet Kit and a folder. When I opened it, to my son's delight, the "mission folder" started talking. We were told to take the jar of jelly in the case, let it set and use the Swiffer WetJet to clean it up.

So I did as directed. I then went to put my daughter to bed, came back down and the jelly was gone! No...it wasn't any kind of magic. It's called a golden retriever! He lapped up my mission! :) But I had enough grime on my floor to continue testing the product.

As soon as Nathan saw the liquid squirt out, I lost my Swiffer. He had so much fun cleaning the floor. And he got it looking pretty amazing!

The New Swiffer WetJet has dual nozzles, a swivel head and longer scrub strip. I was quite impressed with how well it cleaned and how easy it was to use. When we were done, the pad was very disgusting so we just pulled it off and we were ready for the next time we needed it.

What I love about this, is that if I have just a little area to clean up, I don't have to drag out the clunky mop/bucket. And that is a bonus for any Mom of a baby & Toddler! You can imagine what our kitchen floor can look like!

I'm going to keep my eyes open for deals on these for you all. Blogging over the last year, I've seen Swiffer be very generous in their sales/coupons. Now, yours won't come in a large briefcase but it will still be just as cool! :) Right now, there is a coupon HERE for a FREE refill when you buy the WetJet Starter Kit. They also have a money-back guarantee HERE, if you are unsatisfied with it for any reason.

Thank you to My BlogSpark and Swiffer for the opportunity to test a great product! I'm still in awe that it's so simple that my Toddler can now mop my floor!

Entertainment '09 Books - Personal Review & Upcoming Giveaway!

I was contacted by a great representative of Airfoil PR last week asking if I would like a copy of the Entertainment '09 book for myself and if I wanted, one for a reader. No strings attached. (My favorite kind of deals!) I accepted and have already received the book. (They are QUICK!) I couldn't get over all the deals in there and I decided to do my own personal review on these books. Now, just for the record, any time someone sends me something, it doesn't mean a good review. I can only give my honest opinion of something and won't tell you I like something if I don't. Like I always say, I'm here to help people, not make any money. (You'll notice no ads on this blog...)

First off, ours contained 4 -$5/$50 coupons for Dominick's. In my mind, had I spent the $20-25 for the book, these would have technically paid for it. As I ventured into the book more, I kept marking pages of all the ones we could use. I think I now have more pages marked than not!

Our biggest areas of use are going to be the Fast Food and Entertainment sections. Next year, we are planning on taking Nathan to the Chicago Museums (I can't wait!) and there were so many BOGO coupons in there for the museums! There were also several BOGOs for pizza places, McDonald's, Burger King, Culvers, etc. I told Rich these will come in handy after the baby's born and I can't find the time to cook supper!

There was also a section for discounts on movie theaters! About $3 off per ticket--some of them for up to 4-6 people. If we get a chance for a "double date" again next year, this will be so useful! Even though we are on a tight budget, it's still important to have a "date night" every so often and leave the babies at Nana's. :) I'm so glad that we have coupons now for making it an even more frugal night!

Had we been planning a "real" vacation next year, there would have been so many more useful coupons for us. Several large discounts on hotels, flights, car rentals etc. I did see some discounts for Indiana Beach, which might just motivate us to take a mini-vacation there.

Here is my personal take on these books. If you do a combination of eating at fast food places, dining out ever, buying groceries, doing small outings in your local area, plan a vacation or even take in a movie outing, then the book will more than pay for itself, probably a few times over.

Just take a second to flip through one next time you are out. And as for one lucky reader....I will be doing a giveaway on one of these this week. The book will be for YOUR AREA/STATE! So check back to sign up! I'll get the posting up soon!

Thanks for taking a minute to read my personal opinion on these. I hope you find the book useful, too! And that it helps your family have more outings!!

~Jaycie