Birthday parties : Cosmic

by Lara This past weekend we had our son's fifth birthday party at Cosmic Adventures

I never thought I'd be the parent who paid to have birthday parties outside the home until I realized just how chaotic life with three young children can be.  Because of that I believe that paying someone else to take care of the majority of the work of getting ready for a party is really more of a gift for me than for my kids ;)

This year my son wanted to have his party at Cosmic.  We're members there which meant we got a 10% discount and at 5 it seemed like a great  age-appropriate choice.

The pros

- The kids loved it.  They got to play in the tunnels, they got to play in the arcade (each child got a card with coins loaded on it), they got to get midway prizes with their winnings, they got food and they got entertainment - what's not to love? :))

- Everything was really well organized.  I was given a pager so I could come and greet each new attendee when they arrived, we all had colour coordinated bracelets, all the party attendees' shoes were stored together, when the kids got to get prizes from the midway they were sent to the exit to be given to the child as they left so they wouldn't be lost. I was impressed.

- The party host(s) were a lot of fun. There was basic magic and face painting which the 5 year olds went crazy for.  I'm not sure if they change their act for older kids, but I would imagine if they don't then by about 8 or 9 they might not be quite as impressed ;)

- The cake and food were included in the package we chose, but every package includes a cake and Cosmic is nut free, something I was particularly thankful for because we had a guest with a peanut and tree nut allergy.

- I love that the host coordinated the presents being opened and even kept a list of who gave him which present to send home with us. *I* wasn't that organized and would definitely have been at a loss to figure out who to thank later on.

The cons

There weren't many but:

- We had a package that had choices of a hot dog or slice of pizza and drinks for the kids.  The choices for drinks were pop, pop, fruitopia, and apple juice.  Thanks for the apple juice but I was shocked there was so much pop on the list and no other healthier types of juice to choose from.

- We only had our host for the time we were in the party room, not the time we were in the arcade or in the tunnels.  They were all fine in the tunnels but could have used a lot more guidance in the arcade - something we didn't realize at first and also couldn't coordinate easily for all the kids.  A lot of them lost a lot of their coins not understanding how to use the games.

Overall it was a fabulous party and we'd definitely consider going again. Check out their party pricing on their web site.

Lara Wellman is mom to 4 year old Kiernan and 2 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can read her personal blog at Gliding Through Motherhood, about her weight loss journey at Losing it in Ottawa, and her social media blog at Larawellman.com