Park District DeKalb Park District
May 28 - August 9
May 28 - August 9
More details at dekalbparkdistrict.com/summer-camps or call (815) 758-6663
(Ages 6-12; Campers must be registered for 1st grade or higher in the fall to attend)
Enjoy one of DeKalb’s favorite summer camps, including weekly field trips, water days, and entertainment.
Full-Day Camp Time: 8:45 am – 5:00 pm
*Weekly Rate: $186 / 11-Week Rate: $1,873
Get 5% OFF Summer Camp Rates Now through April 30!
Are you in need of extended camp hours? Enroll in our Before and After Camp Care to have the flexibility to pick up and drop off your camper at any time within our extended hours. Pre-registration is required.
Before Camp Care (7:00-8:45 am) *Weekly Rate: $19 • 11-Week Rate: $195
After Camp Care (5:00 - 6:00 pm) *Weekly Rate: $11 • 11-Week Rate: $115
*4-Day Rates available for the weeks of Memorial Day and Fourth of July. Campers must be registered no later than noon the Tuesday prior to camp; online registration closes at 11:59 pm on Monday.
Camp Location
Week 1-9: Founders Elementary School
Week 10-11: Hopkins Park Shelter
Virtual Parent Meeting:
Tuesday, May 21 at 6:00 pm
Family vacations aren’t just a break from the daily grind or routine, they’re also an opportunity to enjoy fun experiences together to build connections, and try new things to make memories that will last a lifetime.
Has it been a while since your family’s had a vacation? It may be time to start planning a weekend getaway for 2024! While planning a vacation for the whole family is easier said than done, here are five tips to plan your next family getaway effortlessly.
Before you can truly start planning your weekend trip in earnest, you’ll need to pick a location. When picking a vacation destination, consider your method of travel and if stopovers are required, the distance, necessary visas, and paperwork, as well as your family’s preferred climate.
You’ll also need to take into account everyone’s interests. For example, if one or more of your family members has a passion for theater, pick a city with a thriving arts and entertainment scene. Or, for thrill seekers, choose a location with a theme park. Need a sunny, warm getaway from your home’s winter weather? Look for a beach resort. No matter where you choose to vacation, factoring in everyone’s preferences will ensure the destination has something for all.
Now that you know where you’re going, you’ll need to set up accommodations. It’s crucial to look for family-friendly hotels or resorts with plenty of amenities, including spacious rooms, kid-friendly activities, and maybe even a pool or
playground. Always check online reviews to make sure that the accommodations listed on the hotel’s website meet travelers’ expectations.
Once you’ve chosen a hotel, don’t wait to book. Securing a room in advance removes the hassle and any last-minute scrambling during peak travel season.
Give yourself the flexibility of booking your family adventure your way by using Citi Travel with Booking.com. With a selection of 1.4 million hotels and hundreds of thousands of attractions, this convenient booking platform allows eligible Citi® cardmembers to book hotels, air travel, car rentals, and attractions all in one place. To learn more, please visit ThankYou.com.
One way to reduce pre-travel stress is by packing efficiently for your vacation. Your luggage checklists should include weather-appropriate clothing, comfortable walking shoes, special items for planned activities, important travel documents like IDs, travel insurance, and essential medical information.
When traveling with little ones, you may need to tote bulky items, such as strollers, playpens, and bouncers. Consider popular baby equipment rental services that provide a hasslefree solution for travelers dealing with baggage restrictions.
To make the most of your trip, build out a rough itinerary to hit your family’s priority events and attractions. Planning a mix
Secure a reservation for the Chicago Architecture River Cruise. Dreaming of a long weekend in the Big Apple? Look into passes for the Manhattan Sky Tour and New York Helicopter Flight.
Are you an outdoorsy group? The Grand Canyon Guided Tour would be a perfect addition. Wherever you roam, you can book your trip on the Citi Travel™ site and easily compare your options to find the perfect activities for your family.
You don’t have to (& shouldn’t!) do all the trip planning on your own. Before the trip, lighten the load by assigning responsibilities to each family member. Someone can be in charge of organizing the group to and from planned events, another can be responsible for always keeping snacks on hand, and another can keep everyone on track with the itinerary. This collaborative approach not only relieves any overwhelming stress but also ensures everyone feels involved!
Are you ready to go on your next family vacation? Use these tips, and you’ll be well on your way to planning a trip your family will remember for years to come.
Make sure to leave room to discover local spots along the way. When compiling your itinerary, make sure to research local attractions and purchase tickets in advance. If you have an eligible Citi® credit card, you can book attractions across the globe with the Citi Travel™ site. Heading to Chicago?
Did you know nearly 8 in 10 Americans are trying to improve their sleep this year? In a recent survey, nearly half ranked this goal as their number one priority. If getting better sleep is at the top of your list to improve your health, you may want to review habits that could be preventing you from getting a full night of deep, restorative sleep. This is even more crucial when your schedule changes, such as during spring break or when you have to move clocks forward for daylight saving time.
A survey conducted by One Poll on behalf of Herbalife examined the sleep habits of 5,000 Americans, split evenly by state, to reveal who’s getting the best sleep, how many hours per night they’re sleeping, plus typical habits around this often-overlooked aspect of health and well-being.
Discoveries from the survey include the fact that respondents in California appear to get the best sleep, with South Carolina coming in second and New York coming in third, with Maryland and New Jersey tied for fourth place. However, while experts recommend adults sleep for 7-9 hours per night, respondents in California report getting just over 6 1/2 hours of sleep per night.
Regardless of where they live, over half of respondents (55%) can’t remember the last time they had a “perfect night” of sleep, and 78% can’t recall when they last had a “perfect week” of sleep. While “perfect” sleep might be unattainable,
less than half (48%) said yes when asked whether they know how to get a good night’s sleep - and 66% of respondents admit that within two hours before bed, they watch TV or scroll through their phone for extended periods of time, which are not recommended as activities conducive to good sleep.
“Getting good quality sleep is essential for everyone,” said John Heiss, Ph.D., and vice president of Global Product Innovation, Herbalife. “Sleep supports important functions including metabolism and brain health and can have an impact on conditions including heart disease, obesity and depression.”
To help you sleep longer and more deeply, try incorporating these habits into your daily routine.
Don’t overeat near bedtime: Eating lighter, low-fat meals at dinner eases digestion, and healthy carbohydrates (think whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes) help stimulate production of brain chemicals that can help you relax and get to sleep. Experts also advise limiting food intake within three hours of bedtime.
Lessen caffeine and alcohol intake: Both caffeine and alcohol can disrupt your normal sleep patterns. You may be able to fall asleep, but it could be harder to stay asleep, preventing you from reaching the deepest and most restful stage of sleep.
Boost exercise: Evidence suggests getting at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity during each day can help improve your sleep quality.
Keep a regular schedule: Experts also recommend going to sleep and waking at the same time each day, even on weekends and holidays. This creates a predictable sleep rhythm your body will begin to anticipate. You can prepare for changes in your routine, including when you must “spring forward” your clock, by gradually adjusting your schedule.
Try stress-reduction techniques: Extensive research on the benefits of relaxation techniques like meditation, breathing exercises, and reading shows they can all help reduce stress. These practices can help reduce insomnia if you do them regularly, especially before bedtime.
Develop a bedtime routine: To help prepare for sleep, dim house lights in the evening and follow a digital detox rule of no computers or digital devices at least one hour before bedtime - including TV watching.
“Blue light from TVs, phones, and other digital devices can impair the quality of your sleep. Even if you can fall asleep, the quality of sleep is reduced, and your brain biology is disrupted,” says Heiss. “Blue light can disrupt your circadian rhythm, which controls mood, organ function, and metabolism. Blue light may also be the culprit if you’re experiencing food cravings.”
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Which of these recommended steps are Americans currently following?
•Making bedtime and/or morning routine more consistent - 44%
•Taking time away from screens before bed - 39%
•Eating less in the evening/before bed - 30%
•Making time for quiet hobbies before bed (reading, yoga, etc.)30%
•Changing diet - 23%
Changing your habits during the day, and especially right before bed, could make all the difference when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep.
Find more tips to help you follow a healthy and active lifestyle and support better sleep hygiene at Herbalife.com or to connect with a Herbalife independent distributor, call 866-866-4744.
(BPT)
Anew year means a new garden! It’s time to start thinking of what you’ll cultivate indoors and outdoors in 2024. Whether large or small, in sun or shade, there are many choices of plants to fill your indoor and outdoor spaces, as well as the tools that make things easier.
Looking for inspiration? Check out The National Garden Bureau’s 2024 Green Thumb Award winners. These plants and products are perfect for both beginner and experienced gardeners and will make your garden a success this year and beyond!
1. Hydrangea First Editions Eclipse
The Eclipse Hydrangea is a new variety of dark-leaf mophead hydrangea that offers season-long beauty! The shrub’s intense, dark purple leaves hold their color, even in sunny, warm climates. The striking foliage and gorgeous dark purple or cranberrycolored blooms will pair perfectly with anything in your garden, adding dramatic impact. Maturing at 3-5 feet tall and wide, Eclipse will stand out as a focal point in the garden or decorative containers. Hardy in zones 5-9.
2. Catmint Chartreuse on the Loose
Chartreuse on the Loose is a perennial perfect for lining the front border. The foliage allows for a full three seasons of interest with bright chartreuse yellow leaves. Clusters of lavender blue flowers bloom just above the foliage and appear all summer long. Unlike most catmint, ‘Chartreuse on the Loose’ doesn’t need to be cut back to produce flowers. Hardy in zones 3-8.
3. Begonia Stonehedge Rose Bronze Leaf
Stonehedge begonias are as iconic as their namesake! These annual begonias have extreme vigor, excellent heat tolerance and a well-branched mounded shape that grows up to 48 inches (120 centimeters) tall! You can even plant them in large containers. Eye-catching bronze foliage shows off rich rose blooms. Best of all, there’s no need to deadhead these low-maintenance begonias.
4. Centaurea The Bride
Centaurea The Bride is a large annual featuring pure white flowers with a gorgeous feathery texture scented with sweet vanilla. The bushy plant grows 2 to 3 feet tall and works well in containers or beds, a must-have for any pollinator garden.
5. Cucumber Quick Snack
Winner of both the Professional’s Choice and People’s Choice awards in the edible category, the Quick Snack Cucumber produces deliciously crisp and sweet cucumbers in a matter of weeks. In just a month or so, you can eat handfuls of cocktail-sized cucumbers fresh off the plant or add to a vegetable platter or salad. You can enjoy cucumbers indoors and out with Quick Snack because the blooms do not require pollinators to produce fruit. An excellent way to enjoy homegrown vegetables all year long without an outdoor garden space.
6. Echeveria Coral Reef Red
Winner of both the Professional’s Choice and People’s Choice awards in the houseplant category, Echeveria Coral Reef Red lives up to its name with strongly pronounced ruffled
foliage, perfect for adding intense indoor and outdoor colors! Elegant stems produce bell flowers throughout most of the year. This drought-tolerant beauty grows to just under 12 inches tall in full sun or shade.
Laura’s Edition Auger is an incredibly useful garden product. Using the extended-length bulb auger, you can effortlessly plant bulbs and 3- to 5-inch potted plants without kneeling or bending over. You’ll be planting trees and shrubs and digging post holes faster than you ever could before with a 3-inch auger drill bit. Power Planter bulb augers are also a great choice for installing beach volleyball poles and umbrellas or boring holes under sidewalks for electrical or irrigation lines.
Be a more successful gardener with this new boxwood! Better Boxwood® is the first collection of blight-resistant boxwood resulting from two decades of revolutionary breeding and plant trialing. Skylight™ is one of four varieties, including Babylon Beauty™, Heritage™ and Renaissance™. Skylight™ is the faster growing of the collection with medium green leaves, suitable for pruning into shapes, in mass plantings and medium hedges. Hardy to zone 5.
Blackjack agapanthus offers superior performance and exceptional blooms, near-black, purple flower clusters soaring
atop tall stems. This resilient agapanthus combines a compact semi-dwarf growth habit with abundant blooms, offering an extended flowering season surpassing conventional varieties. Hardy in zone 8-11 and can be grown as an annual in all other zones. Named the Royal Horticultural Society 2023 Plant of the Year.
10. Petunia Amazonas Plum Cockatoo
Amazonas Plum Cockatoo petunia will certainly attract attention in your garden! These petunias bring a bit of the rainforest to gardens everywhere. Lush green hues pair with vivid, tropical purples to create a truly unique petunia. The variety creates a calming backdrop of natural color that pairs well with foliage plants. Large blooms grow on plants 12 to 18 inches tall.
11. Sunshine Black Bear Potting Mix
Garden more sustainably with this new product! Black Bear is pure carbon captured and stored as a beneficial growing media formulated for growing in containers, hanging baskets, window boxes, and fabric pots. The potting mix is produced by wood waste that would otherwise be burned or sent to landfills, releasing carbon into our atmosphere. The innovative potting mix provides exceptional aeration and drainage for both indoor and outdoor plants.
Try these exciting new plants and products to make your gardening life easier this year, making you more successful than ever! To learn more, visit NBG.org.
If long workdays leave you wondering if you’re burnt out, take a closer look. While typical signs of work-related burnout can mean you’re overdue for serious PTO, other symptoms may indicate psychological, emotional, and/or physical issues that need to be addressed for your well-being.
Listing your symptoms may provide a clearer picture of what you need for self-care. While some symptoms may lead you to seek a visit with your physician or consult a mental health professional, others may indicate a common source of discomfort in today’s digital environment: your eyes.
These symptoms and others can be due to – or worsened by – excessive screen time, including work, gaming, watching TV, or interacting on social media for more than two hours consecutively each day.
Eyestrain is very common in today’s visually demanding world, especially if your workday involves extensive reading and staring at a computer. Sore, dry, or watery eyes, itching or burning sensations, sensitivity to light, headaches, and difficulty focusing can develop.
Headaches accompanied by visual symptoms like flashing or sparkling lights and darkening of vision could indicate you’re experiencing migraine with aura. However, it’s critical to rule out other potential causes like damage inside your eye, a retinal tear or retinal detachment, which can only be determined through an in-person comprehensive eye exam by
an optometrist. Headaches can be exacerbated by both stress and excessive screen time.
Blurred vision when looking quickly from near to far could be a sign of accommodative dysfunction, a condition frequently found in anyone who works up close for long periods of time, such as those who work on screens. Blurring and inability to focus can occur without proper lighting and posture, or if you’re not taking enough breaks.
Dry eye is a medical condition in which someone doesn’t create enough of a quality tear film to lubricate and nourish the eye. Tears are necessary for maintaining the health of the front surface of the eye and providing clear vision. Dry eye may be caused or worsened when reading or staring at a screen for long periods of time.
Neck and shoulder pain can result from tilting your head at odd angles because your glasses aren’t designed for looking at a computer, or if you bend toward the screen to see more clearly. Poor lighting, glare on your screen, improper viewing distances, poor seating posture, or uncorrected vision problems could all contribute to neck and shoulder pain.
If you’re experiencing symptoms, visit an optometrist for a comprehensive in-person eye exam. Optometrists can test for a wide variety of conditions to understand the causes of your discomfort. Only by examining your eyes in-office can an optometrist determine how to help relieve your symptoms.
“Unfortunately, eye health is not the first thing people think of when they’re experiencing workplace discomfort, but a wellfunctioning visual system is crucial for everyday wellness,” said American Optometric Association (AOA) President Dr. Ronald Benner. “Eye health impacts your overall health - and also provides important early indicators of numerous diseases. An annual comprehensive eye exam with a doctor of optometry is vital to ensure everyone’s eye health, whether they wear glasses or not.”
In addition to seeing your optometrist for a comprehensive eye exam, here are tips to help safeguard your eyes:
It’s important to rest your eyes while on your computer, gaming or using any device for long periods. For every 20 minutes on a digital device, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This gives your eyes a chance to refocus.
when you’re looking at a screen. To minimize the chances of developing dry eye, try to blink more frequently. Setting reminders on your devices can help you remember to do so.
Your computer screen should be 15-20 degrees below eye level (about 4-5”) as measured from the center of the screen, and 20 inches from your eyes. Smaller devices should be a minimum of 13 inches away to give the visual system a break, and make sure to use the zoom feature to increase small print and details instead of bringing the device closer to your eyes.
Whether your corrective lenses are worn for distance, reading or both, they may not provide the best vision for viewing computer screens. Tell your optometrist about your daily job tasks and hobbies. You may benefit from wearing glasses specifically made for computer work.
Want more eye health tips and tricks? Check out AOA’s new mobile game Blink Land to learn more about eye health through minigames and trivia. Most importantly, find an AOA optometrist near you at AOA.org.
Blinking keeps the front surface of the eye moist, but it’s common for people to blink less often when doing tasks on electronic devices. Blink rate can actually slow by up to 40% (BPT)
