Elk Grove Village, IL Outdoor Activities

Move Your Feet Sports' hour-long lessons teach all ages and abilities to serve and volley like professional bowlers who used to be tennis title holders. Classes for beginners, intermediate players, and advanced players ($25 each) are available at all three facilities. The staff of experienced instructors pump each hour-long lesson full of heart-pounding cardio moves, skill-building exercises, and techniques to crush competition like monster trucks crush hot-dog carts. Look under the Groupon tab on Move Your Feet Sports' registration page to see class options.

While the horses gallop, you needn't worry about pacing yourself at the all-you-can-eat buffet. Take endless laps around the Winner’s Circle Buffet on Thursdays (6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.) or Grand Gourmet Buffet on Fridays (6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.), then head to the dessert table (open until 10:00 p.m. on Fridays). The buffet offers a variety of succulent offerings, including ornate carving stations where you can get a hunk of meat with a lovely etching of your head on a horse's body, as well as unlimited shrimp, so when the race comes down to a photo finish, you can temper your adrenaline by slipping into a deep, shrimp-induced coma.

The Chicago Wolves, an NHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, add an exhilarating howl to the American Hockey League with a frosty flurry of slap shots, body checks, and thoughtful, fist-based debate. Darren Hydar, Spencer Machacek, and Andre Deveaux lead the attack on enemy net, all ably assisted by Jason Krog. Goalie Peter Mannino confidently flaunts his pristine puck-stoppage by storing his entire collection of vice presidential commemorative plates in the goal behind him. The high-octane entertainment is spiced with the family-friendly shenanigans of Skates, the official sideline silly goose that looks more like a big gray wolf.

The festive displays at Chicago Botanic Garden's Wonderland Express pluck visitors from forests of skyscrapers and tangles of telephone vines and prepare them for the holiday season. Energy-conserving LED lights⎯750,000 of them⎯twinkle in the crisp air of an outdoor magical winter wonderland. Inside, amid the falling of faux snow, tiny model locomotives chug through an elaborate 10,000-square-foot display featuring decorations, holiday trees, botanicals and poinsettias, and more than 80 mini models of Chicago’s famous buildings and landmarks. Designed by holiday wizard Paul Busse, the model-railroad garden combines artistic design, horticulture, and Windy City pride to delight children, parents, grandparents, and estranged snowmen cousins alike.