Happy Birthday Gideon! Part 1

When it comes to children, all the cliches in the book are true. "They grow up so fast", or "It seems like just yesterday that he was just a baby", or even, "Time flies". This year, my son Gideon, who should still be a tiny newborn, turned 3 years old. Of course, if you ask him about his birthday, he will deny any and all evidence. Days before his birthday, I would ask him "Gideon, do you want a birthday party?". His answer: "No thank you" or "I don't think so". He apparently did not want to turn 3. Well, as my friend Jen said, 3 is the new 2:)

Well, despite his many protests, his birthday did arrive. We celebrated with a birthday party at the Learning Experience in Waldwick http://www.thelearningexperience.com/waldwick.html. My sister works for the Learning Experience as a business manager person-something, so we were able to get a discount. I was so impressed with the way the birthday party was run. All we had to do was bring a cake, and any food we wanted to feed the adults. They offered to order pizza for the adults, but I opted for cheese, veggies, and fruit instead. I just joined Weight Watchers, so if I'm on a diet, everyone is on a diet. They took care of everything else, including the goody bags.

When you first arrive, the children play in this awesome pretend area. There are all these little buildings, where the kids can play. There is a little store, and a little garage with a mini car, and a tool area. I wish we had gotten more pictures of that, but we were busy chasing the kids around.
A picture of my nephews inside the "store".
Oh! They had a slide, that would go down into a ball pit. Here are some party guests waiting patiently for their turn. The person in black was one of the girls who worked there. She made sure the kids behaved themselves as they went down the slide.

A view of the slide. That is Gideon holding everyone up.
Landing into the ball pit!
Another party guest putting the steering wheel back where it belongs.

They had us all sit in a circle.

And showed the kids what to do when they wanted to get their attention and be quiet. They were to "catch bubbles" and put them in their mouth.

We then moved into a larger room for the Olympics!
First some stretching. Gideon need some direction.
Touch your toes!
Run around the cones!
Some of the younger kids were just observing.
Some were helping clean the floors with their bodies.
Walking the balance beam. Notice the cheering. Hooray Gideon!

Everyone joins in!
This mom BECOMES the balance beam. That's how she keeps in shape.


Other kids just stood on the sidelines and danced. And danced. And danced.

The Olympics can get exhausting!

Stay tuned for Part 2!