gigisfabkids

gigi's team pasta party!

i don't usually bore you with pictures of grown ups,

but the gigi's team christmas party was so much fun,

i just had to share. 

miss carol was so kind to open her home to us,

while miss vicki patiently taught us all to make pasta!

 

blows my mind that this pile of flour and eggs,

turned into the scrumptious pasta we ate

later that same night!

 

no i'm not actually going to teach you how to make pasta

here on the glob today... 

because honestly, i wasn't paying that close attention.

it was a party! 

we were talking and singing and dancing

and being silly while we kneaded the dough.

 

then we cut the dough up into hunks...

this was my personal hunk of dough.

then we all took turns rolling our hunks of dough

through the pasta maker to flatten them out.

 

roll, rita, roll!

 

ha ha, david!

 

here's what it looks like when it comes out.

isn't it pretty!

 

haley tried to get a little too fancy with hers.

(ended up on the floor...  but 10 second rule applied!)

 

then vicki changed the setting on the pasta maker

so when we rolled it this time it cut it into little strips!

 

 

 

then vicki cooked it,

combined it with her wonderful home made sauce...

 

and then we took a quick picture before devouring it!

 

it was sooo yummy scrumptious

and so fun that we all had a hand in making it!

 

then we opened up a few presents...

 

miss carol is an excellent gift giver...

 

new fuzzy slippers!

 

i'm the dork that gives people bags of fruit...

 

but it makes for cute pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

then we celebrated miss rita's birthday...

she prefers potato chips to cupcakes,

so carol made her a potato chip cupcake tree!

 

we also celebrated my birthday...

carol made my favorite...  strawberry cupcakes!!

(haley's favorite too!)

 

thank you sooooo much

to our wonderful hostesses carol and vicki...

this was the best team christmas party ever!

and thank you to our wonderful staff...

krystle, vicki, caitlin, haley, alex, carol, and rita...

BEST TEAM EVER!

star of the week... PARKER!

PARKER is three years old

and loooves to dress up...  especially as a princess!

 

her favorite color is PINK

and she likes princess books, princess movies,

and princesses...  in fact when she grows up

she wants to be CINDERELLA!

 

she takes ballet and tap...

recently she performed a tap routine

in her school's holiday concert!

 

she loves to accessorize

with necklaces, bracelets, shoes, tiaras,

head bands, purses, and above all, magic wands...

 

favorite foods include pasta, chocolate,

and chocolate milk...

 

PARKER goes to montessori school

where she loves learning SPANISH

and she actually enjoys doing homework!

 

we've known PARKER and her big sister EVA

ever since they were born,

and we always love it when they come to visit!

happy christmas day!

 

rose-merry christmas pictures!

here are some cute pics

of friends and family making good use

of santa's sleigh and our christmas gift backdrop....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

if your family would also like

to take pictures in santa's sleigh,

there is still plenty of time... 

he is letting us keep it in front of Gigi's

through new years!

 

Merry Christmas Eve!

 

twelve games of christmas

my family loves to play games

both on Christmas and on Thanksgiving... 

it is a family tradition.

does your family do that too?

one of my family's favorites is BANANAGRAMS,

but i like to introduce new games to them each holiday.

here are a few for YOUR family's consideration...

ok, twelve to be exact:

 

CARTOON IT is fun for kids & grown ups to play together...

it's not about who is the best artist,

it's about observing different characteristics

and being able to pick them out from a bunch of choices.

it gets really silly, especially if you are NOT an artist!

 

S'MATCH is my favorite game to play with little kids...

it's a simple memory game,

but with the added challenge of finding matches

in either color, number, or category.

also kids really get a kick out of SMASHING the button.

 

omg, i love this game.  ACUITY.

it's challenging enough for just grown ups to play...

perfect for older kids,

but i have met quite a few little kids that just "get it" too.

if you like tetris video game, you will dig this as well.  

 

HEDGEHOG ESCAPE is technically a solitaire game,

but it is so sweet and challenging and exciting,

that families can have fun together

helping the baby hedgehogs over the shrub

to meet their mama hedgehog...

or kids can take turns timing each other

if they want to keep it competitive.

FRUITOMINOES is a classic dominoes game,

but with the most beautiful fruity pieces...

play a few rounds together,

or get creative and stand them up in swirling designs

and let the domino effect take over!

MATH DICE JR allows kids to show off their math skills

in front of the rest of the family

as they move forward on the board

with each correct answer!

SMART MOUTH is perfect for the holidays,

lots of family members shouting...  sound familiar?

but this time its with a purpose...

the roll of the die determines the category,

the swipe of the LETTER GETTER

determines two of the letters... 

then everyone competes to shout out

the highest ranking word that includes those two letters

and fits in the category.  ROWDY FUN!

.

at this point, RUSH HOUR is a classic.

one of my personal favorites and always will be...

it's so fun to bring it out during the holidays

and introduce newer family members to it.

in each unique set up,

your goal is to slide the cars out of the way

so that the red car can drive out of the traffic jam.

the wide range of challenges make it a hit with all ages.

and it's so fun to cheer each other on!

 

 

SNACK ATTACK is a riot to play with little kids...

again the mechanism is so fun to operate,

it distributes little tokens of food which the players

quickly try to match and grab to fill their plates.

fast paced and SILLY!

TOOT AND OTTO is a blast for two players...

it's just like connect four,

but instead of trying for four red in a row,

or four black in a row,

one contestant tries to spell TOOT

while the other one tries to spell OTTO

across the board. 

adds a fun amount of strategy!

SWISH is challenging enough for grown ups to play alone,

but also fun for kids who really like to think.

the cards are clear with the exception of a ring and a dot.

while the cards are laid out on the table,

the players try to visualize and plan which cards to pick up

and stack together to make every ring

have a matching colored dot inside... 

it is HAR-ARD!  and i love it! 

i hope you and your family does too!

 

all of these game of course are available at Gigi's,

and why, yes, we ARE open on christmas eve until 3:00!

 

 

 

list worthy

hey kids,

still finishing up that Christmas wish list?

here is some fun stuff for you to consider!

 

 

when you are done,

you can pop your list in santa's mailbox...

his elves pick up them up every night

and deliver them straight to SANTA!

star of the week.... LUCA!

LUCA is five years old

and he wants to be a body builder

because he is fascinated with the incredible hulk!

 

his favorite toy is "fragile thomas" which is what he calls

his REAL thomas the tank engine train set.

 

his favorite animal is a puppy...

and he wants five of them...  real ones!

 

his favorite color is BLUE,

favorite place to vacation is ROSEMARY BEACH,

and his favorite candy iiiiiis..... 

well he can't remember the name

but it's something chocolatey.

 

LUCA loves britney spears' christmas songs,

is obsessed with the game RUSH HOUR,

and absolutely adores his little sister MICA!

photos from last week's HOLIDAY BONE-ANZA!

last saturday,

a bunch of kids and i set up a booth

at the new ALAQUA UNLEASHED dog park

to participate in the HOLIDAY BONE-ANZA!

it was soooo fun...

there was excellent live music,

dog agility demonstrations,

vendors selling handmade holiday gifts,

a jumpy thingy,

a hay labyrinth,

the gigi's lemonade stand,

fun games,

and lots of cute animals and kids!

here are some photos from the day....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRUFF the goat kept breaking through the fence

to be closer to BABY the mini horse! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by the way,

even though it was a little cold and windy,

our gigi's kids raised $203 for alaqua animal refuge

by selling lemonade and running the game booths...

making our total raised for the year way over $3,000.00!!

great job kids... way to make a difference!!

fabulous fall fashion on sale!

at Gigi's, fall fashions are now ON SALE!

here is a little fall fashion show to give you an idea

of what you might be able to snag for your little one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

call us, or email us, or facebook us

if you would like more info on anything you see here...

we are always happy to ship!

or if you are local, come on in, we are open every day!

star of the week... HOLLAND!!!

HOLLAND is 13 years old...

she will be 14 on new years day!

 

she has been a gigi's kid for a long time...

this picture was taken back when she was nine!

 

her favorite color is PINK...

and she loves anything sparkly...

she enjoys studying ballet

and learning new french words!

 

her favorite foods are ribs and ice cream...

favorite singer is demi lovato!

 

she is truly an incredible singer...

here she is singing the song that the gigi's kids danced to

in the Christmas parade this year.

she also sang FIREWORK for our july 4th routine...

you can listen to her sing both songs

on the gigi's youtube channel.

 

HOLLAND loves to sing

and when she grows up wants to be an entertainer...

i have no doubt that she will succeed,

she already gets mistaken for beyonce all the time!