Birthday Party

Munchkin turned three over a month ago, and I've just found this blog entry sitting in my drafts folder! The Terrible Twos are officially over.  I'm hoping I don't have a threenager.  She hasn't been the best behaved over the past couple of weeks but it may have something to do with the fact that I've been getting increasingly stressed about my imminent wisdom tooth extraction.  I had all four wisdom teeth out on Friday and am currently a little the worse for wear.  I look like a chipmunk with mumps, and will NOT be posting any pictures of myself online.

The birthday party was a roaring success.  We booked a Bouncy Castle Party at Worthing Leisure Centre.  Although we'd booked two or three months in advance, it was the last slot available that weekend, so they're obviously very popular.  We made a last-minute change from cold buffet to hot buffet but this was fine with the Leisure Centre as they only need confirmation of numbers and menu option a few days before the party.  That was the only thing that didn't go smoothly - they got Angmering Daddy's phone number wrong so couldn't call us to make final arrangements.  When we arrived on the day, there was a staff member to help us get organised.  They ensured children went to the correct party, and that everything ran to time. 

Munchkin and her friends had fun on a large bouncy castle and a range of ride-on toys, and there were also bouncy balls for them to play with.  Food was served in the Committee Room, which is also the creche room so it was decorated in a child-friendly way.  The food was pretty good.

Some of us agreed to meet at Out of Bounds later in the afternoon, this didn't go so well.  Although it's our favourite soft play, they don't seem to have got the hang of organising things at peak times.  We couldn't get in because it was packed and children weren't coming out when they were meant to, probably because their parents were unable to hear the tannoy.  Several weeks later, we went to a birthday party at Out of Bounds, this wasn't nearly as well organised as the Leisure Centre's offering.  Parents had to perch anywhere whilst their children played, there didn't appear to be a dedicated staff member helping to organise things, then the staff started clearing away food before the children had left the party.

I found myself a blogging app for my phone so will try to blog a bit more regularly again.  It's called Blogmate and seems to work OK.

Poogate and Parties

It's been over a month but I'm finally writing another blog.  In the world of Angmering Mummy, there are three things going on at the moment, Munchkin has taken to saying, "Are we nearly there yet?" in addition to "Why?", Angmering Nanny is very poorly, and we're trying to plan a third birthday party.

Due to Nanny's illness, we've been staying with Sweetpea's family.  This has involved Munchkin and Sweetpea sharing a rather large single bed.  In addition to the usual staying awake at all hours and group trips to the toilet, we've had Poo Gate.  Child A did a poo in her PJ's in the middle of the night, then threw it on the floor.  She said Child B did it.  Child B said Child A did it.  Neither were budging on these stories, however Child A said, "B did a poo in my pyjamas".  To top this off, Child A has a history of pooing her pants, hadn't pooed during the day, and her end of the bed smelt.  The jury is still out on who threw the poo on the floor.

Munchkin is going through a really shy phase at the moment.  When we go to groups, she refuses to join in, even though she claims to enjoy them and wants to go back.  As a result, we decided to arrange a birthday party for her that wouldn't involve group participation.  Soft play seemed the obvious choice so I made enquiries about Amazon Adventure at Worthing Leisure Centre.  They had availability of the right date, and the party package seemed to be what we were looking for - an hour in soft play plus 45 minutes for food in a separate room.  Since we'd never been, Munchkin and I made a trip to check out Amazon Adventure... We will NOT be having a party there.  The equipment has seen better days; it's threadbare in places.  The slide is a nightmare.  If you were there with a group of three year olds, you'd either need to man it to help them get up there, or ban them from using it.  We've considered every other soft play in the area and ruled it out for one reason or another:

Not my choice of a party venue.  That red star definitely looks ready for retirement.

• P.LA.Y. - You're just in soft play with members of the public, then you get called to a small party room.  Although not as run down as Amazon Adventure, it's seen better days.
• Harbour Park - You're just in soft play with members of the public for 45 minutes, then you go to a party room.  Apparently their catering is attrocious.  I've never been, but my friend says the coffee is undrinkable.
• Flying Fortress - As above, you're sharing the softplay.  It's so big, we'd probably lose a toddler along the way.  Might be a viable option next year.
• Wyevale Findon - No party room, you sit in the open plan cafe.
• Old Barn - According to Angmering Daddy, the soft play is smaller than Wyevale's.  No party room, though it's less open plan than Wyevale.

 As a result, we think we've settled on a bouncy castle party at Worthing Leisure Centre.  This has come highly recommended by other parents.  It's £76 for 20 children, plus catering (£3.49/£3.99 a child for cold/hot buffet or £26.50 room hire if you do your own catering).  One of Munchkin's friends has a bouncy castle party in November so we'll be able to check it out then.  In actual fact, she's going to two parties at the Leisure Centre on the same day, with most of the same children.  The other is a soft play party...

 That brings me up to date with our news. Must try harder to blog regularly.