Josiah Turned Three And What A Birthday It Was!

Since Josiah's first birthday his dad and I decided that we would celebrate with experiences instead of birthday parties until he turned 5. Unfortunately kids don't remember how us parents celebrate their birthdays 1-3 however, we are all about making memories and capturing them. Having photos and videos of them doing things they enjoyed at every age on their special day is important to us as opposed to expensive birthday parties to entertain everyone and there children.

Planning a fun filled day!

Whenever I'm planning a birthday celebration I immediately consider interests. As we all know kids interests change all the time. Josiah is currently into trains, cooking/baking, lots of ice cream and play spaces so I made sure to incorporate them all. This year we celebrated at Cool Mess, The Play Room, and even created a train of wagons to carry cupcakes.

Cool Mess is such a great space for the entire family to enjoy!

If you've never been to Cool Mess its a must for kids that love to help in the kitchen and more importantly love ice cream. Cool Mess is one of the only restaurants where you can eat food and make your own ice cream. After our lunch of burgers and french fries Josiah picked the flavor of his ice cream and three toppings. He chose vanilla ice cream, gummy bears, marshmallows, and sprinkles of course. Now for the fun part! With my assistance he poured the milk into the ice cream maker and we watched it go in circles for about 8 minutes before adding all the toppings and mixing. The process was so quick but enjoyable. We enjoyed his masterpiece that he was so proud of. If you have left overs they do allow you to store it in their freezer until you're done with your day then you can return to pick it up.

The Play Room NYC was our next stop!

After ice cream we took a trip to The Play Room NYC which is an indoor play space in the city where kids can have unstructured fun. This space has so many different features for all ages from, a wall of light switches, to a padded area for toddlers learning to walk, to a room devoted entirely to dress up and imaginative play. There was also a structure that brought me back to my childhood days spent at Chuckie E Cheese. I cant leave out the mini life sized cars and train table that Josiah enjoyed so much. They also offer weekly classes, memberships, and birthday party options. If this sounds like your kids type of party head there for a few hours of fun. Check out their site for prices and more info. I have also included some photos below of the space.

All aboard Josiah's train wagon of cupcakes!

Last but, not least I decided this year we would create our own dessert for Josiah instead of buying a cake. After my tireless search through pinterest I found the perfect project for us. This was my best idea yet and probably Josiah's favor part of his entire birthday celebration. We had so much fun creating a Train wagon and cupcakes from scratch. I let him do most of the work so I did find some egg shells in the cupcakes LOL but the experience was worth the crunchy cupcakes. I highly recommend cooking with your children as young as two years old especially if its of interest to them. If you're interested in trying a baking recipe at home with your children here and here are links to some fun ideas.

Love,

Your weekend connoisseur Daisha <3