 |
| Narra's 2nd Birthday at The Creamery, May 2011 (Guijo still in my belly) |
This time last year, I was planning for Narra's 2nd birthday. I was then in my 2nd trimester of pregnancy with my son Guijo. We booked her party at The Creamery, an Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant located at the ground floor of the Kids Universe in Mall of Asia. Adjacent to the resto was Cosmic Kids, a huge playspace several stories high, with all sorts of fun slides, wings, rides, trampolines, and foam and ball pits for kids to enjoy to their hearts' content. We decided to treat our little guests to entrance passes to Cosmic Kids. Narra was chaperoned inside by her Lolo Walter (my dad) who seemed to enjoy the play space as much as (if not more than) Narra.
 |
| Narra and her Lolo Walter on the trampoline inside Cosmic Kids. |
We didn't have a grand 1st birthday party for Narra, which is a common practice. Instead we took her to Disneyland in Hong Kong. So for her 2nd birthday, we thought of throwing her a party, with our friends with kids as target guests. The Creamery took care of nearly everything: the food, plus an ice cream bar, decorations, loot bags, games and hosting, prizes for the games, banners, and even a nice birthday gift for the celebrant! It was completely fuss free for me. The only thing I had to provide was the birthday cake, and that was the kind of task I was only too happy to take care of. I ordered farm animal pop cakes from my high school best friend Bea of Pop Cakes, and she came up with the cutest cows, pigs, and chicks. I also got a fondant cake made for Narra, with a barn, and a little girl seated with farm animals.
 |
| Narra's farm-themed cake and Pop Cakes |
Inside The Creamery there was a little barn, which they draped with colorful swags and festive balloons. It looked very cheerful. The servers dressed in animal costumes and facilitated games with the kids, and performed dance numbers. Narra enjoys looking at the photos from her birthday and keeps telling me she wants it to be her birthday again!
 |
| The costumed servers of The Creamery dancing with the kids. |
This year, we're going to do things quite differently. We're going to do an intimate family gathering with first cousins, at my parents' house, where they built a tree house just for Narra - a nice, solid, professionally made one, with a sturdy ladder and handrails, and support beams holding up a platform made of solid hardwood (Yakal) - it's not a rickety shack, nope. It's a proper one - the kind I dreamed about when I was a little girl. I'm thinking of creating an activity for the kids centered on that treehouse.
 |
| Narra waving as everyone sang "Happy Birthday". |
We need to make things manageable and easy this year. Her birthday falls on a BIG weekend, when we'll open our business! We launch our first day of operations on May 5, and Narra's party is on May 6. Thank God my parents agreed to do the hosting. That will take a load of pressure off us, and its a really big help. I know they're happy to do it... they built Narra that treehouse with visions of having her enjoy it with her guests. We're enjoying good times over at my parents house these days - it is no longer an empty nest, but a hub of activity, with the pitter patter of little feet, and gleeful noise from squealing and giggling grand children who animate the house during their frequent visits. I did not have this kind of relationship with my own grandparents who lived far away abroad (for my mother's side) and in the province (for my father's side). My kids though, have a lot of exposure to their grandparents, and get to stay with them when Oliver and I go off on trips. I want Narra to have a lot happy memories in her grandparents' house, and having a party there, is one good way to do it.
No comments:
Post a Comment