Play Cafe With Chloe

Happy 5th Birthday Griffin - 11/13/10

Happy Birthday Griffin, you are such a big boy now!Here is Amber and her new baby at Griffin;s Birthday PartyGriffin is playing in the kitchen brewing up a little snack.Holly decides she wants to use the tools and make something, Though I suspect she just likes the hammerWe are playing at Play cafe, a fun Birthday place.Holly likes the trains and pushes them into and out of the tunnelOne of her favorite things to do is go through tunnels when we are driving.Yikes!! There is Quinn wrestling a giant shark in the deep blue ocean watersIs he friend or is he foe, I don't know. Yikes.Holly decides she wants to play a game of hide a seek, can you find her?Peek-A-Boo she says when she jumps out of the cabinet.Time to cook mommy a fruit Salad, Yum YumWhat, wait, whats that!! There is a head in my salad!She just thought that was the funniest thing!Later she wanted to put on the cooks apron, But I suspect she thinks it is like a smock and she might get to paint if she is wearing it.Now that the shark infested waters have been cleared Holy can dive into the Ocean tooSwimming around and relaxing until she jumps up and goes Rawr!Another game of peek A Boo Holy hides int he play house.Here she is with a doll house, I think this one was one of the reason's I decided to suggest it to Santa for Christmas that yearHere is our Birthday Boy opening up a few of his presents.This time Holly picked a vanilla covered cupcake, and odd choice I know.She ended up like on most other party days just eating the frostingHappy Birthday Griffin, we had a wonderful time at your party!

A Visit to Santa

Here we are with a few of our friends at play cafe. We ran into Cole and his mom Melissa whom we hadn't seen in forever.There was a special guest visiting us all, Mr. Claus himself.Luckily he was a very patient guy and had the whole afternoon free.The kids were a little afraid of him so it took a while for them to get used to having him around.Holly warmed up a little bit by taking a few presents, she liked having the boxes to open.It was nice for him to be in a familiar environment it made Holly less nervous and anxious.She played nearby and hung out near the Christmas tree, Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas.Here is Angelina, she was scared of Santa too. She found plenty of other things to keep her busy.Holly liked the puzzle room too, and she actually among her friends was the least afraid of Santa.Here she is playing with Cole, they are working with some tools, building and tinkering.Here Holly is being shy, she still hasn't sat in Santa's lap but we are working on it.Chloe didn't even want to go into the room with him at first, she wanted to stay with Mommy.Eventually she played with Holly by the Christmas tree but then found other things of interest to her.They were playing restaurant Holly having some fruit, and Chloe cooking for her the wonderful waitress.Then she made some cake and the two of them had there lunch.Cole on the other hand was hanging out having some real lunchFinally Holly got onto Santa's lap when he gave her the gift bag.She was so curious to see what was inside. It was the perfect opportunity to catch that golden moment.The play cafe Gift bag was cute with some little odds and ends in it.But mostly it was a chance for Holly to visit with Santa and "Chat" with himThere is this episode of Max and Ruby when max stays up and waits for Santa and Santa drinks Chocolate Milk.I think Holly totally made the connection that she was meeting the same person who brought Max and Ruby the presents.But once the bag was emptied the lap was left and that was it for Santa.Though there was still plenty of fun to be had, a dive into the ball pit ocean of course.A ride on the Pony for Chloe who never did end up sitting on Santa's lap.Though I did get pictures of her and her Mommy with Santa together.Holly decided she wanted a turn on the pony too, luckily unlike her Oma she did not ask Santa for a pony for Christmas. There is always next year though....And in the end, even miss Angelina decided Santa was a good guy and she sat on his lap too. Next year will be even more exciting, with Holly talking so much now, she will totally be able to tell Santa all her Christmas Wishes.