Bouncin' the day away
This morning we took the kids to "The Jungle," which we'd heard was lots of fun from several sources. So, we thought we'd give it a shot. It was a little noisy, and there were a lot of kids, so it took them a little while to acclimate and feel comfortable letting loose and having fun. There were several HUGE inflatable bounce houses/slides...Lightning McQueen, Mickey and Friends, Nemo, a T-Rex, a giant ape and Tiki style one. No one needs to ask which one Emory loved the most. She LOVED the gigantic Lightning McQueen slide. She and Alanna jumped right in on that one, and Aidan seemed like he was interested, but he got halfway up and came back down. There were a lot of bigger kids bouncing pretty hard, and he wasn't up for that just yet. Jason went with him, and then he was hooked. I eventually ended up going with Emory once, and it really was a fun slide, but I could feel the static build as I slid further and further. No wonder so many kids were wandering around with their hair standing on end.
As usual, our crew had the most fun when we had a bounce house to ourselves. Emory stayed on the Lightning McQueen slide as much as she could, but she got a great deal of confidence knowing that Aidan and Alanna "had her back." When she was alone, she did not want ANYONE getting on the slide. She started to cry and came back down. I can't blame her; her first attempt at going it alone, 6 big girls came bounding up behind her. She was crying, and I couldn't get to her...and she couldn't get back to me. Fortunately, the girls were sweet, and the first one in line stopped and knelt down with her. Then she helped her get back to me. Emory was so upset; she wouldn't stop crying. All she wanted to do was "go inside 'white queen,'" but she wouldn't even try with all those bigger kids on there. Aidan and Alanna were taking a little break, so they weren't there to help her feel secure. Fortunately, interest in the slide seemed to ebb and flow, so it wasn't long before she had it (almost) to herself.
Aidan and Alanna wanted to go on this giant T-Rex, but every time they got halfway in, they wanted to get back out. it was quite an obstacle course in there, so it was not an easy task getting in or out. Maybe next time!
Everyone had a great time, and we will have to go back again at some point. The best part was when the kids having parties all disappeared, and it was nice and quiet, and there were only a handful of other kids in the entire room.
