You Write The Rules With The Harlem Globetrotters #GlobieFamily

This year we're super stoked to be able to see The Harlem Globetrotters in Cincinnati with my parents on December 29th, as part of the Globetrotters' new affiliate program.   The Harlem Globetrotters will be rockin' the midwest next week, including Allstate Arena in Chicago on Friday, December 28th for all our ChiIL Chi, IL families out there.

For us, the holidays are family time.  Our kids are off school for an extended break from December 15th through January 7th, so we spend loads of time together and make it to see two sets of grandparents and extended family.  With such a long winter break from our school and work routines, we're especially on the lookout for fun activities to do together.  

I have fond memories of seeing The Harlem Globetrotters with my grandparents and parents back in the 70's, during my own childhood, and can't wait to recreate the experience with my own kids.   I was also pretty jazzed to just learn this week that the father of a long time blogger friend of mine was actually a Harlem Globetrotter back in the 50's!   My dad and my husband's dad were both accountants, and since they never juggled the books, let alone basketballs, having an Ex-Globetrotter Dad seems exotic and fun to me. 

We're an active family who loves to go to theatre, see live music, and travel.  We particularly love to laugh together.   My kids are avid circus arts fans and have been taking classes and performing for two years with CircEsteem.   They've both studied juggling, acro and clowning, so I know they'll enjoy seeing those elements merged into basketball by the infamous Globetrotters.



ChiIL Mama's readers can Save $7 per ticket* by using the promo code “TOGETHER“.  Get ready to experience a show your family will remember for a lifetime!  

Daily urban life can get hectic and fly by, and kids grow up stunningly fast.   So we make a point to hang out and play together.   There's nothing that makes me smile more than taking photos and videos of my kids laughing, grinning and enjoying life.   They're smiling already, watching The Harlem Globetrotters videos on YouTube and anticipating the live spectacle to come!   They've also been laughing as they help choose possible new, silly rules for the game we'll see.

NEW this year. For the first time ever, fans - yes YOU - are in charge and get to call the shots. The idea behind The Globetrotters new show, "You Write The Rules" is that YOU decide the new rule we add to Globetrotters basketball, a rule that could affect the outcome of the game.  It's #YOURRULE, so vote now for the rule that YOU want to see when you come to watch us play in your town!

Not sure what you want #YOURRULE to be? Click here to learn more about how the rules work

Check their website for shows in your city.   Click the banner below to search for your own tickets.

*Discount available on select ticket levels

The Harlem Globetrotters love seeing families laugh together during our games, and would love to see your family when we come to a city near you.  If you’re looking for an awesome event the whole family will enjoy, get your tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters “You Write the Rules” tour.  Your family’s smiles will start before you even get to the game because this year, your family can vote at harlemglobetrotters.com, and decide rules for the game like two balls in play at the same time that could affect the final outcome. After the game, Globetrotters will stay on court to sign autographs and take photographs with your kids.  

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post brought to you by the Harlem Globetrotters.   We were given tickets for our family and a discount for our readers.   All opinions are our own.

American Girl's Read-A-Palooza With Marie-Grace, Cecile, Jaedyn & Sage

Real life 9 year old American Girls, 
Jaedyn (http://www.missloriscampus.com/)  
and Sage (http://www.chiilmama.com/) have a reading play day at Chicago's Ping Tom Park in Chinatown with 9 year old American Girl Dolls, Marie-Grace and Cecile.

There are two weeks left of American Girl's Read-A-Palooza, so there's still time to do something great for Save The Children and for your daughters through September 3rd.   We've given away 5 American Girl books to one of our lucky readers and we've been posting about Read-A-Palooza since it began in May.   For more information about Read-a-palooza and American Girl’s partnership with Save the Children click here.




We've been rockin' the reading all summer long and thoroughly enjoyed reading up on Marie-Grace and Cecile, American Girl's historical figures from 1850's New Orleans.   Recently, we met up with fellow blogger and mom extraordinaire,  Miss Lori and her daughter, Jaedyn.   Our girls are the same age (and coincidentally the same ages as Marie-Grace and Cecile).   The girls became engrossed in the adventures of the best friends from the past, and had a blast climbing trees, jumping from rocks, and laughing together.




We adore Marie-Grace and Cecile--close friends and the first historical American Girl Dolls to be released as a duo.  New Orleans is steeped in colorful history and one of our favorite places to visit.   American Girl's attention to detail, research, accuracy and quality make their historical books come alive in a way parents can trust and girls can't put down.   The duo were released in fall of 2011.  In their six-book series set the new characters—one African American and one Caucasian—show the power of friendship and community as they reach across the boundaries of race and class to help their families, friends, and city during a time of great need. 



We're fortunate to be raising savvy, urban kids in a major city, so multiculturalism and an appreciation for diversity comes naturally.  Our children are growing up color blind, where friends are friends, and skin color is as irrelevant as different colors of eyes or hair.  Still, it's fascinating and vital for our girls to read about the past history, the deep south and the costs and rewards of friendship between two other young girls from our country's past.   These stories are compelling, compassionate, and girl centered.  Much of this history is being skipped in schools and the personal twist the characters bring, makes learning about the past fun.






We've read both Marie-Grace and Cecile's introduction books and their mysteries this summer, which we could NOT put down.  I was thrilled that my reluctant reader got super excited and engaged with the books and has been carrying them with her everywhere and devouring them.   American Girl is committed to not only entertaining but educating girls and helping them grow intellectually, physically, and emotionally. 

Here's a sampler of our favorite recent American Girl releases and where you can buy them, too. 

•  ADVICE:  A Smart Girl's Guide to Liking Herself-even on the bad days

• CONTEMPORARY FICTION:  Innerstar University Series--"a book staring YOU with more than 20 endings" and an on line play component. 

• MYSTERIES:   We thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend The Cameo Necklace, A Cecile Mystery, and The Hidden Gold, A Marie-Grace Mystery 

Read-a-palooza provides girls with fun activities and incentives to inspire them to keep their reading skills sharp and encourage engagement in a variety of different literacy activities! In addition, Read-a-palooza will be contributing to Save the Children through a book purchase donation. Starting May 1 through September 3, $1 from every book purchased from American Girl will benefit Save's U.S. Literacy Program.

For more than 25 years, American Girl’s award-winning books have helped millions of girls discover the joy of reading and have earned the trust of parents and educators. This summer, to celebrate books and encourage girls to keep their reading skills sharp while school is out, American Girl is introducing Read-a-palooza, a summer reading program created for girls ages 8 to 12. Packed with fun activities and incentives that encourage literacy, Read-a-palooza will run from May 1 to September 3, 2012, and also will include a charitable partnership with Save the Children’s U.S. literacy program.

If you still haven't done so yet, click here to participate in Read-a-palooza before it's too late!  Girls can download colorful bookmarks and free book-related content, such as tips and materials for starting a book club. They’ll also be able to do reading challenges and take fun, interactive quizzes. Starting in June, girls can participate in Read-a-palooza by visiting an American Girl retail store, where free reading events will be offered all summer long. 

To further emphasize the importance of reading and to help a great cause during its Read-a-palooza campaign, American Girl is partnering with Save the Children’s U.S. literacy program. From May 1 through September 3, 2012, $1 of every book purchased through American Girl (up to a maximum of $100,000) will support Save the Children’s efforts to raise literacy rates in impoverished communities by providing basic education and equipping schools and teachers with reading materials. In addition, American Girl will make its third donation of books to Save the Children this fall, bringing the value of the company’s total book donation to nearly $1.5 million.

Remember to Check back in with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   We'll be running photo filled American Girl features on An American Girl Cafe Birthday Party, Caroline from 1812-the newest historical character, due for release in September 2012, and more!    We'll also have more American Girl book reviews, and exclusive author interviews coming soon.

When girls love to read...everyone wins!

Kindie Land-Chi, IL Millennium Park Free Family Fun Schedule

Millennium Park Family Fun Performance Stage

**Millennium Park is rocking your summer with free daily kindie shows.

Many of ChiIL Mama's favs are represented.   We've marked our highly recommended shows with asterisks.   


Check back with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often for loads of our original live show video footage, exclusive band video interviews, tons of CD give aways, and photo filled features.

   

July

July 25: Future Hits
July 26: Bulbul Arabic Ensemble
July 27: Lawrence Peters Outfit
July 28: Las Guitarras de Espana
July 29: MADD Rhythms

July 30: Kalyan Pathak and the Jazz Mata Trio
**July 31: Intonation Music Workshop (these guys are a great, local non profit. We've given away tixs to their shows and highly recommend checkin' out these talented kids)

August

**August 1: Intonation Music Workshop
**August 2: Farmer Jason 

**August 3: Farmer Jason 

(AKA:   Jason Ringenberg of Jason and the Scorchers.)   


Don't miss this chance to see him live!  Farmer Jason recently released "Nature Jams" on the new Universal Music children's label, myKaZoo.  Check out his videos on their new music video channel for kids, and he's touring all over the nation and in the UK this summer.

*Jason grew up on a farm in Southern Illinois (just down the road from one of his guest artists, Suzy Bogguss).

Nature Jams features an amazing lineup of guest artists (Mike Mills from REM, Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick, Tommy Ramone, Brandi Carlille, Iris Dement, Victor Wooten, Todd Snider, and more). It's won a couple of awards already and has been getting some sweet reviews   


**ChiIL Mama will be reviewing and giving away some of his new CDs in the very near future.**

August 4: Fatum Brothers Jazz Quintet

**August 5: Jeanie B! And the Jellybeans (She's a frequent fav at Beat Kitchen's Concerts for Kids.   ChiIL Mama will again sponsor the weekly kindie series that runs every Sunday from fall through spring.  We'll be giving away a free family 4 pack of tickets weekly to every show.)

August 6: Midway Ramblers 

**August 7: Miss Lori (She's a personal friend of ours with a lovely voice, 3 great kids, and a booming TV career.   Miss Lori is a force....   Come see her live.   You'll be glad you did!)

August 8: Brasil, Brazil
August 9: Midway Ramblers 
August 10: Bulbul Arabic Ensemble
August 11: Lawrence Peters Outfit
August 12: Halau i Ka Pono 

**August 13: Chic A Go Go (ChiIL Mama adores Chic A Go Go!!   Highly recommended for all ages.   Don't just watch TV this summer...BE on TV with this wacky, wonderful, long running cable show.   Miss Mia and Ratso rock hard!!)

August 14: Miss Lori 
August 15: Future Hits
August 16: Dog Patch Ramblers
August 17: Gypsy Klezmer Project
August 18: Golden Horse Ranch Band

August 19: Tsukasa Taiko 
August 20: Hip Hop Yoga
August 21: Miss Lori 
August 22: Chicago Human Rhythm Project
August 23: Fatum Brothers Jazz Quintet 
August 24: Gypsy Klezmer Project
August 25: Isla Pacifika
August 26: Las Guitarras de Espana
August 27: Fatum Brothers Jazz Quintet
August 28: Kaiju Daiko

August 29: Jeanie B! And the Jellybeans 
August 30: Dog Patch Ramblers 

August 31: Ryhthm Revolution Drum Circle facilitated by John Yost (we've got a video interview slated with John for next Sunday.   He'll be rockin' Kidzapalooza with daily drum circles the first weekend in August.   We even saw him at the drum circle opening for Keller Williams' kids' show last year at Park West.   He's quite a character and a fixture in the Chi-town rhythm community.   Check it out.)

September

September 1: Isla Pacifika
September 2: Chic A Go Go

Join the fun all summer long with activities and musical games for kids of all ages at Millennium Park's Family Fun Festival, presented by Target.   Check the link for show times and details.