Brunch + Beantown Place

On chilly days that Kasen needs to get his extra energy out we go to the Natick Mall. They have something called the Beantown Place that gets really busy in the late mornings and early to late afternoons. While it's for younger kids, it is sometimes overrun with older kids who climb and are not careful - so often you have to shadow your toddler (which is what I did).

We first went to brunch with my two cousins, Nancy and Kathy and Nancy's daughter, Hannah. You may remember that I chatted about the fact that Hannah and Kasen are only a day apart in terms of their birthdays. So they are very close in age! We grabbed holiday brunch at the Cottage in Chestnut Hill. Yes, it's right next to Shake Shack (my favorite burger place). The kids had a blast and I am sure our server absolutely hated us. Kasen is so insanely and impossibly messy that I sometimes am embarrassed to take him out to restaurants. Sigh. C'est la vie.

I included a video of Kasen and Hannah's little scuffle over the crayons:) See below!

Afterwards we headed to the mall, though we split up because the other ladies had to run errands quickly before heading home whereas Kasen and I had an open time table. I did all of my shopping first then headed to Beantown Place. As soon as we pulled in Kasen's eyes lit up as he saw the ducks, and he would squeal in delight and call "Ap Ap! Ap Ap!" He really does love ducks. LOVES them. He also enjoyed going down the slide over and over again, and climbing/trekking up the inclines, up and down, over and over again. He had so much fun. We probably spent an hour there before heading to our next destination.

Afterwards. we went to Pottery Barn Kids. Kasen loves the sherpa stroller blankets there - we have 6 of them. No joke. I ventured in to see what else was on sale and Kasen wanted to come out of the stroller. I relented and the first thing he did was climb in and out of the Anywhere Chair. My husband wouldn't let Kasen have one because he thought he would outgrow it too quickly and thought Ikea had a better and cheaper option. Of course Ikea doesn't have anything like that! So Kasen to this day as much as I wanted to buy him one, his Dad wouldn't let him have one. I guess the trips to PBK to visit the chair there would have to suffice:)