Little Beans Cafe

In my last blog I wrote about wanting to give the triplets more exposure to other kids and although we loved the Purple Monkey playroom and intend to visit again, I had a list of other places with great reviews that I wanted to check out. This time we went to the Little Beans Cafe located in Bucktown, a popular neighborhood in Chicago with free parking for it's customers; a huge plus for living in the city, where going anywhere can be expensive.

When we walked in I was more than impressed. It was a huge WOW for me. The space looked and smelled clean (a #1 mommy criteria) with a full service food menu that was well thought out and could feel perfectly content in feeding the kids. They also served Intelligensia coffee and that alone was a huge WOW for my husband. A good first impression!

Now for the shoes to come off (socks only) and time to get busy playing.

Little Bean's Cafe play area theme was a village that bordered along the outer walls made up of a pretend house, grocery store, gas station, post office, and much more that the kids could escape into. How fun and the perfect opportunity to have some imaginative and creative play time. If you click here you can see what I'm talking about (seems that most of the pictures I captured were focused on the kids, why of course, right?). Additionally, Kathleen made a little discovery in her exploration and became just a tad bit excited. I will share this in just one moment. But first here's how things got started.

When we entered the play area, there were a lot of kids and moms and dads running and standing around and I needed to finish the coffee I was holding, plus I just wanted to sit back for a moment and take everything in. So that's what I did. I found a spot on the floor and started my constant scan for our three two year olds. My husband and Jordan took a upright position until I convinced my husband to join me with his cup of coffee.

There goes Susannah.

Kathleen started off scanning the room too
and what I noticed right off is no one panicked
that mom and dad were not right by their side.

Still just watching.

Until she discovered the slide. Time for me to get up.

And here she comes.

Susannah getting hydrated. She was comfortable with walking

around and then coming back and joining me.

Reagan has been busy checking out all the toys on the floor and using the side too.

Until....He spots something.

The train with a slide.

This became his main focus.

He would keep running back to this train whenever he would venture away.

Meanwhile, Kathleen decides rather quickly she does not like the horsey that she was curious about. But that's okay. Little does she know that she is ever so close to making a discovery that will rock her world. See it?

Elmo!

She could not get enough of finding her friend and became ecstatic that he came along to play too.

This was her go to spot. I was always finding her kissing Elmo.

And sometimes just hanging out with him.

And then out of no where going in for another smooch.

While Reagan and Kathleen are set up at their favorite play stations,

Alex and Susannah are walking around. Susannah is content in watching the other kids play.

Finally a group activity that they all are interested in. Light switches. On Off.

This kept them busy for a good 10 minutes.

Susannah surprised me when I saw her flipping through some books.

And working on some puzzles.

Reagan is a true boy.

Play time is coming to an end. This room leads to a slide.

Susannah opts to go down on her stomach and Kathleen follows her lead.

This is when things get interesting. Before leaving it's time to change diapers and well let's just say Susannah needed to new clothes and do you think I would have thought to throw in an extra set. Nope.