They say good things don’t come easy but will be worth the wait. Let’s just say when it came to our recent Shopkins Swapkins play date that could not be more true. Due to the schedules of three princesses and their three busy, blogging mamas this play date was months in the making. We rescheduled numerous times, planned for variations of the play date until one sunny summer day we were able to finally make it happen! I have so much love for Stella at FabGabBlog which you have heard me rave about before for not giving up on the event and for being as always the hostess with the mostess.
When we first started planning for the play date NYC was still a bit chilly but with the reschedules we were able to have the quintessential NYC rooftop party (do these little girls know how good they have it?). Stella invited us to her rooftop which she turned into a page out of Shopville. Each guest had their very own Shopkins costume waiting and everywhere you turned the theme was set. Check out her post to see how she made it look marvelous and still stuck to a budget!
There were plenty of activities to keep the littles busy while the mamas chatted and took photos of our precious trio. I was thoroughly impressed by the girls and their ability to swap almost effortlessly. I know some adults that would have a hard time letting go even in exchange for another item. These littles ages (4 and 6) happily traded their Shopkins for a new treasure from their friends! Now, I really have hopes that JustaBXgirl will be able to handle pin trading at Disney!
It really was a perfect afternoon spent with friends. After the rooftop fun the girls went to visit Juliet’s pet bunny then before we headed back uptown justaBXgirl and I decided to visit the Fearless girl and Mary from Downtown Chic Moms joine us with her princess Brinkley.
I’ve received a lot of really cool items and invitations since becoming a blogger but my favorite part is the real life connections I’ve made. The friends that have helped me find my footing and even more so the friendships that my daughter has made. To think that some of the children she has met through me blogging might be her forever friends really warms my heart.
A few tips for you if you decide to host your own Shopkins Swapkins:
- Make sure your little understands what it means to swap. We each prepared our girls on what they would be expected to do which is one of the reasons it went so smoothly. Prior to the party JustaBXgirl went through her Shopkins at home and only brought ones that she had duplicates of. That way she wasn’t losing an “exclusive” or a favorite because she still had one at home.
- Remember they are littles. We can plan every moment but they might not want to go with the plan. At our play date the girls decided they needed some ping pong time. We allowed them their free time to bond, play and be silly then pulled them back into the planned activities.
- Be present. It’s easy to get lost behind the camera trying to capture the moments. Hello! Three blogging moms? You know we didn’t want to miss a thing. Even still it was important to the girls to have time just to be, whether it was while helping each other with tattoos or eating fruit-kabobs. Sometimes they needed a break from the cameras and us moms needed the chance to just live in the moment.
I know some parents dread play dates but done right they can be just as much for you as the littles!
