We found an indoor play area that rocks! It's called Tiovivo, and it's inside Shinsegae, the big department store/mall, on the bottom floor tucked away under the escalators. For around $12 each, the boys and their friend Liam had a ball playing for a little over an hour. There is only one way out, and the button to open the door is at the top where the littles can't reach it (yay!). Inside this place is a restroom, a concession stand, a small gift shop, a big twirly slide (that Parker was not interested in sliding down), a big ball pit, a kitchen area, a play house, a grocery store, an infant area with younger toys, a Lego area, and a train area. I'm sure I missed something, so let me just say that we were thrilled to find this place. Now I have a place I can bring the boys to play every now and then where I won't worry about them running in opposite directions, because I know there's nowhere for them to hide or get in any trouble. They loved it, and I actually had to carry one boy out under one arm and the other boy out by the hand, because they just couldn't pull themselves away from the ball pit voluntarily.
Because we went around the time they opened, we were the only people there until right before we left. It was heaven. I've found that's a pretty good tip you can rely on here....Places are much less busy if you go when they open, rather than waiting until later in the day.
Here's another good Mommy tip. You'll notice that Parker and Connar are both dressed in orange shorts and khaki shorts, and it's on purpose. I've found that if I dress them alike, it's much easier to remember what one is wearing if I'm trying to spot him in a crowd of kids. :)
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| their version of Dippin Dots ice cream |
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| Making train noises and movements as he chugged along the tracks. :) |
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| They loved falling back into the balls with me. :) |
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| Cassie and Liam |
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| Those are Parker's feet on the right. Connar is in this picture too. Can you spot his hand? |
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| He is a climbing and jumping machine!!!! |
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| Look at all the little bitty Lego pieces. I'm soooooo glad I don't have to clean up this area at the end of the day! |
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| The grocery area had all kinds of food choices. We're talking not only the basics that every play kitchen has but also waffles, pancakes, tacos, caramel candy. You name it, I bet they had it. |
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| He filled his basket up with pancakes and then went to fetch a tortilla. That's my boy! :) |
I want to share a quick story of the kindness I encountered in an older Korean man today that caught me off guard. When we noticed we couldn't take the elevator down to the floor beneath us to get on the subway (it was out of order), I took the boys out of the stroller and was planning on carrying Parker in one arm and the big double stroller in the other arm while Connar walked next to me holding on to the rail of the stairs. At that time, this older Korean man walks up to me, offered to help, I said "no, thank you" because I already had a plan on how to do this, and he kindly ignored me by picking up my entire double stroller, without folding it up, and carried it down the 20 or so steps. I questioned whether he had the strength to make it carrying that big heavy load (my diaper bag and everything was still in it too), but he had no issues. What a kind thing to do! I know he'll never see this, but I hope he knows how grateful I was to him for that random act of kindness. :)
