Best $7 ever!

Liam had a rough night on Thanksgiving including the beginnings of a dry cough that had been keeping us all up. But when he woke up on Friday he was in a great mood with lots of energy to spare.  Because Eric had to go into work on Friday, and because I am now the size of Kristie Alley pre-Dancing with the Stars (seriously - I busted the zipper on a jacket a few days ago), I wanted to take Liam somewhere where he could expend some energy with minimal effort required on my part.

Because our usual go-to bounce place was closed for Black Friday, I went online to find a suitable alternative.  I had heard a lot of stuff about "Pump it Up" but we had never been before.  Needless to say, my energy has been waning in these final two weeks before the baby so I counted the minutes off until I knew they opened for their open-bounce time, hopped in the car with Liam, and off we went.  Because I was afraid that they might not really be open, I told Liam that I had a "surprise" for him, but I wouldnd't tell him where we were going in case it didn't work out.  Lately, I have found that he seems to remember everything that I tell him, making it hard to pull a switch and bait.

When we got to the bounce place the parking lot was deserted, but upon walking up, the staff opened the door for us.  Then we were told that unless at least 10 kids showed up, that they wouldn't be able to air up the pop-ups.  At this point Liam still did not know why we were there and occupied himself by drinking from the water fountain (I am still trying to teach him that it is not necessary to french kiss the fountain-yuck), and pretending that he had to go potty.  After we had waited 20 minutes with no additional kids showing up, I think the staff took pity on me, or maybe they were just afraid I would eat them to sustain my energy.  Even though not one other child showed up, they aired up two rooms worth of inflatables for us. 

I gladly and humbly paid his $7 admission and off we went.  A staff member from Pump it Up stayed with Liam the entire time we were there, leaving me to snap a couple of cute pics and get off my feet due to my Braxton Hicks contractions.  The staffer was sooooo great.  He was super interactive and patient with Liam and essentially acted as Liam's playmate.  I am extremely grateful to the Pump it Up folks for doing something that they didn't have to do.  Especially considering that they were only open for open bounce time and then they were able to head home to be with their families and friends. 

His coordination has really improved since he first started going to bounce houses a year ago.

Liam's new friend helped him navigate the areas that he was still too small to get to.

I had never seen an inflatable like this before.  It was a large rotunda with several masive inflatables in the middle. 

Sliding solo

I am not sure he understood the privilege of having the entire facility to himself.

I thought about trying to wrap it up after about an hour so that the staffers could shut the facility down, but Liam's new buddy encouraged us to take advantage of the entire open bounce time...and we did!

Utilizing chopsticks to eat a french fry at Central Market.

We will definitely be heading back in the future.  Especially since I found out that they usually only get 10-15 people for open bounce.  At our other bounce place, it can get pretty crowded and the big kids often trample the younger ones without any supervision from personnel.  The best part is that we were out of there by the lunchtime, Liam ate and then went down for a....3 hour nap!  Truly the best $7 I have spent in a long time!