We certainly did. I took my son to Winter Wonderland in Navy Pier with friends and their daughter. It was absolutely beautiful! We were able to get wristbands on line for all rides including skating for only $13.00. What a deal! I loved the decorations and my son said it was like in a fairy tale. They even had many Christmas trees that represented different countries. We were able to find the one that represented Czech Republic and I took a picture of my son in front of it.
The main Christmas tree was huge and absolutely beautiful.
Skating was great too. The lines were very long but fast. We had to wait some additional time while they were cleaning the ice but it was worth it as the ice was very smooth and so much easier for my son to skate on it.. He tried ice skating before only 3 times on ice ring in Chicago park district but the ice was very bumpy and my son didn't like it at all. But on the ice in Winter Wonderland it was smooth and easy even for my son. He tried it by himself and was doing great. I was standing on the side while he was skating on his own. As for him being on the ice for the 4th time in age 6 now, I was very impressed.
As for the rides, it was good for the price but the lines were very long. My son was impatient and was trying to cut the lines usually before I was able to catch up with him. By the time I got there he was going in. Some people were mad, some ignored it. I usually tried to run to him and stop him; so I did a lot of running that day. I have to give myself a credit for that. :)
At 8:15pm we watched fireworks from outside. It was my first time at Navy Pier (as for New Years) since I moved to Chicago 12 years a go. I have to say it was nice. It was very windy though and many people were watching from the inside.( Much smarter). But we wanted to experience it from the outside for some reason. It was beautiful and my son loved it.
When we came home it was late but my son was allowed to stay with us until the New Years Countdown. My parents, my son and I went outside after the countdown with some sparkles as we used to do that in Czech Republic. My son was excited he was allowed to go outside with us. We just stayed in front of the apartment building, lightning some sparkles and then we went home. But my son enjoyed it a lot.
So that was our new years. Hope you had a great one too!
