The Jump Yard

Our original plans for today consisted of going to an ice festival about 30 min away but because the wind child was -1, we opted for an indoor activity. I didn't really feel like risking hypothermia just to see people carve bears out of blocks of ice. But to celebrate our 3 day weekend, we wanted to try something new instead of the usual weekend play spots.

You'd think a city with long, cold winters would have tons of indoor playgrounds right? Well, apparently we don't. The nearest ones I could find were all 20+ min away, but with an entire day open, we plugged in an address on the Garmin and away we went.

I love watching kids at indoor playgrounds. Not in the creepy way, more in the amazement way of how different little ones can be. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that there 3 basic types of personalities that come out at these playgrounds.

A) The Hyenas

These are the crazy kids who can't even contain themselves enough to get their jackets off before sprinting to the nearest inflatable, knocking small children over along the way. Parental hyneas are generally on their cell phones 95% of the time and not concerned with the fact that their cubs just pushed a deer off the slide.

B) The Deer

These are the polite children that were taught manners of how to wait in line although their insides are bursting with excitement. They listen to their parents and mind rules but if you cross them or cut in line, they snap and will run for adult help faster than you can blink.

C) The Turtles

These are the kids who walk in tentatively, studying their surroundings and making conscious decisions before considering what to play with first. They don't over-excite and prefer not to get involved with the Hyenas, but can outsmart one any day of the week.

Any guesses on what Drew is?

If you guessed turtle, you're definitely an observant follower! Yep, my little guy is a one mellow man who's already showing major signs of being an introvert. I would have considered myself growing up to be a deer, but Derek was also more of a turtle. These two pees in a pod prefer to sit back and watch the craziness while finding an activity off where there wasn't a lot of fuss going on. Or at least solo activities like skeeball.

I consider Drew to be a very social baby, but a daredevil? Absolutely not. He's not one of those kids who will try anything and we had to bribe him for quite some time before he entered an inflatable bounce house, only to take one lap and nearly throw himself out.

The epitome of our time at the playground today was about 40 minutes in when someone spotted a train table. 20,000 square feet of inflatable fun surrounded by arcades, rides, slides and other money-sucking games and my little guy heads straight for the one activity where you sit and ponder. The one activity where brains overpower brawn. 

And this momma couldn't be more proud. My little turtle might not be the fastest toddler on the playground, or the most nimble, but in a battle of the brains, I think he'd be tough competition.