AMAZING FRIDAY!

We went to the most amazing place on Friday. I think the definition of "amazing" is different for different people. For instance..."amazing" for Kirk is the smell of new tools or the way that grease feels smeared across his face while he's working on his truck. For me, "amazing" is finding the perfect pair of boots (which has yet to happen, by the way. I'm hoping for a good boot season this fall...I'm still looking!) or saving a good chunk of money at the grocery store by using coupons and store specials (especially Wal-Mart...anytime I can somewhat beat the Wal-Mart system, I feel better). "Amazing" for Keaton, Sawyer, and Tate is stuff like opening a new character on a video game (we just opened up the Emperor on Lego StarWars...boy bliss!) or hiding toy snakes in their mom's shower just to hear her scream (really happens...again, boy bliss!).


Back to our amazing place we went to yesterday...and by this "amazing," I mean a place where the boys not only had a great time, but so did I! Rare in boyland. I'm usually just tolerating all the boy places we have to go. No Build-A-Bear and Tea Parties for us!


So what kind of marvelous wonder of mother/son utopia did we find?


PARTY CENTRAL!


This place is incredible. Stephanie had invited us to go up with her and the kids to meet one of our good friends and her son who had moved to Benton a few years ago. I agreed because I knew the kids would like it, but was totally unprepared for the magical excitement that ensued.


Repeating...this place was incredible. It is a gigantic room that is full of all those blow-up jumpy things. No kidding. That's it. No Chuck-E-Cheese games. No goofy tickets to get goofy prizes. No Go-Karts or Putt-Putt. Just jumpy things.


They have this one huge slide that was my favorite. You have to climb up this inflatable staircase (only the stairs are like 2 inches wide--so don't slip, or you are just sliding all the way down on your tummy taking everyone behind with you!) with handles that are made out of seatbelt material. When you are at the top, you get to slide down (and it's pretty steep) and WHOOSH! all the way to the bottom until you crash into an inflatable wall. AMAZING! I don't know about the kids, but I went like a million times.

Here's Tate...whooshing! Fun, right?

They also have this huge obstacle course...inflatable, of course. It is meant for little people, so it is quite comical for us big people to try and make our way through. There are all kinds of things that you have to climb over and under and through, and then (okay, this wasn't so amazing) there is this huge Matterhorn of a mountain you have to climb to reach the top of the slide. Nothing like the whole seatbelt staircase...oh, no. This is the Mount Everest of inflatable toys. I actually made it up once...that's it. Once. I tried several times after, only to come crashing down. Extremely embarrassing. Poor B (our friend) got this nasty bruise/burn thing on her arm from the evil thing. Nasty, I tell you, Nasty. And then there is Stephanie...she had no trouble climbing up on each attempt...grrrrrrrrr....inflatable jumpy thing envy....

Yah, I climbed through there, too! Yikes! I'm still sore!!

Here's Sawyer and Tate climbing up the torture mountain...glad that wasn't a picture of me trying!

They also had a jumpy house...the traditional kind that is at every fair and church parking lot carnival in America. So much fun. I think B had to stay in there for most of the time because her son, E, wouldn't come out! The only thing I didn't like about that particular one was that the hole to get in and out was teeny. You kind of have to slither in and out...only everything in the place is so super slick that you (well, me) end up sliding all the way down onto the floor, busting your rear. Not attractive.


They also had another jumpy thing that just didn't have the top like the house...we didn't seem to spend too much time in it. And there was also a blow-up basketball hoop thing where you could shoot baskets. Fun if you can actually shoot a basket...me? Not so much.


So, by now you are either thinking, "Cool. Way fun! I want to go!" or "BLAH." Let me just say that the kids had a blast, and so did I! I love to play, so I'm all up for places that actually encourage the parents to play with their kids.


This has fast moved up to my top five places to go with my kids! We will definitely go back!!! The boys can't wait!

See, look at how happy they are...

AMAZING!