Happy birthday monkey

Today my boy turned 8. Wow, where has the time gone?!

We may be on the road, and far away from Alberta, we’re not far from family. Grandma Bonnie & Grandpa Ken took us all out for supper last night, as they had to hop a plane early this morning. Morgan got a birthday brownie & ice-cream, complete with the waitress singing him happy birthday! 

Today texts, e-cards, pre-prepared cards from both sets of grandparents & my sister, and Skype calls let everyone know how much he’s loved (just in case he didn't know already!). 

He got a new Wii game (which he just had to play before breakfast), and I baked him his requested strawberry cake – under Lily’s watchful eye. We plowed through our school work, had lunch and then were off to Sky Zone indoor trampoline park, a short drive away from the campground. We had noticed the sign on the way in on Monday, and I immediately thought of Morgan.  He has always loved trampolines, and would jump on them whenever and wherever we found them (as our neighbour in Airdrie could attest!).  Ever since he was little, I have taken him to gymnastics, and he always enjoyed the trampoline & especially the foam pit. Our last session of gymnastics before moving was at the Flip-Factory in Calgary, which had a bunch of trampolines. Every time Morgan jumped he had such a huge smile on his face. Anyway, back to today. 

So, off we went. We planned to go during their “happy hour” so the kids could jump at a discount price.  Upon arriving we discovered that it was Homeschool Friday, meaning an extra discount – score! And, since it was his birthday, he would get 50% off anyway. Extra score! We were coming anyway, but it was extra nice to get in for less. The kids and I jumped & played while Bob watched.  I’m not sure if it was busy because it was a homeschool special, but there were plenty of parents and children of all ages there at 2:30 in the afternoon.

This place is fun! There are several sections to play in. The main area has multiple interconnected trampolines, and even ones on the walls the bounce off of. Whee! The only thing I didn't quite like was that this area was divided into ages/ sizes. I know it’s to prevent crashes, but it meant I couldn't jump with my monkeys. Morgan & Lily both tried to call me over, but the attendant made sure everyone stayed in their allotted sections.

The foam zone has four trampolines off the edge where you could jump into the pit filled with foam blocks. Morgan did flips and twists into the pit, while Lily jumped as far as she could. I got brave and did some flips into the pit too (which was great fun as soon as I realized it was softer than jumping onto my bed, and it earned me compliments from both kids).

Another section had two longer trampolines which led up to padded basketball nets – one high and one lower. With a foam basketball, Morgan jumped along the track and tossed the ball toward the net, hoping to get it in.  I don’t think he’ll ever become a great basketball player, but he sure had fun!

An hour proved to be more than enough for the birthday boy, and he powered out a bit before the hour was up.We headed back to the trailer, Lily & I iced the cake and then she and her brother decorated it with every kind of sprinkle I had with us (which was a lot!). After supper Bob took the kids over to the pool for an evening swim, before munching on cake and calling it an evening. I didn't ask him directly if he had a good day, but the tired smile on his face as he snuggled into bed for the night hopefully meant he did.  

Below are two really cute videos of the kids at Sky Zone.