Artastic

Today was a good day for the Williams household, and for Mommy as a Mommy.  A new place has opened up literally a mile from our house, and it is going to be our next go-to place to be.  It is called Artastic, and it is pretty fantastic.

This place has everything for art activities, including potter painting, wood painting, spin art, candy making, t-shirt making, even a whole area where you can sift through "dirt" to find treasures.  The painting stuff is great too because it is not just stilly things that take up space, but nice mugs, bracelets, bowls, etc.  So everyone we know is sure to get something from the boys in the next year.. . hand painted…

Not only that, but there were toys all around for the kids to play with when they inevitably got bored.  They loved the toys so much that we spent a good 15 minutes more just playing with the puzzle trucks on the floor.  I hear there is a whole additional space going in in January - called Imagination Station where they can play with a mini-kitchen and things like that, kind of like Imajine That - but much, much closer for me.  So psyched this is right here, and is open on a Monday too!

More good times will be had, for sure!

Bonkers Fun House

In an attempt to recapture my before working full-time days, today we went to the Zoo, followed by Bonkers Fun House.  The Zoo was, as usual, awesome for the little guys.  We really need to soak it up as much as possible because in two years Joel Andrew is going to be completely bored by it... Joel Andrew loves the eagle the most, and I think that is because every time we see the eagle I make such a big fuss.  We go over and over what eagle's eat.  And we say hi.  When we are done with the zoo, Joel Andrew asks to say bye to the eagle.  So cute.

The otter is also awesome.  And, I love how totally unprompted Joel Andrew will stand on one leg as soon as he sees the flamingos now. I think the new tradition he got from this visit, was screaming when we see the snakes.  Mommy screamed and said snacks are yucky, so Joelie followed.  I hope we continue this because I do not want a snake in my house ever...

Baby James loved the zoo.  I finally remembered that I bought the snack tray attachment for the pupa baby, so we broke it out and it was a huge hit!  He sat there as content as can be the whole time. Randomly I would put a pretzel or two on his tray, and he was happy.

After the zoo we went to Bonkers Fun House.  This was at Joel Husband's suggestion, of course.  Think Chuck E. Cheese, so immediately germie Mommy was freaked out.  But the food was actually better than Chuck E's, more variety (I wouldn't call it gourmet by any means, but I could have gotten a decent salad if I wanted).  There was a huge obstacle course in the middle of the space, which we are guessing was a roller rink in the 70's, converted to Bonkers in the 80s and stayed that way ever since.

You totally know what I am talking about if you are from New England, it is right off of 95 in Peabody, you may pass by the enormous sign from the highway all the time.  They had amusement park type rides in there too - for $15 a bracelet gets you in and out of the rides and maze all day.  There is also skee ball, etc.  I am thinking that maybe Joel Andrew's 4th birthday - a great place.  Parents can sit and chat while kids are virtually locked into the big play pen for hours of enjoyment.

So, I guess I am nearing being over my germie thing, just in time too with two boys.  Baby James even loves Bonkers, he walked around like he owned the place.  There was even a toddler area for him to bounce around in, though it was overrun with 4 year olds, he held up just fine.  Let's hope everyone gets a nap now.  What to do tomorrow...?

Jump On In

 Yesterday Joel Andrew and I ditched Baby James with daddy, and went to an indoor playspace by ourselves.  There are actually quite a number of indoor playspaces in the area, we happened to visit Jump On In in Portsmouth (part of a chain and there are also locations in a number of places including in Mass - Lowell, Woburn, Haverhill, even in NJ and Texas!).  We ended up here because the timing worked best for us.  It was the second time we ran into an old classmate of Mommy's from Colby.  He has an adorable little daughter, and also has a love of getting out and having fun with her too (obviously!).  While making idle chatter, he noted I had two kids.  To which I replied, "Yes, and you should keep the one for as long as possible before you go to number 2."  To which he replied, "We are due in July."  Awesome.  I am very good at stepping in it.

Anyway, back to the fun.  It was a lot of fun.  It was $10 for two hours of open bounce.  I believe you get a discount the more kids you bring.  We had to sign a waiver, and then that was it.  Take your shoes off (wear socks), leave coats and bags to the side, and literally jump on in.  I guess it gets pretty crowded, and sometimes they close the space when it is at capacity, so you can reserve your space ahead of time online.  I find this to be an awesome gimmick by the company - because really, with little kids how do you know what you are going to do days in advance?  How many times have people paid and just not shown up, I wonder?  That wasn't going to be me...  We did not reserve online and we were there at opening, and got in no problem.

Joel is under 3, so he was good to go in the under 3 jumpy house.  Pretty quickly the place filled up like you wouldn't believe, and there were 5, 7, even 10 year olds running around and jumping everywhere.  This made it a little hard on us to get into the bigger kid jumpy houses, which of course he really wanted to do.  The slides are huge and scary for Mommy!  But not my kiddo, right up and then down them.  I was very nervous for him all by himself in one of the big kid houses so I went with him each time.  But, I can see that once he is older it will basically just be me sitting on the sidelines and him running and jumping all around.  There were lots of parents there just chatting on the side.  This place should probably serve alcohol.  Ha, can you imagine?

There were 5 bouncy houses in all, most with slides, and there was an area to practice playing baseball, as well as an air hockey table.  I think you can have parties there, I might look into it for Joel Andrew's 3rd.

All in all, it was a good time.  The vending machine was probably the most educational part of the visit.  Joel got to pick a color soda, we identified the letter and the number slot it was on, found the letter and the number on the selection pad, and watched the new fangled vending machine gently lift the sods bottle and deposit it for us.  Too funny.

So, some rules if you want to go - do not bring your baby if your other child needs assistance.  Think about going with other Moms and Dads, as the kiddos are so occupied and easy to monitor (almost all the houses only have one way in and one way out, so easy to figure out where they are) so you can get some good chatting done if you do not feel like you need to assist them.  But, if you do feel like you want to go in with your kiddos, prepare to get a workout.  All that jumping and climbing is a lot of work!  Joel had a great time but after 45 minutes he even said he had enough.  I think you can buy a pass to save some money, but we will try some of the other playspaces first too just to see what one is the best.  But otherwise, I highly recommend what we did - which was to let him jump like crazy for the first 45 minutes of our day, and then drag the kiddo who is now tired on errands, and then to lunch, then home for a late nap.  Worked perfectly!  

PS - someone brought this up, I am never compensated for any of my posts.  Just like to share the places we go to, how it was and perhaps pass some tips on for you guys!

Seacoast United

 Today we went to the Seacoast United indoor soccer place for play time.  This weekend was girls weekend, and although Joel Husband did a great job keeping the house clean, and the boys fed, etc - they did not leave the house the entire weekend.  So, this morning the first thing we did was get out to some place where Joel Andrew could run.  And, run he did.  I ran with him while Baby James chilled in the corner.  It was a great time!  $5, one hour, now we can have quiet time while Baby James naps.

BUT - and a big but here.  Towards the end I could tell Joel Andrew was getting thirsty and hungry.  He was also getting pissed that I had now started to carry Baby James (lots of people started showing up and he could not longer chill in peace).  Finally, I was chatting with another Mom - and he turned into MEGA BRAT.  After a few tantrums, I finally got him outside. In the parking lot he broke away from me and ran away.  This is the second time in less than a week he has done this.  I screamed bloody murder and yanked him by his hood on his jacket.  Still does not seem to be getting across to him.  Fine, throw a tantrum, but run in the parking lot?  What do you do?

Mall Tots

Mondays are our tough mornings. I have both kids, and I am usually exhausted from the weekend (not well rested as I should be!). So, I always like to have an activity to ensure that we are not just watching TV all day. Which, I never mean to do, but if we are home, it is what ends up happening...

So, this Monday we took a long trek down to Mall Tots, in Danvers. My husband had been there previous and said it was great. It is pretty good, but not for the 45 minute ride we needed to take. If I lived closer, I would probably be there more often. There were a lot of moms with more than one child, as it is easy to sit on a bench and watch your toddler play with all of the toys. Lots of Little Tikes cars and slides, enough to ensure that there will not be too much fighting. There are two bouncy houses, and one tunnel/slide obstacle. I kind of liked the toned-down obstacles as I could nurse baby James while Joel Andrew was playing and not worry that he was going to jump from high.
I think it was $8 to get in, they had monthly memberships too. All the toys were of a big size, so for some reason it just felt cleaner than say Imajine That where you might worry about all the little pieces and hidden germs. BUT don't try to examine the cars too close here, some of them needed a good scrubbing. If you needed to go to the Liberty Tree Mall with your whole family, this would be a great place to dump the husband and children while you go and get what you need from Best Buy!

Chuck E Cheese

Today we went to Chuck E Cheese. Joel husband's favorite place. He has been talking about going here ever since we found out we were pregnant with Joel child. Actually, since before then. I have not been exposed to many a place like this and have this thing that they are germ infested scary places where people steal your wallets. Not sure where I got that from... Dad... I prefer the more high class establishments like Disney World.

Anyway, so it was both my first time, and Joel Andrew's first time. Joel husband was psyched. He told me several times in the car ride over that I should not ruin the experience for our son. I did my best! I even did recall that in my childhood we had something similar, Mr. Arcade, though it was much smaller and somehow acceptable for the Halls to venture in.
I got the salad bar. I am a huge germie, but was also a "salad bar girl," back in the day, so I know what to avoid and what to go for. It was nice to supplement the pizza with some grapes, tomatoes and beans. The kiddo ate up his food but it was Joel husband that kept saying: "Ok, I think he is done now, is he ready? Can I take him?" The two had fun pushing buttons and playing the games. Joel child did not like the car rides - you know, stick them in the truck, stick in a coin and watch the car move up and down with them in it. Instant crying. This bodes interesting for Disney next week...

A good trip, lots of Purell for Mom. But, definite do again. Joel husband will insist! We left with a Chuck E Cheese mallet toy from our winnings, and a cotton candy. Joel husband had to wack the kiddo with the (very soft) mallet the whole way home to keep him awake. Kiddo is now napping! Additional prep for our big trip coming up, complete.

Way NoBo Day - Imajine That

Today we had a nice trip around, north of Boston. We spent most of the day in Lawrence, MA. We met up with Lauren and Declan in one of the old restored mills, which has been transformed into restaurant and office space. First, lunch at Sal's, then playtime at Imajine That.
Lunch worked out pretty well. The boys were entertained with the snacks both Lauren and I brought. I swear the kiddo will eat anything at the start of lunch. He is always so hungry, I can put something he has thrown on the floor twenty times in front of him but because he is starving he will eat it in twenty seconds. We also preoccupied them with "touchdown" - which Joel has learned this week. Declan took to it right away to the delight of his mommy. Brian will be psyched tonight. All in all, a great lunch - but if you get the picatta, make sure to specify you do not want marinara on your pasta. Yuck!
Then we went to Imajine That. A play place for kiddos. Imagine an entire warehouse floor stocked with toys. There was an inflatable bouncy thing (which we did not take part in), and infant room, a reading room, a "supermarket," and art room, a music room, and an entire adult-sized gym with slides and all sorts of things to climb on. It was helpful that it was adult sized because I got to go in with my man who immediately climbed up to the slide. He loves the slide! His mouth goes wide open with excitement from the second he sees it, until a few minutes after the fun.
He also seemed to enjoy the art room. Look at him using the chalk. He only tried to eat it once! All in all, a great resource about 25 minutes from my house. Lauren's family had a membership so we got in for free, but I think it is $8.75 per child, $1 per adult. I think in the winter when we need a break we will be doing this a few times. They have monthly memberships too, $20 for the first child, $10 more for any additional child.
On our way home J and I also stopped at Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury. We saw chickens, turkeys, goats and sheep and bought some delicious food. All in all, a very fun, very exhausting day!