Our family pretty much keeps to a standard ‘timetable’ every weekend. This involves tiring out the kids sufficiently in the mornings, returning home for an afternoon nap and then either going to church or spending time with the extended family in the evenings. We also have a ‘menu’ where we pick our morning activities from. Every now and then an event pops up or we hear of a new place/ activity to try out. And every now and then a new place/ activity excites us enough to earn a place on our family ‘menu’.

I have been wanting to try Rochester Cafe and it’s adjoining Playhouse for some time so I was glad to know that it had finally reopened after being closed for renovations.

Our original plan for waterplay was shelved when I showed Jah, pictures of the Playhouse, just minutes before leaving the house. He wanted to go ‘drive the cars’. The rest as they say is history.

The Playhouse is located at Rochester Park, it has an outdoor area (the garden) and an indoor area (the house). The kids could not wait to get started when we got there. We decided to purchase their 10x unlimited play pass at $50 because we were allowed to use it for both kids..very flexible! If you prefer to go by the hour, charges are $8 for one hour, $10 for 2 hours and $15 for unlimited play. While Joel ran off to supervised the kids in the garden. I got ourselves a table and set up shop.

I returned to the garden after placing our orders. Kids meal for $9.90 (a main with a cookie and a juice) and brunch items for Joel and I (a very well priced brunch selection I must say)

As i entered the garden, I was greeted by the sight of my kids drenched! Remember Jah said he wanted to drive the cars?, well he didn’t even look their way. JahBella spent the next 30 mins next to the ‘water table.’ Jah also unceremoniously dumped a water can filled with water at my shorts! So parents beware! But honestly it was good fun, I had to constantly remind myself not to say ‘don’t do this Jah’ and ‘stop doing that Bella’. They were after all just playing as all kids do and well they were already wet so what’s the worse that could happen? :p The garden had trampolines, swings, tons of little vehicles and a slide.

(Top left – clockwise) – Drenched at the water table. ‘Drying’ off on the trampoline. The rest of the garden toys. JahBella getting water play out of their system.

I was a little worried that Jah would put up a fight to leave the garden when the food arrived but I guess he was a little hungry too. 🙂

We enjoyed the food! Simple, no frills and yummy! (We will have to try their mains the next time!) The kids dined topless which was quite a sight, given that no one seemed to have the same ‘drenched situation’ as us. But I would definitely recommend to pack extra clothes in case your kids are like mine. :p

(Top left – clockwise) – Grilled sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs and French toast for Joel. Kids meal Pizza for Jah. Kids meal Meatloaf for Bella. Caesar Salad with poached egg to share. Eggs Benedict with ham and spinach for me.

After brunch, we headed to the ‘pool’ to get the water play out of their system. After that Jah ‘dried off’ on the trampoline while we changed Bella into dry clothes. (Don’t worry we changed Jah too eventually :p)

We headed into the house to cool off since it was almost noontime. The kids loved the change of environment and with that came a renewed level of energy and need for new discoveries. There were book shelves, ball pits, a castle, a cooking section, a dress up section and a table with blocks and a train set. Oh what fun!

As Joel and I started to feel our need for a nap come over us (oops I meant JahBella’s need for a nap). We decided to call it a day and took a slow 5 mins walk back to our car which we had parked at a nearby multi-storey HDB carpark. You can also choose to park at the house for $6 if you prefer not to walk.

Overall the kids enjoyed themselves throughly and we all enjoyed our food! And guess what Jah is just waking up from what has been a 3.5hours nap as I end off this post!!!

Hope you had a wonderful Sunday everyone!

JahBella’s Mummy