Lil Quincy & Pig's Bouncing Castles

We went to the Esplanade Mall this afternoon after I picked up the kids from school. I had an errand to run and hadn't had time to get it done earlier in the day because of my doctor's appointment and Peyton's therapy appointments. So, I decided that we would make an afternoon of it and play at Lil' Quincy & Pig's Bouncing Castles as well. Every time we walk into the mall, the kids ask if we can play there. We have done it a few times now and have enjoyed it every time. It is always the best when it isn't busy. For most of the evening, we were the only ones in there. I took around ninety pictures. All of my kids love action shots so they call me over any time they are taking a crazy dive so that I can capture it on camera. They make me nervous with some of their stunts, but the only injury of the evening was Jackson falling off the side of one of the bouncers onto the tile. He landed on his head, so I almost had a heart attack. Luckily, he managed to escape with only a slight headache, no blood or goose eggs, which was miraculous!

Benjamin represented the safety patrol in the toddler section. He carried this sign around a few different times.

This car was a favorite throughout the evening.

I am starting to wonder if we should have purchased a larger trampoline for our backyard. We have a six foot trampoline and the kids like it, but every time they get the opportunity to jump on a larger trampoline they have a great time. They spent a lot of time jumping on this trampoline. They were jumping high, diving and trying new tricks.

Benjamin liked this slide but it was slippery enough that he ended up on his back when he reached the ground every time. He only went down a few times before deciding he didn't like to be that out of control.

Carston didn't stop running, jumping, diving, sliding and bouncing the entire two and half hours we spent at "the bouncing place" (that is what the kids call it).

I loved watching Jackson laugh and smile as he tumbled around.

Peyton has a knack of finding places she isn't meant to bounce and then spending all of her time there. Her favorite place was the basketball hoop. She jumped on the bouncer and hung on the hoops to her heart's content.

Grant has no fear and takes giant leaps rather than bouncing. He doesn't just jump, he uses as much force as he can muster and throws himself headlong. I was grateful for the bouncers! He always pulled off a great landing. He was all red and sweaty when we headed home. He takes after his mom (I get red in the face while I exercise) and his dad (anyone who knows Mark knows that he can sweat with the best of them).

I spent most of my time following this little guy around. Benjamin loves to think that he is a big boy and can do whatever Grant can do. He spent some of his time on the trampoline falling around while Grant jumped. I had to add the pictures of his basketball skills. You can't tell but he made almost every shot. I guess that isn't too hard when you stand just below the basket and muscle it in without even jumping. He loves to play ball! He didn't spend too much time on the bouncers, but I pushed him around in each of the cars and he ran around chasing whatever ball he was playing with for the moment.

We were exhausted when we left right at bedtime. I knew we were staying too long, but didn't want to make the kids leave when they were having such a fun time. I finally decided we had to go because Carston, Jackson and Peyton have school tomorrow and I was afraid we would have some meltdowns before I could get everyone in bed. There were some tears and unhappiness from the kids, but I had more of a meltdown than anyone! I didn't realize how worn out I was until I had to drag five tired kids, who were unhappy to be leaving their beloved "bouncy place", out to the car. Then I had to get all five dirty children bathed and finally into bed by myself. Now that everyone is asleep (they were asleep almost before their heads hit the pillows), I am feeling calm although I am so tired I can hardly think straight. Oh well, it was worth it.

P.S. Our ghost, Stella, brought individually packaged Halloween Circus Animal cookies to everyone tonight. She is a gem :)!