A Birthday Party and My Kids Being Weird

It really has been a busy last few weeks. We've had birthday parties and Adoption Days with our friends. Libby's work was insane as every school in Wichita decided to use up a field trip day at the Water Center. And we bought a bookstore. So I suppose it's no surprise that I've been a little lacking in posts for the last few weeks.

Anyway, Gabe's BFF had his birthday party two weekends ago. They rented out an interesting place in Wichita. It's like an indoor playground with all kinds of padded play equipment and such. After giving the kids twenty minutes or so to experiment with all of the equipment, the two guys that worked there began some organized games and such. Well, "organized" might be a better way to put it.

I can't remember what they were doing here. Probably imagining self-actualization.

Then they all gathered in a "truth circle." Or something.

Honestly, I want to know what these two guys did to deserve the punishment of working in a place like this. They were both in their early 20s. Maybe it's a job they connected with as part of their degree programs in college. I'm not sure what that degree would be, though. Corrections officer? I would say Early Childhood Development might make sense, but besides getting a first-hand look at how a room full of 1-5 year olds act when confined to a smallish play area, I can't imagine there's much to be gleaned from a job like this. This job is about as close to my own personal hell as I can think of. But, then, someone must like the idea of wrangling two dozen or so other-people's kids, otherwise these places wouldn't exist. I think Norah had a bit of a crush on this guy, though. She tried to hang around him as much as possible.

Isometrics are very important.

Norah gave hanging out with the bigger kids a pass after a little while and spent some time in this tube. Cause tubes are fun, right? I find myself crawling into culverts all the time, just for kicks. So I clearly see the appeal.


I half expected to capture a trampoline disaster while I was recording here. But I didn't. Shortly after I stopped recording, though, Gabe made an interesting discovery. See that ramp in the background? I'm not sure what purpose it is meant for. Eventually some of the kids started doing "steamrollers" down it. Gabe, however, saw it as an excellent launching pad for the trampoline. I'm pretty sure, to his way of thinking, he would jump from that ledge, bounce off the trampoline, and begin to fly around the room. Or maybe he just thought he would jump from the trampoline across the room. But he wasn't quite coordinated enough even to pull off springing from the trampoline into the classic Broken Arm Pose off to the side. Instead, his legs kind of crumbled beneath him and he smacked his face pretty hard on the trampoline then bounced sadly a few times face down on the surface. To his credit, though, he stood right up and considered trying it again without so much as whining a little bit. The kid is tough, there's no denying that. Which is good considering his tendency towards self-destruction.

And then, a few days later, this happened. I am certain that this is something I should be concerned about for future reference. They both seem to have rather weird fixations right now. Gabe likes for Norah to squash him, and Norah loves to do it. I just hope it's a phase. A very weird phase. But a FUNNY weird phase. I have to say that.