Inflatable birthday.........

Kali 2.3 and I went to a birthday party at a local place that has all kinds of huge inflatable playgrounds. These things are two stories tall and just as big as regular playground equipment. A few notes from the party.......

-Kali is growing up quickly. She's quickly becoming a social butterfly. Two months ago, she would have refused to get off Daddy's lap due to all the strange new people. At the party, she sat down at a table with 10 other kids and hardly even knew I was there.

-Kali sat at the table between two girls her age. Out of nowhere, Kali and the girl to her right started talking to each other. They both were talking, reacting, smiling, frowning, etc., like they were having a real conversation. I didn't catch a word of what they were saying, but it seemed pretty involved.

-When you are in a place for kids with two party rooms right next to each other, there's a good chance that kids from the other party will walk into your party without even skipping a beat. We had one girl walk into the room more than once and attempt to start eating the birthday cake before it was even cut. When you're hungry, you're hungry I suppose.

-Kali wanted Daddy to go on all the inflatables with her. So I did. I went again, and again, and again, and again.............

-Final total: 12 times through the obstacle course, 8 times down the huge slide, 4 times through the smaller slide.

-When playing on inflatable toys, it should be noted that daddies sink quite a bit further down than 2 year-old kids. As a result, daddies have to work a lot harder to go through the inflatables. It was EXHAUSTING. I had to pull Kali aside for a rest break a time or two, which she was not happy about at all.

-The obstacle course has two big walls along the way. One is a 6 foot wall and the other is probably 10-12 feet. Kali needed my help on the first couple of runs. By the last run, she was scaling the 12 foot wall without me even touching her, though I was behind her to spot her just in case.

-Crawling under obstacles on inflatable toys can leave a mark. I have plastic surface burn marks on my knees and elbows to remind me of my multiple journeys through the obstacle course.

-Other parents, especially the birthday girl's parents, find great joy in taking pictures of parents who are exhausted after chasing their kids through inflatable toys for an hour.

-Young boys haven't completely mastered the application of appropriate etiquette. When going through a small crawl area, the fact that they say 'Excuse me' doesn't hold much water if they are elbowing a fully grown adult aside as they do it. Let the record show that I threw no retaliatory elbows, though my daughter may have done so.

-2 year-old daughters fall asleep very quickly in the car after running through inflatable toys for a hour.

I'll probably take Kali back to play on the toys again, but I will be making sure that I have elbow and knee pads on before I re-enter the inflatable arena.