iLandscape Trade Show and Skating on Synthetic Ice

In the midst of winter in Chicagoland, we were invited to attend the iLandscape Trade Show presented by the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association and Wisconsin Green Industry Federation. Taking a break from the dreariness of the gray Northern Illinois skies and very little snow, we spent this day surrounded by flowers, mulch, greenery, all the smells of spring, running water, roses … and, an ice rink.

My girls were listed as “Entertainers” for the A. Block Marketing booth. While A. Block is in the mulch business with delicious mulch names such as chocolate and chocolate chip, they also market synthetic ice, and our girls were lucky enough to be able to demonstrate some of their figure skating moves on it.

Girl #1's skates were the first blades on this synthetic ice at the A. Block Marketing booth.

It was a long day for both girls (five hours of skating) ~ and they came home truly exhausted, but they had a fun time and enjoyed everything about this educational field trip day.

First, we had to take a bus from Woodfield Mall to the convention center, so that was exciting for the girls. As homeschoolers who live in a decidedly more rural county, we don't often find ourselves in a position to use public transportation. Then, both girls had official name badges for the event, so they felt pretty special. And, of course, there was … the ice!

They were ready to get on as soon as we walked in. Synthetic ice is exciting! It isn’t cold, so we didn’t have to be bundled up. And, you could put it in your basement … which also is exciting!

Working her lunge in front of the crowd. 

The girls put in a full day of work, but I spent a little time wandering around the trade show floor.

Here is a smattering of what I saw – and it made me a little giddy for springtime (although, the groundhog did see his shadow, so that means six more weeks of winter before I get to see some of this foliage again!

A. Block Marketing mulch samples.

Flowers courtesy of Midwest Groundcovers LLC.

Midwest Groundcovers LLC provided some beautiful bright colors and brightened up the our cloudy 2017

Mulch with adorable little pot pets by The Mulch Center ~ www.mulchcenter.com

I loved the peaceful waterfalls by Easy Pro Pond Products. 

The big equipment was pretty spectacular as well.

I loved this creative rock display by Crossroads Garden Center.

I think this was part of the SyntheticTurf  company's booth.

Gerry Hundt's Legendary One-Man-Band entertained the floor.

The guys working the Arlington Power Equipment booth were fun to talk to. 

A performer with The Actors Gymnasium Circus & Performing Arts dressed in foliage and walking on stilts was exciting to interact with. She stopped and posed for pictures, too.

Beautiful plants provided by Willoway Nurseries Inc.

This gorgeous beading was just in the foyer floor-to-ceiling windows of the Schaumburg Convention Center. It was stunning!

And then, of course, there was the Tiny House. As soon as my girls finished their time “working,” they headed to the Tiny House and quickly made it their own. They created their own little story of living in the house, put their name badges in the drawers, pretended they were getting food out of the pantry, sat in their living room and pretended to make their dinners and eat them at the tiny table.

The kitchen and stairs inside the Titan Tiny Homes booth.

A serene loft bedroom presented by www.titantinyhomes.com

In addition, one of my girls won the raffle for this pink mini Husqvarna chain saw, and she was pretty excited about that.

The booth across from us was raffling off toy Husqvarna chain saws. This pink beauty came home with us that day. I had one happy little girl. A-1 Repairs demoed a roomba-esque lawnmower  called an automower which I thought was a great deal. Also, there was an impressive array of very powerful-looking chain saws, edgers, trimmers, and other equipment.

Oh, and look at these intricately beautiful ice sculptures! I wish I had a name to pass on, but I have no idea who carved them! They were right outside the convention center as we walked out.

I wish I knew who provided the ice sculptures. They were sooooooo pretty!

Overall, I think we enjoyed this little change in our usual winter plans. And, I also was able to spend some time on the synthetic ice ~ I'm glad I brought my skates along, even if it added that much more to the load we had to carry on-and-of the busses!