Dog Days of Summer

The heatwave broke this week...finally.  For those of you snickering at my complaint of high 80's at the beach, please keep in mind that homes near the beach don't have A/C!

So while I relished the opportunity to put on my makeup without sweating like a piggy-piggy, I quickly figured out that my kids don't like swimming when the pool gets cold.  If you live in California, you know that  power bills are outta sight and we try not to heat the pool too often.

Thanks to a Living Social deal, I decided to take the kids over to Pump It Up! to burn off some energy during open play time.  Yes, my kids are a bit bigger, but they play very nicely with others and loved it.

Kids were very happy to jump, bounce and race around.  I loved the inherent safety of knowing they were in an enclosed space where I wouldn't lose them.(it's tiring always counting:  1...2........3 heads)

Big Sister gets a try

This was quickly replaced by "How High Can You Spin While Jumping?"

Even Big Bro loved it

They mostly had a great time.  I think my only reservation about the experience was that my kids were forced to sit through a "safety video" of the do's and dont's and I think they were the only ones in the play room that were aware there were rules (adults included!).  My kids take safety stuff kind of seriously and got really upset when kids were breaking the rules and even more upset when 7 year old kids were yelling, shoving and pushing my 9 and 10 year olds down.  I call that the "Communal Parenting Waiver".  Anytime there is a group of kids together, most parents immediately abandon any claim to their kids and assume that all the other parents there will be watching them and disciplining the kids for them.  Frustrating...but very common.

At least my kids knew better than to retaliate!  They get bonus points for showing incredible self-control today!