Every Day Was A Party, Part 2

    ...Continued from yesterday:
   Though, as I noted yesterday, it's easy enough to keep a 2-year-old and a 4-year old happy around the house as long as you spend every minute with them

and don't mind your house devolving into a messapalooza,

    ...still, finding a suitable place to take a pre-schooler and a toddler on a outing can be a tad more challenging.
     However  we found several spots around our quadrant of Columbus that turned out to be good destinations for an excursion with our little ones:

1.  Krogers.
Perhaps not for every member of the younger set, but my grand daughters loved going Krogering, pushing around the mini-carts and acquiring their blue, red and yellow "I've been Krogering" stickers at the checkout.

Makaila, hurrying along as we picked up a few last-minute things on Sunday morning for Sienna's birthday party (see post from 6/17/2015).

2.  Coffee Time (see post from 10/28/2014).

    Makaila remembered our Coffee Time "tea party" from her last visit at Christmastime (see post from 12/31/2014)  ) and wanted to go back.

   So on Monday we met one of my Posse members there for  snack. 

    Coffee Time has a really nice play area, where the children can play while the grown-ups visit.

    My friend brought each of the  girls a gift of an Elsa (from "Frozen") baby doll - a huge hit, as were the Coffee Time treats.

    3.  The Columbus Airport.
    On Wednesday morning Tom and I took the girls with us to the airport to pick up my daughter Claire, who flew in from Chicago to see Maria and the girls while they were here.
    As it was pouring rain that morning it shouldn't have come as a complete surprise that Claire's plane was 2 hours late.  However 4-year-old Makaila and 2-year-old Sienna found the airport a fine place to spend a morning.  They were happy to run up and down the waiting area, study the paintings of the zoo animals on the wall ("Don't be afraid, Sienna," said Makaila, squashing her little sister in a a protective hug,  "it not a real lion"), and checking out the shops.
    But their favorite activity, which they always came back to, was sitting on chairs in the food court and watching a screen that flashed advertisements for various food court offerings.  They called this "watching TV".
   
    As Wednesday evening was to be the first time in years when all four of my children were home together we planned a big celebratory dinner

which the girls, of course, wanted to help with.

"Is this another party?" Makaila asked.

    I assured her that it was.

    4.  Easton.
    On Thursday Claire, Maria, and I took the girls to the fountain park at Easton.

    As it turned out they were over-
whelmed by the fountain,

...but loved the model train display.

    Later that evening we returned to Easton for a family dinner at Brio,

...which turned out to be the perfect place to take kids since,

as the restaurant borders the fountain park and the train display,

when the girls got antsy Tommy and I were able to take them outside to run around.

Of course this time, now that they weren't in their bathing suits, they wanted to run through the water.

5.  The High Point Elementary School Playground.
    On Friday it rained most of the day so we were mostly housebound,

...until evening, when the rain finally let up and  we decided to head over to the local elementary school playground

for some running around,

...and swinging.

6.  Polaris
    As Saturday was yet another rainy day Maria and I took the girls to the Polaris Mall for lunch at the food court, where we shared pizza and a plate of Chinese food.

    After lunch we headed for our destination, the mall's enchanting and, on this rainy day,  kid-packed play area known as "The Zoo"

    Then we enjoyed a couple more turns around the mall in one of the double strollers that the mall lends out for free as a courtesy to shopping parents.

    On Saturday evening Makaila found my Advent calendar while rooting through a drawer and wanted to play "Christmas".

So we did.

    On Sunday afternoon it was time for Maria and the girls to head back to Los Angeles, but there was still time in the morning for one more excursion to Krogers to pick up a few things for their trip.

    And then, sadly, the party was over.