Abby’s Pump It Up Party
Howdy, world! :) I hope y’all had a wonderful weekend. Ours was packed as usual. Let me tell you all about it. But first, a 2-paragraph long intro…
I got one of my biggest culture shocks here in the US when we attended a children’s party for the first time. It was at Pump It Up. It was a no-nonsense party: no magicians, no party hosts and no bubble show. It was enough that the kids got more than an hour of play time while the parents observed from a distance while chatting with one another. And the food? Just 2-pcs of pizza for the kids and a slice of cake. There was pizza and soda for the parents, too (but this, I would find out later on, was optional! No apparent need to feed the moms and dads!). Coming from a country where basic party food consists of spaghetti or pancit, chicken, hamburger french fries, hot fudge sundae and a cake, I was shocked at the utter simplicity of American children’s parties. After I got over the food shock, I found the simplicity quite appealing. :D Does that make me a traitor of sorts? Hee hee.
I loved that when you invite your child’s classmate, for example, you don’t have to invite all the other siblings. Whereas back home, you can expect to be asked, “Can I bring the yaya along?” and when you invite one child, the rest of the clan ends up being invited. Di ba? Aminin! That’s why the head count always gets waaaaay out of hand! Hee hee. Here, It is understood that at least one parent will accompany the child, although it’s all right for both parents to come. It is entirely the party host’s prerogative whether to invite the entire family or not! And so, to celebrate Abby’s 4th birthday, we did as the Romans, este, Americans. ;) We made sure though that the parents are fed pizza and cake as well! Hee hee. Hubby and I have found ourselves starving at parties and we didn’t want our guests to go through the same experience.
Finally, here’s the party story…
Abby had her “real” birthday party last Saturday at Pump It Up (Round Rock). It was attended by her classmates and their parents (mostly moms) and our dear friends. We’ve been to a couple of parties at Pump It Up before and although we considered two other possible venues for the party, we decided to go with Pump It Up because one, we get to have a private party and two, they take care of the set/clean-up. They provide the disposable plates, cups and utensils, as well as the invitations. We practically just have to get there and bring whatever it is we’re not availing from them, like the party loot bags and the Disney princess balloon. :) But I did bring Disney Princess plates for the kids.
As much as I can and as per Abby’s request, I tried to keep a Disney princess theme going. I put the loot bags together myself on Thursday and Friday. I ordered the cake from Wal-Mart on Thursday morning. Gosh, I miss Goldilocks’ party cakes! The cake I chose from the catalog looked too simple in real life. Hee hee. And I was the one who had to put the Disney princesses on the cake! What’s the deal with that?! Oh well.
We were also lucky that we were the only ones having a party at the 10:30am time slot. We got to use two rooms for 40 minutes each instead of just one bounce-house-filled room. The kids had a blast! I got to go down the slide 3 times, too! Weeee!
It was a wonder we have any pictures at all. It was a bit difficult entertaining guests and watching the kids. The photo quality suffered a bit. That or we really don’t know how to take pictures! Hee hee!
Birthday family at the Jumping Area
Abby’s Princess Cake
The party area
Us at the party (eating) area
Here’s a slideshow so it’s not too obvious that this is a picture heavy post. :D
We had fun but our hearts were silently aching for and missing the company of family and friends. It’s just not quite the same.
For the nth time, Happy Birthday, Abby! We love you and we hope you had fun…enough to last you several birthdays…so we won’t have to have another party next year. :D
Have a great week, y’all!
24 comments24 Comments so far
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uy ang saya-saya naman ng party! wish we were there, huhu. andami-dami naman friends ni abby! :) miss friendship talaga ang anak mo, kanino kaya nagmana? hehehe.
nung weekend din, um-attend kami ng bday ni josh (anak ni sheng) sa chuck e cheese’s naman, tapos naalala ko kayo… almost same time last year nasa chuck e cheese’s kami celebrating naman with you, huhuhu. haaay, sana naman next year maka-attend ulit kami ng party. :)
anyway, dear abby, happy birthday again. our present is on the way, ninna and i hope that you will enjoy it (kung papasingitin ka ni mommy, hehehe!) love you baby! *muah*
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munchkinmommy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Hi Mee! Mostly classmates niya ang bisita ni Abby. Kasi pag nag-invite ka ng isa, dapat invited lahat! :D Ok na rin kasi sulit ang gastos. ;)
Oo nga, dalawang araw din tayong nag-celebrate ng birthday ni Abby last year, sa Chuck E. Cheese’s at sa Schlitterbahn! Kasi naman, lumayo kayo agad eh! :D
Thanks for birthday gift, Tita Meeya, Tito Allan and Ninna! Don’t worry, papahiram ko ang DS ko kay Abby. ;)
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wow! nice party! bilib talaga ako sa inyo mag-celebrate. talagang umaabot ng ilang days! hehehe…
happy birthday again, abby! :)
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munchkinmommy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Hi Cez! Masaya nga yung party. Parang nakawala ang mga bata. Hahaha! Ganiyan lang talaga ang parties dito. Pinapalaro lang ang mga bata at nanonood lang from a distance ang mga parents. Wala masyadong worries ang party planning dito, kasi nga, busy ang mga tao. :D
Kulang talaga ang isang araw sa amin para magcelebrate! Hee hee!
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Wow, happy party :)
Happy birthday again Abby, I hope your wishes will cone true :)
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munchkinmommy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Hi Julie! Thanks for the birthday greetings! :) Sana matupad ang wishes ni Abby at ang mga wishes namin for her. :D
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*come
Typo error :)
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Belated happy birthday, Abby. Mukhang ang ganda ng party place na yan ha. I like your royal throne.
The parties there sound more easy to manage. I agree how kiddie parties back home can be a nightmare because other people gate crash. Buti less complicated diyan.
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munchkinmommy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Hi Keith! Hay, parties here are soooo much less complicated than parties back home. No worries about offending people for not inviting all their kids and their entire household. Hahaha! Pizza and cake lang, masaya na!
Kids here love Pump It Up. It’s a favorite party venue kasi private and the kids have loads of fun! I love it there! :D
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belated happy birthday to abby! ang ganda ng cake!
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munchkinmommy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Hi Mimi! Thanks for the birthday greetings! Medyo nadisappoint pa nga ako sa cake. Parang for the prize we paid, it’s a little too simple considering it’s a princess cake. :D Ok na rin. Abby loved it! And that’s all that matters. ;)
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awww, happy belated birthday to abby!!!
i would have wanted to go down the slide too, it’s been a LONG time since i did that. :) what a lovely, happy party, and what a lovely happy birthday girl.
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munchkinmommy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Hi Odette! Ang sarap mag-slide!!! Hahaha! Thanks for the birthday greetings! I love this place because I can enjoy the slides, too! ;)
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Happy birthday Abby!!! I’m glad you had a great party…Yes parties there are a lot simpler and stress free..
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munchkinmommy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Hi Leirs! Thank you! We had a fantastic time at the party. For some of our guests, it was their first time at Pump It Up. And they were thankful we invited them. Super enjoy lahat! :)
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hay, iba pa rin ang birthdays with family, no? i can totally relate!
Gracies last blog post..soap and shampoo tag
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munchkinmommy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Hi Gracie! Iba talaga! :)
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Belated happy birthday, Abby! :)
I’m all for simple, uncomplicated parties coz sa Pinas, “production number” would be an understatement to describe the parties we are all too familiar with- parang so much stressing and fretting sa pre-party prep that by the time the actual even comes, we end up too tired to fully enjoy it.
Looks like y’all had a blast especially the birthday girl. ;)
Pinkys last blog post..SSS #116: Taking a Breather
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munchkinmommy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Hi Pinks! I’ve yet to attend a party here that resembles the complexity of a birthday party in Pinas. Hee hee. I’m afraid we can no longer change how parties are back home. It’s a cultural thing, I think. Hee hee.
Thank you for the birthday greetings!
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i was the same way when i attended my first so called ‘american’ party. i believe we had pizza as well, salad and buffalo wings. and we ended eating out after that, hahaha. pero sabi nga nila, it’s not the food. parties all about fun and excitement, dba? and looks like abby achieved that and more on her bday party.
happy birthday, princess abby!
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munchkinmommy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Hi Nell! Natuto na kami, kumakain muna kaming mag-asawa ng kaunti bago umattend ng party…just in case. ;) Ilang beses na rin kaming umattend ng party tapos kumain kami sa labas after. :D
Thanks for the birthday greetings!
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belated happy birthday abby! :)
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munchkinmommy Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Hi Abs! Thank you! ;)
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[...] In August, Abby got to invite her classmates to her 4th birthday party, something she was not able to do in 2007. It was in early August when I got bitten by the [...]