Here are the kids at the company holiday party this year with the usual fantastic kid entertainment options: Gideon the balloon guy, the flip book people, the photo booth, and the gingerbread decorating madness.
The kids spent most of their time decorating and eating a ton of candy — this is the one time of the year where we really let them just go.
Cameron did most of the outlining and heavy frosting. Chloe did a lot of the decorating.
Chloe also did a lot of sampling….
While the girls were working on the house as a joint project, Dylan did a giant gingerbread.
Chloe needed a bathroom break and, as we were returning, she found a couch that she really, really wanted to rest on! She even offered to take off her shoes (poor tired thing!). I don’t remember how I persuaded her to go back into the party!
This year, Cameron was not afraid of Santa! She also got everything on her list (a Nail Design station (definitely not something I would buy her), a dog for her American Girl doll (an obscene waste of money, in my opinion), and a Lego Friends Pop Star bus (the least of the “evils”). She was really pleased.
Dylan and Santa are old buddies. He asked for “anything panda” and got it — the Disney baby panda plush (which was hard to find outside of Disneyland), panda slippers, panda stickers, an ABC mystery panda book (which he finished at the dinner table).
Chloe got an American Girl doll with curly hair (almost) just like her. She refused to take a picture with Santa, though. And she didn’t have an interest in opening a box from him either until she was far away from him (the big kids helped her open it)! Once she saw what it was, she was thrilled (and slept with it last night). Now Cameron’s doll and her doll are friends….
So, Chloe asked for an Ariel balloon thingy from Gideon and, of course, he obliged (because he is really amazing!).
Since it is balloon toy versus 3-year old, though, Ballony Ariel sustained some damage. I asked Dylan to take her back to Gideon to have her fixed, but Cameron offered to take her instead (meanwhile, I actually got to remain at the table and continue to eat!)….
The two girls were gone for quite some time, so Tom went to look for them (and, incidentally, had no luck), but while he was away, back they came! With heart-shaped fairy wings and crowns! Apparently, Gideon decided to make some additional balloon goodies for them (in addition to fixing Ariel’s popped fin).
In the background, you can see Cameron’s giant Frosty the Snowman balloon creation (Dylan had asked for a panda and got one of similar size).
And, here’s Dylan buried in his book.
While the girls were away, they were apparently persuaded to do the photobooth, too! The pictures are adorable (but not scanned in yet)!
This year, the kids also did a flip book which basically involved being videotaped in front of a green screen while moving around like crazy for about 7 seconds. All of the action was printed out onto cards which were then “bound” into a little flipbook. Cameron is reviewing her flipbook here.
At the end of the evening, we abandoned the gingerbread house. Look at that thing. There is no way, I’d be happy to have this kind of activity in our house!!! I loved that the kids could just go nuts at the party, though….
I like how Dylan decided to do hair with the candy cane bits.
All in all, it was another very fun night. Tom even won a $50 Amazon gift card in the raffle for spouses and this time there was a vegan entree (pasta with marinara with the parmesan cheese to the side), salad, fruit, bread, and roasted veggies (including yummy brussels sprouts)–very much appreciated!
And, one last photo…This was the view from the banquet room. This view never gets old.
