I remember our first fishing trip to Wisconsin when I was very young (about 6) it was at Lake Lawn Lodge in Delevan, WI... It was fun, they had a green lake, where we fished and an indoor pool for swimming if you didn't want to swim in the lake... When we were teenagers, we went there and took water skiing lessons for the first time...
Then in high school our good friends used to go up to Mercer, WI (30 minutes from the upper Michigan border) and we would fish, canoe, water ski, and swim in the lake for about a week and half in August before school started... Play flashlight tag at night... Then go snow mobiling up there during Christmas winter break....
Yeah, the Chicago burbs are pretty fun... Did you ever go to Swallow Cliff near LaGrange and Rt 83??? I live near there and can walk there from home... They took down the toboggan slides back in 2006, now they use the hill for sledding in the winter (only the bottom half) and people like to climb the stairs for a workout... They built another set of stairs on the other side of the hill from the original 124 flagstone ones that were different thickness for stepping... Now you can go up and down the hill on either side depending if you want the different height flagstone ones or regular style new ones... The parking lot is usually at least 3/4 full when I pass buy....
Some things have changed, but it's still a good place...