Play Cafe

A few weeks back we were invited to the "Play Cafe" off of Mountain Blvd. in the Oakland Hills. This is a new Cafe for Mom's and Babies and we were there to try it out before the grand opening, and to do a photo shoot for the marketing materials.I thought this was about the coolest this ever. "The Swimming Hole" an entire ball pit of balls colored only blue. It was big, and deep too. Holly had a blast jumping in and out.There was also some sunken treasure. One of the more adventurous older kids found some sparkly green balls hidden in the ocean depths.After swimming around in the ball pit we were off to shop at the store. Holly loved this little shopping cart and filled it with items."More Please" Holly loved snacking on these fun pizzas, Technically a "Chocking Hazard" to I had to keep an eye on her that she didn't really try and eat the pepperonis. There were a few other items really intended for slightly older kids, so for Holly's age the parent would still need to be watchful.Next Holly was off to watch the trains go by. The older kids were nice enough to share with her and give her a engine to play with.This little lady bug was a cushy area for which a little baby could crawl and sit and play. Holly enjoyed climbing in and out.But soon she was trotting over to the kitchen, opening doors, looking into cabinets, turning knobs, and "cooking" up a storm, with the groceries she got earlier off course.But this little girl knows that she doesn't have to be stuck in the kitchen if she doesn't want to be, and was off to play with Hammers, Nails, and a cool saw. (Another one of those not so "baby" friendly items) but she did OK with it, and really liked playing with the tools.This back corner was quite familiar and was another section set aside for "little guys" there was a Fisher Price house, and exersaucer and Metal Bead toys, all ones she has at home and enjoyed checking out in a new environment.I thought this was about the cutest thing, Our little hard hat wearing, shopping cart pushing tike. We were invited to this event by our friend Saturina, here in the back ground riding around on a little fire truck.I can just imagine domestic bliss... or are they disputes. She had fun playing with this little boy, she would put food into the cart, he would put it away. It was a fun game.After lots of time to play, as a thank you for coming, testing, and having our pictures taken while at play the kiddies were provided with a yummy lunch.Look at my big girl. this is the first time she has sat at a Holly Sized Table, in a Holly Sized Chair, Drinking Juice and Snacking on Pizza, she is SOO grown up!She really likes pepperoni and cheese. The sauce was a little hot and she didn't eat the bread so much. These heart shaped plates were so sweet, Mommy enjoyed a bit of pizza too.We had so much fun playing for the afternoon, and hope to be back once the Play Cafe is officially open.

Habitot Children Museum

On Friday we went to the Habitot Children's Museum in Berkeley. This was part of a Meet-up Playdate and we had never gone before. I had thought that it was for older kids but then was amazed at how much fun we had and how many things there was for babies. First we went to the Baby garden which was an enclosed play area with pillows, cusions, a circle mat and little house, puzzles, and other items for babies to crawl and cruise on.


There was another room set up like a farm. There were cusions designd like bails of hay a farm house play room, a cool tree with velcro holes for apples, a riding horse, and a bench swing. There was a riding tractor and wagon and baskets and eggs and all typs of things you would find n a arm. That room also had something called a wiggly wall. Which was an upright maze wall that you could crawl and climb into.

There was a big art room which I kept Holly away from. But it looked very fun and she will grow into it. There was a Grocery store wuth tons of fresh veggies, carrots, corn, bananas, a counter with stools, two cash registers, and shopping carts that you can put all the veggies into.


Then there was a water room You could run a car wash, play in two large pools, there was a long river where you could pour the water down from the top and it would flow down, and another tower where you could pour water through funnels into little holes and when the base was filled it would errupt like a big fontain.


There was a reading room and a snack room. We met Alex and Angie a 2 and 4 year old and Saturnina and her mom whom I knew from month ago at swim class and then they stopped coming after Thanksgiving. Holly was Saturnina's favorite little baby and she remembered her right away. She is two and a half now, which is why they don't come swimming any more.

We played from 1:00-3:15 and then headed over to swimming. We got into Habitot for free because Katie gave us a pass for being consumer's of Through the Looking Glass which is where Holly gets her services from.

Swimming was a nightmare. There had been a power outage at some point which "messed-up" the pool. The chlorine levels were too high and they had to put chemicles in to lower it. They kept saying 15 more minutes, 15 more. They tested it at 10 to start and it had to go down to 5 before we could go safetly in.

Well class starts at 3:30 and it was 4:45 before I got into the water. There started out with bout 40 babies and only 5 hng on till the end. But we got in, sang our songs and hung out in the water for an hour, and had about the whole pool to ourselves. Since Joel didn't get off work until 7:00 I had nothing better to do then wait and we had lots of fun once we got into the water.

That was our friday.