Aly Raisman At American Girl Place, Chicago #giveaway #photofeature

ChiIL Mama and Sage were elated to meet Aly Raisman, Olympic Gold Medalist and Girl's Gymnastics Team Captain.

     "I'd like to get a gold medal gymnast's autograph before I'm double digits." my daughter exclaimed in the car on the way to meet Aly Raisman.   I laughed and said, "What?".

     "You know, Mom.   I'm not going to be 9 forever and after this birthday I'll probably be double digits for the rest of my life.   So this year is special to me and so is meeting my heros.   This way I have something special to remember both."   

It was indeed a special week of heros for 9 year old Sage.   Sunday we were thrilled to score press credentials to a brunch with Olympic Gold Medalist, Gabby Douglas.   Monday we met Aly Raisman at American Girl Place at Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago.    And my daughter did indeed get an autograph from one of her huge heros before she reached double digits!

Amid flashing photos from a long line of fervent fans, and a horde of TV news media cameras, Aly was composed and friendly.

In Chi-Town on 10/15,  the "golden tickets" weren't for a tour with Wonka.   300 lucky fans, families and star eyed gymnasts queued up outside of American Girl Place to meet the legendary Aly Raisman.

Young fans made good use of their line time checking out the cool window displays for American Girl's brand new historical character, Caroline Abbott, from 1812.


Check out ChiIL Mama's photo filled Caroline coverage and review of the first Caroline book here.   

Check back with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often. We'll soon have our photo filled feature from the book signing with Kathleen Ernst, Caroline author, and a print interview with her.   We'll also have a video interview with Valerie Tripp, another historical American Girl author, and more photo filled features in the very near future.

Here's one very excited young gymnast, waiting to meet one of her heros.  She fixed her American Girl Kanani doll's hair in buns to match her own, and dressed her in an American Girl Olympic Suit, complete with a gold medal from McKenna's collection.   Kanani's even got a mini ankle brace just like Sage!

We were also jazzed to check out all the new book releases in the windows as we inched our way toward Aly.   Readers rock!

October is National Book Month, and ChiIL Mama's celebrating with a number of book reviews and give aways including a great set of brand new American Girl releases!   We'll have our book reviews and give aways up shortly and open for a month.  One of our lucky readers will win all of the following: 

*Slumber Wonders
*Bored No More
*Picture Yourself Here
*Bound for Snow  
*Find Your Way 

Meeting Aly Raisman:

 

Aly Raisman-Olympic Gold Medalist signs photos at American Girl Place, Chicago. Shown with 9 year old Chicago competitive gymnast, Sage. 

Aly says her favorite event is floor (her best event as well--as she took the Olympic Gold for her floor routine!). When she asked Sage what her favorite is Sage replied "I like floor, too, but my very favorite is bars."   Sage will be competing in her first USAG (Jr. Olympics) Meets this January.   She's competed the past two years in the IPDGC meets, going to state both years and taking first in state in 2010!  Like Aly, Sage started gymnastics as a toddler in Moms, Pops and Tots classes and never looked back.   Now she practices 10 hours a week with her team and does an additional 3 hours a week of circus arts like lyra, Spanish Web, Chinese Pole, acro, unicycle, juggling, trapeze and silks!

It was great to meet Aly, of course, but we also enjoyed our wait in line with our new friends, Noele and Christine.

They offered to keep Sage company while I made a food run across the street to The Cheesecake Factory for carry out, since she came straight from school and was super hungry.  We were happy to be able to return the favor and do something nice for them.  Their cell phone died right when they got up to take a picture with Aly.  We were more than happy to snap a few shots for them.   It's so great to meet new friends, sweet strangers, and people in a big city who will still step up in a neighborly way! 

Click here for ChiIL Mama's past coverage on McKenna, American Girl's doll of the year 2012, who is a young gymnast. 

You Might Also Like:

*McKenna launch party at The AmericanGirl Doll Store at Water Tower Place, Chicago (photo filled recap).

*American Girl Doll  McKenna's visit with the Chicago Comets real competitive gymnastics team (photo filled recap).

*Farewell to Kanani, Hawaiian American Girl Doll of the Year, 2011 and welcome McKenna (photo filled recap). 

Catch McKenna quickly.   McKenna and her outfits and accessories are only available through Dec. 31!



Remember to enter Caroline's heroes contest through October 31st!

**Click here for all the details**

Have you ever had to be brave? Enter our contest by creating a video clip (up to 60 seconds) about a time you felt like an everyday hero. You can tell a story, re-create a moment, or even act out the scene with your doll. Ask your parent to upload your video here by October 31 for your chance to win.*

Then come back November 5 to vote for one of our six finalists and help choose the winner of our grand prize, which includes a trip for four to Washington, D.C.; an extra-special day at the American Girl store; a Caroline doll, books, and accessories set; plus a VIP tour of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History to learn more about life in Caroline's day.

PLAY LOCALLY: ChiIL Mama's Top Weekend Picks

Keller Williams Interview With ChiIL Mama from ChiIL Mama on Vimeo.

ChiIL Live Shows/ChiIL Mama chat with Keller Williams about How Creatives Parent and How Parents Create

TODAY (Saturday)

American Girl Place

Meet the Author: Kathleen Ernst 1-3pm--free and open to the public.

Meet Kathleen Ernst, the award-winning author of Caroline Abbott’s six-book series! This informal session is your girl’s opportunity to meet Ms. Ernst in person and have her favorite books signed. Free and open to the public. For girls ages 8 and up.

Event details by store

• Chicago: October 13
• Dallas: November 17
• Kansas City: October 14
• Seattle: November 18

Click here for full details.

Keller Williams at Park West (18+)8:30pm GA/ doors 7:30

ChiIL Live Shows will be there...will YOU?!   Highly recommended.   We've had the great pleasure of interviewing Keller Williams and shooting stills at his adult and kindie shows for years.  Check out our live show shots from Summer Camp Music Festival, Kidzapalooza, and Chicago's own Park West last year.   

This multitalented musician goes beyond the jam band genre with a plethora of great releases for adults, a kindie (kids' indie) album, and a kids' book/CD combo!!   We've given away loads of his CDs, and even the book/CD to our lucky readers.

This time through he's just playing for the big kids (AKA adults and kids 18+). 



It was great to meet Keller, his wife, Emily, and the kids, Ella and Cabell last year at Park West in Chicago.   Click HERE for our show stills and sneek peek.


Since ChiIL Live Shows & ChiIL Mama have a national following in the jam band and kindie communities check out Keller's upcoming tour dates beyond Chi-Town on his web site and keep up to date on Twitter, FB and social media sites. 

Check out some of our past Keller coverage on ChiIL Mama here and ChiIL Live Shows here.

Tickets are still available.   Click here for tonight's show details.


Sunday




Brunch With Gymnast, Gabby Douglas 

It's going to be a week of meeting heros and girls who rock.   My gymnast daughter is elated to meet two members of the US Olympic girls team.   Sunday we'll have brunch with Gabby Douglas and Monday we'll meet Aly Raisman at American Girl Place, Chicago.   Who are your heros?   

Olympic Champion Gabrielle Douglas will visit Chicago with her mother, Natalie Hawkins, to highlight a special event exclusive to mothers and daughters. 

What: Douglas will speak to hundreds of mothers, daughters and supporters at the “Pink Pearls & Pretty Dresses: Girls’ Empowerment Brunch.” The event is a fundraiser for Inspire Girls to Lead Our World (iGlow)—a Chicago mentorship program for young girls.

When: Sunday, October 14, 2012; 12pm-4pm

Where: Donald E. Stevens Convention Center; 5555 N. River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018

Why: The event will be a day of inspiration and empowerment for young girls and their mothers. It will also help raise funds for iGlow so that it can continue delivering resources and guidance for young women in the Chicago-land area.  In short, iGlow provides platforms for young girls to get answers to their questions about life and their struggles.

  
Aly Raisman Monday

Come to American Girl Chicago on Monday, October 15, for a chance to meet gymnastics two-time gold-medalist Aly Raisman! The first 300 girls in line at the Michigan Avenue entrance will receive a ticket to meet Aly, who will sign autographs and appear in photos from 5 – 7 p.m. Remember to bring your camera! Learn more about our Chicago store: http://bit.ly/Vi4LEn


All Weekend

Logan Center For The Arts Opening

Logan Launch Festival, October 12-14

The new Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts will officially open to the public with a free three-day Logan Launch Festival on October 12-14, 2012. The Logan Launch Festival will include ongoing activities throughout the building–and outside on the courtyard stage–featuring over 50 events organized for the occasion. The weekend highlights art of all sorts, with an architecture lecture by the Logan Center architects, plays written by alumni, film screenings and sound installations, the launch of family programming, Greek tragedy adaptations, and student talent. View the full schedule of events at loganlaunch.uchicago.edu.

Harvest Fest at North Park Nature Center   

Welcome American Girl Caroline Abbott: Book Review, Signings, Events & Give Aways

Here at ChiIL Mama, we were super stoked for September, because we got to welcome the newest American Girl historical Doll, Caroline.   But the fun doesn't stop there!   October brings Caroline book signings, cute Halloween doll costumes, Caroline's celebration dinners, a meet n greet with the author of the historical Molly books, a Caroline hero video contest, and so much more!

**We're very excited that the author of the Caroline books, Kathleen Ernst, will signing at the Chicago store October 13th from 1:00pm-3:00pm.**

We were lucky to catch an early sneak peek at her Meet Caroline book and eagerly raced through it.  This cliff hanger of a mystery drew us all in and left us wanting more.   We naturally had to pay a visit to our local, Chi-Town American Girl Place at Watertower and buy the sequel which we're enjoying now!

It's this view below that makes me wanna move in and live at American Girl Place!   I've been a book lover since I was a child, and seriously wish my real house looked like this, with a cool, two story, "book tree house".



Sure, the collector dolls and all their adorable accessories and sets are fun.   But, the American Girl books make me happy as a mom.   I trust them to get the details right, and provide entertaining, educational, quality stories that encourage the qualities I encourage in my own young girl.





The historical girl books are well researched, in fact, Kathleen Ernst, author of the Caroline books worked as a curator for Old World Wisconsin so she's got a rich store of knowledge of the past!   She's even written an adult mystery series set there.   For loads of cool history and background info about the Caroline books and the year 1812, we highly recommend checking out author Kathleen's blog right here.



My American Girl at Old World Wisconsin with 3 generations of our family.

We paid a visit to Kathleen Ernst's former workplace this summer, and we'll have a photo and video filled adventure feature right here at ChiIL Mama in the near future.   Old World Wisconsin was quite impressive and highly recommended.

Sagezilla wrote her first book report of the school year on Meet Caroline, complete with a cool, slick presentation on Prezi.    Here's her take on the book, as a nine year old girl.



Sage Words:

caroline on Prezi

ChiIL Mama's take:

My daughter and I read Meet Caroline within days of each other and I was as engrossed in the story as she was.   It was fun to discuss the story together and speculate on how the tale continues.   Caroline's a smart, caring, brave little girl. She's got spunk and isn't afraid to speak up when she feels an injustice is going on.   When Caroline's father is captured by the British before they even got word that war had begun, the young girl finds herself at home with 3 generations of women.   She's relentless in her quest to bring her dad back home, and at the end of the first book she performs a selfless act and gives up something special and valuable to save her town.

At first I was a bit leery about the 1812 date, as choices and roles for women and girls were so much more restrictive then.   However, author Kathleen Ernst does a fabulous job of empowering her women and girls while still staying true to history.  After her father is taken prisoner, her mother steps up to run the shipyard and Caroline helps, despite some initial disbelief from locals that they could handle it.   Grandma, who lives with them, is wise and amazing, too, with valuable nuggets of insight for Caroline.

I was also a little concerned about the backdrop of war, but this series doesn't glamorize the conflict.   The focus is on the village and on worried people on both sides who fervently want peace.

We can't wait to read the rest of the series.   We just bought Caroline's Secret Message, the 2nd book.   As a mom, I'm thrilled my daughter's excited about reading and has found a strong role model in Caroline she can empathize with.   The historical American Girl books are a true gift, as they bring history alive, spark imagination, and personalize the past in a way that dry accounts and facts just don't do.   After reading Meet Caroline, my daughter is also now  jazzed to go to museums and historical sites to learn more about the early 1800's.   Works for me!

Click here for all the details

Have you ever had to be brave? Enter our contest by creating a video clip (up to 60 seconds) about a time you felt like an everyday hero. You can tell a story, re-create a moment, or even act out the scene with your doll. Ask your parent to upload your video here by October 31 for your chance to win.*

Then come back November 5 to vote for one of our six finalists and help choose the winner of our grand prize, which includes a trip for four to Washington, D.C.; an extra-special day at the American Girl store; a Caroline doll, books, and accessories set; plus a VIP tour of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History to learn more about life in Caroline's day.

SAVE THE DATES:

Check back with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   We have a special meet n greet with author Valerie Tripp through Priceless Chicago and Mastercard on 10/23.    She wrote all the books in the Felicity, Josefina, Kit, and Molly series and three of the books in the Samantha series!   She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland and will be coming to town to have brunch with a lucky group of Chi-Town moms and daughters.   Check out more about Valerie Tripp here.     We'll have a photo filled feature for you after our brunch on 10/23.

We're extra excited to meet Valerie, since we just bought 4 American Girl DVDs and Sage has been using her own "helpful works money" to buy them.   We were pretty jazzed they were temporarily on sale for just $5 each instead of $15.    It worked out perfectly since $5 is exactly what she earns each week.   She just watched Kit, Samantha & Molly's movies and is now eagerly reading three Molly books, though Kit is her favorite.   Her grandparents still live in Cincinnati, where Kit is from, and her grandma grew up there during the late 1930's and 40's, not too long after the time Kit's books and movie take place.

We have lots of exciting American Girl features coming including book reviews, author interviews, a photo filled Cafe Birthday party feature, monster cake fun from the fall American Girl magazine, and much more. 

**Thanks to American Girl for sending us books, magazines and dolls to review and give away to our readers.    All opinions expressed are our own and we are not financially compensated.