For the first time since attending Sweet Suite the event was opened up to the children of attendees. This was a huge deal for us because that meant that Eva and Andrew could come and see an event that daddy has attended for years. What is more important, though, was they could meet the people that I have worked with who supply us with toys for our reviews. It is important to me that the kids know that the toys don’t just appear out of thin air, even though it may seem that way. Knowing the people behind the scenes is important to me and I wanted it to be important to them. It was also important for Allison to see how crazy things get during events and how hard it can be to try and get the most information, photos and video. I was very glad that she was there to help wrangle the kids or stay with one when they wanted to explore something further. I think we may have made it around to all of the booths.
Our trip started off early in the morning. We had a loan of a Mazda CX9 for the trip and everyone piled in to the car, which was so comfortable and had way more room than we needed for our purposes but that is okay. It was nice and wide so we all had plenty of personal space. We loaded up the car and drove well into Connecticut before stopping for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel. We stopped there because we know what we like from the menu and it is a good pit stop place. Andrew and I even played a game of checkers while we waited for breakfast.
We got back into the car and didn’t stop again until we were out front of Pier Sixty. There I dropped off Allison and the kids. My plan was to drive to the hotel and park the car, leave the suitcase with the bellman and then walk back to Pier Sixty. For better or for worse this did not work out. I drove up to where I had reserved a parking space and found that the road was blocked and I couldn’t get to the garage. I learned later that I could have asked that they move the barrier because I paid to park in the garage beyond that barrier. So, I went back to Pier Sixty and parked there. It was an extra expense that I hadn’t planned on but would prove a better choice.
Before the Sweet Suite event we went bowling with the families from Family Video Network. I am so grateful to Melissa and Robin for including me, and this year the whole family, in their events. We had a great time at the bowling event and met some very nice families.
When it was time for Sweet Suite to start the entrance was a crazy huge balloon maze. The kids loved that! They wanted to do it again and again. The first thing that we saw was the Nintendo display. The kids got to play a bunch of Nintendo Switch games and by doing so they earned tickets and got to come home with stuffed Toad and Toadette plushes. One of the games that they played was Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker and I think they want to play more of it. So many fun puzzles.
The room was packed with so many different toy companies and there were some very cool things to see. We went along from booth to booth. The kids each had their own cameras to use to take video and photos. Eva took a bunch but Andrew played more with the toys. I figured that this would be the case but if Eva was getting a camera then I knew Andrew would want one, too. Luckily I have a bunch of old ones to let them use.
Our days have been rather packed lately. The night before we were out at a trampoline park really late. Despite that, we only had a couple moments where the kids being overtired was noticed. Once right when we arrived and I tried to get us to move on from the Nintendo booth and then at the very end of the night when we were leaving to see all the balloons being destroyed in the balloon entrance maze. Andrew lost it and started screaming for them to stop. The poor kid only wanted to go through again. I didn’t realize that he’d be so upset.
Both kids had special moments during the event. I took a photo of Eva at the Hairdorables booth and she won one of these new dolls. She was trilled. At the Playmobil table Andrew was a playing with one of the toys and piece broke off. He immediately brought it to the rep. She thanked him and told him that she appreciated that he told her. She then told us that he was the first truly polite child that she had seen that day. And this was 3 hours into the event. It certainly made Allison and I proud to hear.
Andrew was having so much fun at the event. He jumped into everything full force. He made a ton of Ben 10 Aliens. There were so many parts and the rep encouraged him to make as many as he wanted, so he did. Andrew also loved the K’NEX Roller Coaster app. This lets you experience riding one of many K’NEX Roller Coasters. He went back to that booth a couple of times. Another toy that he loved was the Skid Shooter, a toilet paper blaster. He especially liked blasting the poster of Harry Potter, much to his sister’s dismay.
Our night ended with the sounds of hundreds of balloons being popped and Andrew crying out for their demise. But, he quickly recovered. We then exited the event and got right into our car. I had ended up parking in the closest possible spot to the venue without the car actually being part of the show like the life sized 50th Anniversary Hot Wheels Camaro. We did have to pay a lot more than I would have liked to have spent on parking but even though I like to walk everywhere in New York when I visit, it isn’t the best idea for two overtired kids and two equally overtired parents who simply want to get to bed. I pulled up to the hotel and dropped everyone off with our suitcase and parked the car at our original spot. Then I hustled back to the hotel to get some sleep because we were going to need to be up early again tomorrow.
