The much anticipated Nickfest finally arrived this weekend!
We arrived fashionably late for the early morning VIP Party on Saturday (okay, we had just gotten home from our holiday late the previous day and as dictated by Murphy's Law, my two little ones, notorious for being up at the crack of dawn, decided that they wanted to sleep in).
It took a
bit of work to get through the entrance. My little ones wanted to play
at the Silverstar fountains and I had to convince them that there was
something far more exciting ahead. By then, crowds were already starting
to build up, but what waited for us as we made our way down the orange
carpet made it totally worth it.
Imagine a huge area filled with everything a child could ever want or dream of. Wish granted!!! Rides, slides, bubbles, playstation games for the older ones, magicians, surfing... you name it, they had it!
We were greeted by the various stilt walkers, who had all sorts of tricks up their sleeves for the kids. Noodle got the beautiful fairy princess to make her a teddy bear balloon.
Then Noodle went climbing a huge inflatable climbing wall, which she bravely navigated.
We then went to play in the toddler area, where Squish enjoyed playing in the ball pit, while Noodle built giant puzzles. Noodle then had her face painted as a princess.
Comedian Riaad Moosa (one of my personal favourites) opened the show, and the little ones were treated to delightful Dora, Spongebob and Ninja Turtle cupcakes.
Time for a bit more play. My kids, especially Squish loved going on the rides over and over. You know those little rides that you find all over the malls where you have to insert a coin and then they bob up and down for a (very short) time? They had lots of those, only they did not need coins- you just pressed the button and then the kids stayed on as long as they wanted (there were no queues at the time and a big variety to chose from so they were not depriving other kids from a turn).
My kids, especially Squish also loved playing in the thick, glittery green slime in the slime area.I am not sure if I am a mean mother, but I only let them play in the little slime areas where they just got their hands to elbows messed (some kids were literally swimming in the giant slime pit). This is the same slime that various brave celebrities, including Whackhead, Proverb and others got dunked for charity.
We spotted quite a few local celebrities and a few fellow mommy bloggers.
Then the gates opened for the general public. I loved the fact that there was such great crowd control (unlike similar events that I have been to). While it was busy (tickets were sold out beforehand), it did not get overcrowded at any point and there was more than enough activity for all the kids to engage in.
Then it was time for the shows. There were various brilliant music acts, but for my kids the stars of the show were Dora (And her friends Diego and Boots) and of course Spongebob. The Dora show, with its familiar songs, was a huge hit for my two.
By the time the other shows started, my kids were back on the rides but had a good view of the stage from there and watched the Spongebob show from there.
Noodle is a HUGE Dora fan and she was ecstatic when she got to hug boots, whom she happened to find outside as we were leaving. I wanted a picture of Noodle with Boots but sadly, my camera went a bit crazy and by the time I finally got to take a picture, Boots was leaving so I caught his tail.
All in all the event was a huge success and Noodle is already asking me when the next Nickfest will be!
