inflation

has anyone ever been to a party at pump it up?

we were invited to a birthday party in raleigh at this place yesterday, and though we had been to a party there once before, i hadn't thought to blog about it. the idea of this business is a huge room filled with brightly colored inflated jumping apparatus including a slide, obstacle course and regular full-on bouncing castle.

the room is huge, and there must have been almost 40 kids with parents at the party yesterday. there was plenty of room for all of them, but the best part is PARENTS ARE ALLOWED TO JUMP TOO! well, as long as you have socks on and follow all the rules. i am so there. my favorite part (and the kids', too) was the giant slide. you climb up the chute-- bouncing all the way-- then slide FAST all the way down, trying hard not to hit anyone that hasn't cleared at the bottom. what a rush! either that or maybe i haven't gotten all the "kid" out of me yet.

i spent about 2 minutes in the bouncing castle, and although i go to the gym roughly three times a week, i realized how weak my cardio stamina is. winded and heart pounding, i climbed out and marvelled at the children who bounced, climbed and slid for an hour and a half. what would i give for that kind of energy again!

the old brain got working overtime and i thought, wouldn't it be fun to have an adults only party there? i don't think we could manage to get alcohol in, and i don't think alcohol and excessive bouncing mix anyway. unfortunately, this probably wouldn't go over real well, and i couldn't convince either of the kids to have a party there, so until the next time we're invited, i'll just have to bide my time. man, was it fun!