What To Do In The Winter, Chapter 2

I mentioned yesterday that I'd give some details about a wonderful, family-friendly "everything center." Here goes.

My son just turned 8 on February 4th. He loves Six Flags, St. Louis, but unfortunately, it's not open this time of year. He can't figure out why it's not open in February and won't believe us when we say it's too cold!

In any case, I took him for the first time to the Korte Rec Center in Highland, IL. I was pleasantly surprised. First, for the four of us we were supposed to pay $22.00. The attendant realized it was a special day for my son and simply "rounded down" to $20.00 and wished us a great time!

We were there to swim, so we went straight to the locker rooms and got dressed. The locker room smelled clean and was in good shape. Once in the swimming area, we were pleasantly surprised that, even though it was 15 degrees Fahrenheit outside, it was easily 90 degrees inside, a great relief for me go gets chilled just looking at something cold!

They have something they call a Vortex in the pool area. WOW! Up to 10 or so kids/adults can get in there at a time and you literally spin around like you're in a tornado. It was really fun. The kids would do that endlessly if allowed to.

They have a pretty good slide, a lazy river and a lap pool. Best of all for parents with small kids, there's also a shallow play area that's safe for most any toddler.

Finally, in the pool area, there's a GREAT hot tub...well, make that a hot pool. It's big enough that it should not be called a tub!

Food was Ok, the regular snack bar fare, but the family-friendly factor more than made up for that. No walking around without shirts in the main area, modestly-dressed employees, etc.

There's a full-size basketball court, but we didn't go in.

To round it out, there's also a fitness center in the facility. Arc trainers, treadmills, Flex circuit equipment, all kinds of stationery bicycles are among the equipment that's there.

This particular destination can provide a full day's enjoyment for the entire family.

Finally, they do birthday parties that are VERY reasonable. Our daughter is going to have her birthday party there in March, so I'll update how that experience was once we've lived it. Our church is going there tonight with the elementary-aged kids. It's an all-nighter with all kinds of things planned. The kdis will even have a chance to win a Nintendo Wei! I'll update how that went next week.

If you're thinking of relocating to Scott Air Force Base, or for information on communities, schools or homes for sale in O'Fallon, Belleville, Shiolh, IL and other communities that surround Scott Air Force Base, please go to www.RelocateToScottAirForceBase.com