Things to Do in Mount Prospect

The Capitol Steps performers draw upon 62 combined years of congressional staff experience for material in their political lampoons. The group, which has recorded 30 albums and puts on four broadcasts every year on NPR, will dish up rollicking numbers from their latest release, Liberal Shop of Horrors. No party or politician—from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, to the Tea Party and Sarah Palin—is spared from the cross-hairs of their razor-sharp satire. Exercise your laughing muscles as the group mocks social issues including prescription drugs and the wobbly economy.

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.