Hi Ron - here are a couple of ideas thrown your way. Why not have "MUCs" be imaginary little cute creatures? Each could have his own personality. Let me know what you think...
the idea with the little creatures is indeed very good but I would recommend to use them for "mini" (and the "s") instead of for the "MUC". The thing is that not all people (when they read our name "miniMUCs") understand that the "MUC" stands for Munich. So to underline that we had the idea of using the bavarian design.
The font from your first logo looks too much like written from a child and the three smiling faces are a bit too simple and you wouldn't really connect that it has something to do with young children; in my opinion.
Your second logo with the birds looks a bot less colorful and the birds look more tidy than "happy" or something a child wants to play with.
Thanks a lot so far and I hope you can use my comments, Tim
P.S.: I will also post an example (!) of how to integrate the bavarian design for the "MUC".