Our annual gathering was as perfect as ever! This is the third year of my childhood best friend, Sue, and I getting together with our daughters in mid March. The trip always comes at the perfect time when we've been caved in long enough from the snow and cold and are simply ready for a special outing. Our first year was going to Buffalo for the Fresh Beat Band concert in 2012 and a fun stay at Hotel Indigo (No blog post about it so I've added some photos at the bottom of this post!). Last year we hit up Vintage Gardens B&B in Newark, NY which I blogged all about.
Year three was all about consignment and princesses! I think it's safe to say that Susan and I both know the importance of finding low cost fun, if only to show our kids that it doesn't take hundreds or thousands of dollars to have a meaningful and unique adventure. Susan had the most perfect idea to try out the Spaghetti Warehouse not only for their food but for their Magic Circle Children's Theatre program. They have "princess plays" every Saturday afternoon for a small fee of $5. Children are encouraged to dress up and the interactive performance is entertaining for both kids and adults alike. We had a wonderful time and the girls were thrilled to meet Sleeping Beauty and the gang. Also - the two male cast members totally remind me of Hank Azaria and Charlie Day (well, his voice). This is completely unnecessary for you to know but it's the truth so there you have it. The cast makes a point to meet and take a photo with all who are interested after the show.
We HAD to stay for lunch as everything on the menu was extremely pleasing to all of us. It's no secret that Susan and I are foodies so we tried a ravioli and pasta dish and shared. The kids absolutely loved sitting in an old train car and I am a sucker for that rustic/warehouse/vintage feel that the entire place oozes!
Another love of ours that our girls seem to carry out is consignment shopping. We could spend hour upon hour shopping and so ... we did. Lola is a natural caregiver and loves looking out for Addison, meanwhile, Addison sees Lola as her "big girl friend" and with follow her every move. The girls went around looking at clothes together and Lola found a few clothes I ended up buying. Susan and I had a successful run as we often do. I don't think we can walk in a secondhand place without leaving with some treasures.
Our next stop was the hotel. We had to get a place with a pool as it worked out so great two years before in Buffalo. Always a treat for the kids. Addison is comfortable with swimmies and Lola can swim so Susan and I were able to sit back and chat with the girls swimming close by. Back in our hotel room, we thought it'd be a fantastic idea to do spa-like masks with the girls. That totally backfired as both girls started to misinterpret the masks tingling feeling for extreme burning. Long story short, it was like a scene out of Halloween watching two little people wiping off their white faces. Susan and I went ahead with our "treatment" while the girls settled for the night. We woke up and headed down for our complimentary breakfast before going our separate ways.
Don't get me wrong, we talk on the phone, we only live two hours away from one another and we see each other throughout the year but this is a tradition and a commitment - it's so easy to get lazy and say, "Oh well, we don't have to do it this year, I'll see her again soon enough," and so on but this is something we hope to carry out for years to come, through thick and thin. It's important for children to see what friendship is about, especially that we are all sisters in Christ, and it should be taken seriously and nurtured and that is exactly our intention.
FRESH BEAT BAND 2012 Buffalo, NY
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| headed to Buffalo after the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY |
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