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As those of you who follow me on Facebook or Twitter will have seen, Tad & I have bought a house!  It’s in a new development in the El Cajon area, near Singing Hills.  The house is about ¼ mile from Tad’s parents’ house, where Tad grew up.

We’ve been casually looking for a house for a few years now, and seriously for the past year.  We’ve been really picky, because we like our current home.  We have been looking for a larger home on a larger lot, preferably with no backyard neighbors – so, in University City, where we live now, that would most likely mean on a canyon.  We love living in UC and never had any intention of leaving, but the market has by dry here for ages.  It’s an established neighborhood and it seems like with the market downturn, folks are just hunkering down and not selling.  When we go to see UC homes, sometimes we’ll like the house, but it’s on a small lot.  Other times the lot is nice, but the house itself needs so much work that it would push us out of our budget.

Meanwhile, there was a new development being built around the corner from Mary & Keith’s house, in El Cajon.  In fact they would sometimes bring Lane by when he visited, so he could watch the “working trucks.”  It was Tad who suggested we take a look.  At first my reaction was, “No WAY am I going to sign up for that commute.”  But since Tad grew up there, obviously he must have liked it to be willing to go back and raise our kids there (trust me, I don’t want to move back to Pawtucket!).  And I started thinking about the trade-off with having Mary & Keith there to help with the kids, and just how much fun it would be for the kids to be so close to them, and to have lots of space to play in.

So in April 2009, we toured the models at “The Ranch at Vista Grande,” and loved them.  We decided to get serious; and then suddenly the developer closed the doors.  The economy has hit east county’s real estate market pretty hard, and apparently they were losing too much money.  At that point we kicked our housing search into high gear (by now we had engaged the help of the BEST real estate agent in the WORLD: Kimberly from greenboxhomes.com!).  We started looking inside and outside UC, particularly at Scripps Ranch, which has an ok commute, lower price per square foot than UC, and much more market turnover.  We even made offers on a couple of houses.

The El Cajon development started up again last fall but by then we’d had second thoughts about the commute, and were in full swing with our closer-to-work home searches.  But we continued to see so little on the market that we finally went back to take another look.  After nearly a year of looking at other homes (both new model “McMansions” and plenty of older homes), we had a much better sense of what we liked, and what our finances could tolerate.  Looking at “The Ranch” houses again, a year later, made us realize that these homes were pretty close to hitting all of our criteria within our price range.

We chose Plan 1, a 3,359 sq ft single-story home, on Lot 20.  The lot itself is very very weird – it’s 1.7 acres but much of it is unuseable, because of an open space easement that cuts it nearly in half.  The details of the funky lot I’ll save for another post, but the key point is that the lot was less than ideal and we got a lower price as a result.  There was no other Plan 1 house available in the current phase, and if we waited for a future phase, it would most likely have been out of our price range.

We open escrow today, and will probably go pick out floors tomorrow.  They are asking for a fast close, so we expect to close on Friday, April 16.  Of course we’ll be out of town that day!  So the fabulous Kim will be picking up our keys for us.  We get back into town Sunday, and my mom arrives on Monday the 19^th (which happens to be our 8^th anniversary).  We’ll take the 19^th off from work and start moving!  Good thing Mom is here to help!!

So we have a month to pack, and then will put our house on the market after we move and scrub it clean.  There is some discussion of us renting but I think that’s unlikely.

I hope I’m not jinxing it all by posting this now!

This message is courtesy of Katy Bendel:

HELP REBUILD San Diego Yoga Studio!
4134 Napier St., San Diego, CA 92110

One of our local “go to places” for Iyengar yoga is undergoing reconstruction as a result of Southern CA’s recent rainstorms. The costs of closing the studio as well as rebuilding exceed what insurance will cover.

We are all united in having directly benefited by taking classes, workshops, and the opportunity to develop an Iyengar yoga practice through this beautiful studio.

A contribution in any amount would greatly help.

Reach DEEP IN YOUR HEART and remember that we are all linked together forming a strong yoga community, and as yogi’s we are generous and happy to give support.

Please consider giving any amount to San Diego Yoga Studio.

Just send a check to the address above and look at the website to check for the estimated re-opening date.
www.sandiegoyogastudio.com

Pass this email on to anyone that you know that would want to be a part of this generous endeavor.

This email has been generated by some of the SDYS instructors.

Long time no blog! With Twitter, Facebook, and the rest of life, it’s really not been a priority. I keep wanting to blog a bit about Paige, simply to help remember her babyhood. It’s shocking how much I’ve forgotten (blocked out?) of Lane’s, and I’m glad to have the old blog postings to remind me.

But with our family’s first visit to the Children’s Hospital emergency room – of course for Paige – I figured it was time for a posting. Here’s the story.

Last night, Lane was in a grumpy mood, having had no nap. It was after dinner, and Lane had just been in time out (his behavior meant no treat, which was planned to be popcorn, and he hit me in protest, which is an instant time out). All four of us were on the couch, Tad on one end, me on the other. Lane was whining and complaining, and Paige was the total opposite: punchy and giddy, bouncing between Tad & me on the couch, basically ignoring Lane.

All of a sudden she flopped herself face-down onto Tad’s lap. It was half fall, half fun landing on Daddy’s lap. Except … she missed. She slammed, face-first onto the Pronto remote control, which was on the arm of the couch. The thud was a dead giveaway that this was going to be nasty.

Paige’s nose looked broken, with lots of blood and bruising. There was a small cut on the side of her nose, her eyelid was swollen, and a small bump on her forehead. No loss of consciousness, but it was alarming enough that we thought it was worth getting checked out.

Amid much blood and screaming (from me – kidding! Kinda…), Tad sopped up the blood, and we found an ice pack that worked (note to self: buy a smaller soft ice pack). Paige & I got into the car. Tad, preparing for the worst, called his parents to have them come watch Lane. (Side bonus: Lane’s mood would change with Mackie & Grandpa here to distract him.)

I was not thinking clearly and, completely forgetting about the existence of Children’s Hospital, drove Paige (the opposite direction) to my own urgent care center. After making sure she wasn’t in truly dire straights, they told me to take her to Children’s. I thought: “Children’s! Duh!” (Tad said later, “Didn’t we donate money to them last Christmas?” Double duh.)

The whole time we were driving, Paige was … giggling. She had stopped crying shortly after Tad stopped the bleeding, and by the time she got in the car she was excited for our road trip. So, clearly, if something was broken it must not be hurting that badly.

At the Children’s Hospital emergency room, seems like for kids this age falling is what they do. At least two other kids under school age were there for falls – one of them with blood all over his pajamas who was clearly going to need stitches on his chin. He & Paige had fun roaming around the ER waiting room together.

The wait wasn’t long to get vitals taken and get brought into an exam room. Tad arrived about then. Then… we waited. And waited. We took walks to prevent Paige from tearing apart the exam room, and charmed all the nurses on staff, scoring a few sheets of stickers. Eventually the cheery PA arrived (clearly she chose the right profession) to take a look. She told us that the treatment for a broken nose is the same regardless of whether it’s broken or not, and since xrays at this age (especially of the head) are a bad idea, they don’t really bother to get a confirmed diagnosis. She checked to make sure the blood wasn’t pooling or that there weren’t any other complications. We’re supposed to bring her to see the ENT – mostly to address any cosmetic issues – in 3-5 days, after the swelling is down.

Paige was a trooper amid all this and was shockingly wide awake despite the late hour. She slept fine and, other than looking like she was in a fight (you should see the other guy…), is back to normal this morning.

http://twitpic.com/zdka4
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Pics aren’t great; I’m sure we’ll have “real” (not taken with a phone) photos eventually.

I am a YouTube novice but am giving it a try. I’m using the video feature of my little point-and-shoot camera — I haven’t tried doing anything with the high-rez HD video we are taking with the video camera (future project). I’ve taken a few videos of Paige, probably not interesting to anyone other than family, posted here on my YouTube account.

Pics from our camping trip are posted here. It was the best Sportsmobile trip in terms of logistics and sleeping since Lane was a baby. Lane is old enough that he’s almost human, and Paige is still young enough to mostly stay where you put her down. Our campsite was Coyote Canyon in Anza Borrego Desert, northwest of Borrego Springs (click “Map This” from Smugmug to see our location). The trail is a popular dirt road that heads away from town for a bit before arriving at a gate which is closed from June to September for the sake of the bighorn sheep – it would be unpleasantly hot that time of year for humans anyway. Past the gate the road gets rugged enough to require 4×4, but it’s not very difficult. There are three stream crossings and at this time of year they actually have water in them.

We got to the valley at the end of the road around 5pm and there were lots of other campers – between the fact that it’s wildflower season, and apparently spring break, it was a bit crowded, but not too bad. Tad recently bought a camp Dutch oven and had found a recipe to try consisting of ground beef, Tater Tots, cheese, and a sauce made with cream of mushroom soup. Comfort food! After we parked the van he got the charcoal going and Lane, Paige, and I took a walk. There was a nearby stream and I quickly learned that next time I need to bring an extra pair of shoes for Lane, who immediately started tromping in the water. Someone came by to tell us that there was a beehive nearby so we didn’t stay long.

The kids did great that evening. I’d brought a ground cover for Paige to crawl on, and we had good digging toys for Lane. We went back and forth over who would sleep on the top bunk. It’s more isolated, so at first we thought Paige & I would sleep up there, since she would be ready for bed a good hour before anyone else. But it’s also colder up there. Lane really wanted to sleep up there, so we figured we’d try it. Lane & Daddy made s’mores outside while I put Paige to bed “downstairs.” Eventually we all turned in and although Lane didn’t go right to sleep, there had been enough excitement that it wasn’t too long. The sleeping arrangements were the right call, since Paige & I did get chilly.

Both kids did wake up once or twice during the night but it was far better than times past. That said, it was still a restless night because the wind was howling like crazy. We learned later that the folks camping nearby had their tents ripped apart by the wind. The next morning I even saw someone chasing after a tent that was blowing away! One couple left at around 4 in the morning – a shredded tent with an open Jeep for wheels makes for no-fun camping. Although the van was noisy and rocking, we definitely were lucky to be inside.

The next morning we expanded our “no eating inside the van unless it’s raining or very cold” rule to include all kinds of extreme weather. Tad had a camp oven breakfast planned, but we adapted it for a regular camping stove that could be used inside the van (we just had to ignore the van’s smoke detector). At one point I ventured outside, intending to take a walk with the kids while Tad packed the van, but decided we liked our skin and didn’t want the wind-blown sand to scrub it off. Tad took some pics on the drive out – I would have liked to get some action shots, but Paige had fallen asleep and so I was holding her head steady while we were bumping over the rough terrain — had to avoid the 4wd baby bobble head!

Lane has a fancy new bedtime routine:

The good news is that Paige happily sleeps through all of this…

Ok, I’m on a roll — pics from January & February, including our trip with John Welle & the Millers to Mammoth, are posted. (Hm, let’s see if the kid will give me an extra 10min to actually post something about our Mammoth trip…) Mammoth was awesome. Ok, so my expectations were low — that’s how we avoid disappointment. John arrived in San Diego on Friday, and my Mom got here Saturday, 2/14. After a pleasant Valentine’s Day dinner at home, we got up early Sunday and hit the road. John drove up with the Millers in their SUV, we took the Sportsmobile (SMB). The condo — Mammoth Estates — was walking distance from the Village, and was huge and well-appointed. The only thing I didn’t like was that it was on the very far end of the complex, which means it was two blocks from the hot tub. Which means we didn’t hit the hot tub. Oh well.

Monday we dropped Paige & Sammy off at daycare, left Lane with Grandma, and hit the slopes. (Lane & Grandma spent the day riding the free gondola and the free shuttle bus, and watching the enormous town snow plows.) The snow was coming down hard, and it was windy. John & I rode Stump Alley area for awhile until hooking up with Tad & Scott and Scott’s rental skis. We got to the top of Chair 8 when daycare called. Oh, did I mention that Paige started to have diarrhea on the drive up? I can’t blame the altitude since it started in SD County. She had no other symptoms, she was even eating normally. But after two poops in two hours, daycare didn’t want to risk something viral infecting the other kids. So, then began my adventure. First I thought I would snowboard over to the Main Lodge to pick her up and take the shuttle back to the condo. But that would have involved a lot of walking while carrying a baby, a bag of stuff, and a snowboard, all in snowboarding boots. (In retrospect I should have done this and left the board at Main and gotten it later.) So, instead, I took the gondola back to the Village and managed to find the condo in a blinding snowstorm. I dropped off my gear and started to drive the SMB up to Main … but got freaked out. First of all, I didn’t know how to put the van into 4wd (it’s actually complicated on this thing). Second, I don’t know how to put on chains. Third, I was a bit iffy on how to get there. Ok, more hindsight: it was already in 4wd (now I know how to check that); chains weren’t necessary; and I was heading in the right direction. Oh well. Somewhat freaked out (lots of time had passed by now), I parked the van and walked to the Village to pick the shuttle up. First I waited at the wrong bus stop. Then I waited for 10 min or so with no bus. Tad had decided to take the gondola back to the Village so I gave up and met up with him. We took the van together to Main (I insisted on driving — I have to learn how to do this stuff myself) and two hours or so after they called me I finally picked up Paige. Whew.

Tuesday the weather was the same, maybe a bit colder. I myself started to feel a bit sick and so did not get up very early. (Where is the rabid “must be on the mountain when it opens” snowboarder? She’s become a mom, I guess…) Tad, John & I stuck together and hit the Voodoo Chute which is a new semi-groomed trail through the trees off Lupine (near Little Eagle). Did I mention the snow was coming down like gangbusters? So, this was a mistake. I personally am not a big fan of tree runs but after a few dig-outs I made it to the bottom. And waited … and waited. Finally, Tad & John came walking (post-holing) out, grumpy and exhausted. Oh, also, while we were digging out, an old man walking his dog came through and yelled at us. He apparently didn’t know that this was a new trail and thought we were out of bounds!

Sammy hadn’t done well in daycare either, so she was home with Scott while Grace took a lesson. When we got back to the condo Sammy & Lane were playing in the snow. Tuesday evening we were supposed to go out to dinner but no one was up for it, not to mention the logistics with the three kids was going to be challenging. So, homebodies that we have become, we stayed in.

Wednesday dawned gorgeous and sunny, with 27″ of fresh pow. Of course that’s the day we had to leave. We got to the slopes as fast as we could and hit the stuff up off Chair 25 (Quicksilver, etc.) first, making our way to the Mill eventually, before it was time to go (around 11am).

So, although it was not the most intense trip I’ve been on, it was still fun. The riding was glorious — I was happy that my skills hadn’t degraded as much as I feared they would. I was also happy that Lane enjoyed playing in the snow and can’t WAIT till next year when he can take ski lessons. The daycare would have worked out great had Paige not gotten sick. Next year we’ll probably have a grandparent watch Paige while Lane is in daycare / ski lessons (either that or have them both in daycare). I’m hoping to make it up there more than once next year! The kids also did impressively well on the long drive. Paige mostly slept, and Lane is always happy when he’s in the van (as long as we’re not trying to get him to sleep).

Sorry I haven’t blogged in eons, not for lack of stuff to post … but I can’t blog at home (too many little fingers poking at the keyboard — and if the little fingers are sleeping probably so am I!) and I can’t blog at work (too crazy busy to even do WORK, much less blog). Anyway … Tad posted some nice photos from his new wide angle lens. And I finally went through the hundreds of Christmas photos and have posted them. Enjoy!

In other news, since I happen to be writing a blog post today, we are officially starting potty training today! Lane has Pull-Ups on today and we’ll be visiting the potty every 30 minutes or so to kick this thing off. Advice & suggestions are welcome. Wish us luck!

P.S. — Even this very brief post took me two sessions to write due to interuptions…

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First of all: Tad, Lane, Paige, and I, and our house and property, are all fine.

Yesterday an F/A-18D Hornet jet plane crashed into our neighborhood of University City (UC), a few blocks from my kids’ daycare center. In the map above, the blue mark is our house, the green mark is daycare, and the red mark is the crash site. The gray area to the right (if you click on the map and move over) is Miramar Marine base. You can see the train tracks just to the north of the crash site — that’s in an unpopulated canyon that the pilot was clearly trying to get to, and just barely didn’t make it. (Sorry, not a great map, but I didn’t want to spend more than 5mins on it!)

The plane hit a little before noon. I was in a lunch meeting, and Tad sent me an instant message that said, “So did daycare call?” They hadn’t called. Tad had figured out that the crash, although close, was far enough away that there was probably nothing to worry about. I tried to call daycare, but, not surprisingly, the line was busy. Tad suggested calling another KinderCare, so I called the one in Poway. They hadn’t heard about the crash yet but promised to call me back. A few minutes later, after speaking to the KinderCare corporate office (she couldn’t get through to our center either), the woman did call me back. Everything was fine, although due to air quality concerns, the kids were to be kept indoors the rest of the day.

I decided to stay at work at that point. If there were air quality issues, they were better off at the air conditioned daycare center than in our house. Also, normalcy is good. I did speak to some friends in the neighborhood, and traffic was surprisingly light. Apparently all the folks who zip through UC on their way to Clairemont stayed away.

That evening, when I picked the kids up, you’d never know that anything had happened. The helicopters overhead and the lighter-than-normal traffic were the only things out of the ordinary. The air quality was fine as far as I could tell. The kids were a bit stir crazy from staying inside all day, but otherwise were never the wiser. They did hear the crash and the sirens, which got them all excited (“firetrucks!”), but otherwise it was a normal day for them.

The news says that three people – a child, its mother and grandmother – were killed in the crash, and another child is missing. I believe they are all from the same family. I can’t stop thinking about them. I don’t know them or anything about them; in fact I haven’t read the latest news this morning. In my head, I am imagining that there is a dad who was at work when the crash happened, and now his home and his family are all gone. It makes me sick just to type that. I caught the tail end of a local radio program about the crash this morning, and the last caller asked if there was anything she could do to help that family, and the radio folks didn’t know.

I’ve added a few more pics to the Fall 2008 album.

Paige’s first Thanksgiving.

Photos from Thanksgiving are posted on Smugmug. We had a good time with Tad’s family in El Cajon. Kids were on relatively good behavior considering the lack of a nap. Most notably, Paige turned 5 months old on Thanksgiving so we decided to give her her first solid food: rice cereal. She didn’t particularly like it. My recollection of Lane’s first meal is that he loved it, but hated his 2nd meal. Paige will get her 2nd meal later today; we’ll see how that goes.

Fireman Lane! Click here for more pics.

I haven’t blogged in forever because it’s nearly impossible to do so. Work is crazy busy and I’m barely able to put in 40 hours, so I certainly can’t blog while I’m at work. It’s impossible to do it with Lane around, because as soon as he sees the computer he demands train and bus videos from You Tube. And I can’t do it after the kids are in bed because my brain is mush by then. Today, Lane is at his grandparents, and Paige is napping/snacking on my lap. So, here I am.

Of course I have a backlog of topics; I figured I’d tackle Halloween today. Technically this was Lane’s 3rd Halloween (he was two months old at his first one), and I think it’ll take one more for him to actually start to get it. I had a few different costume ideas for the kids: a devil and an angel was one, although I couldn’t find a teeny angel costume. Another option was zoo animals, mostly because that’s a good costume for kids under six months old. But I kept not getting around to it, and when Mackie showed up with a fireman costume for Lane, that worked for me! My next brilliant idea was a Dalmatian costume for Paige, to go with Lane’s fireman, but I never got around to that either, so a run to the seasonal Halloween superstore turned up a pea-in-the-pod costume for her, and that was that.

I, of course, dressed up as a witch. Cackle cackle!

The Tuesday before Halloween they had a party at KinderCare, and Mackie joined us. They had crafts and games in all the rooms, and the school age kids had put together an appropriately tame “haunted house.” It was crowded but fun, and I think seeing all the other kids in costumes helped Lane to get a better idea of what was going on.

We (I) carved pumpkins that week. They were very ugly. Someday I’m going to have to learn the proper way to carve these things, because the way I did it was messy and dangerous! I even nicked my finger.

I did my best to get Lane excited about the Halloween concept. All week he was saying, “Ding-dong! Trick or treat!” When the big day finally rolled around, we got in our costumes and headed out. Tad stayed home to answer the door to the trick-or-treaters. I wasn’t able to get any photos because Lane wouldn’t let go of my hand as we approached the neighbors’ doors. We went to three or four houses, got a few pieces of candy, and then Lane said, “Let’s go home.” So we did.

We’ve uploaded photos from Halloween as well as a bunch of pictures from this Fall, including pics of Paige’s first flight to go to San Francisco to watch Elisabeth’s first marathon.

Finally! A posting about Lane’s birthday celebration(s) – only a month late. I was waiting until I’d had a chance to post the photos, which I finally did. Here you can find photos of the grand event(s), plus other pics from the month of August.

We basically followed the same routine as last year for Lane’s birthday – except that I did not run a half marathon this year (I know, I know, I’m a slacker; giving birth less than two months ago is NOT an excuse! ). Grandma & Grandpa Ted flew out to join in the festivities. The Friday night before Lane’s birthday, we had a birthday-themed Poolside celebration. All our friends with small children (and plenty without) came over to celebrate. It was quite a party! Lane was exhausted and full of sugar when it was all over.

Although Lane’s actual birthday was the following Tuesday, we decided to have our immediate family celebration on Sunday morning. We were going to Mackie & Keith’s later that day, and we figured that celebrations on three separate days would just be confusing for a newly minted 2-year-old. So on Sunday morning we tried my family’s birthday morning tradition: unwrapped gifts arranged on a table in a closed-off room (in this case, the kitchen). Everyone gathers outside the room as soon as we’re all awake, then the doors are opened, Happy Birthday is sung, and the guest of honor leads the way into the room. This tradition worked well for a 2-year-old who probably wouldn’t have had the patience to unwrap a bunch of different gifts – not to mention I simply did not have the time to do all that wrapping! (Hey, it’s environmentally friendly, too.)

That afternoon we headed out to El Cajon for one more celebration with Mackie, Grandpa Keith, Caroline, Jack, Great-Grandma, and my parents. It was a hot day and we relaxed in the shade, watching an overtired Lane play with all his new toys. The coup de grâce was a wagonload (literally!) of toys and goodies from Mackie & Grandpa Keith. Keith had saved, for all these years, Tad’s little red wagon. He had it bead-blasted & powder-coated, replaced bolts and wheels, and had custom decals applied that said, “Lane’s Express.” Lane loves it; he pulls it around in our tiny backyard and always asks for a ride. Mackie’s creativity was also on display with a handmade Raggedy Ann & Andy pair, who are in a place of honor on Lane’s Big Boy Bed.

On Lane’s actual birthday, August 19th, we had a low key dinner at Karl Strauss with my parents. There was one last hurrah with a candle in a bowl of ice cream.

Today we finally got around to going to Baby Loves Disco, an occasional event that converts a local night club to a toddler dance party. I think they’ve had it in San Diego maybe four times this year. Today it was downtown at Aubergine on 4th (why would anyone name a club after eggplant?). In the past I’ve had two reasons to hesitate: it’s expensive, at $12 per “walking human;” and it’s from 2-5pm, prime naptime. Since Lane’s pretty much given up on naps at home on the weekends, I decided to splurge and see what all the fuss is about, while we still have only three walking humans in the family.

When we arrived, there were folks waiting to get in – apparently they were sold out. We had bought tix online, so we were ok. Initially I was a bit put off by the no-stroller rule, since Paige was fast asleep in her car seat stroller. But she didn’t wake up during the transition to Baby Bjorn, and in retrospect that was MUCH easier than dragging a stroller around the nightclub.

Inside the club, the dance floor was packed with wiggling toddlers. The disco ball was in full whirl, and the DJs were playing lively disco hits. Near the dance floor was an area with comfy couches to relax in. In another room were various activities: face painting, hair decorating, balloon animal making, etc. There was a bar for the adults and a well-stocked buffet with goldfish, Pirate Booty, carrot sticks, grapes, etc. Oh, and, of course, juice boxes. There was another lounge area with some toys and books set out, and two tee-pees set up for the kids to crawl in and out of. Off to the side was an art room with magic markers and some kind of gooey material (flubber?) that could be shaped and colored on.

Lane, as usual, took awhile to warm up. He played with the flubber for longer than I expected, and they let us keep it (oh joy) so I’ll put that in the arts & crafts box. Otherwise I was pretty disappointed with the art room – I sort of expected more projects, maybe with smocks and finger paints or something. I suppose it was a blessing in disguise.

By around 4pm the place was starting to thin out, but Lane was fully warmed up. He loved the tee-pees and got a balloon sword from the balloon lady. He got a truck painted on his arm which he was relatively indifferent about. At this point he was starting to really buzz around the rooms, sugared up on juice box. We made our way back to the dance floor and after gyrating a bit on the stage with some mini hula hoops, he spent the rest of the time going up and down the stairs separating the dance floor from the comfy lounge area. Of course.

Overall it was a fun day, but really not worth $36. Compared to something like Java Mama, or Playhouse Café, with their well-stocked indoor play rooms and supervision, it was a positive rip-off. However, a few things made it unique and worth it on occasion. For one thing, older kids would get more out of the face painting and hair decorating, although these are pretty standard attractions found at any carnival. Next, if the parents are really into dancing, this would be a lot of fun, and the fact that the dance floor was packed testified to that. Finally, booze – need I say more?