Anyway, rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. It's the top story on the news (BREAKING NEWS!!!! IT'S RAINING IN JULY!!), and it's the top story in our house (IS IT STILL RAINING, MAMA? WHY? DOES THE ICE CREAM TRUCK STILL COME IF IT'S RAINING? WHY NOT? HOW WILL WE GET OUR ICE CREAM??!). It's particularly bad when it rains on the weekends, because it wrecks our plans to get the whole family into the great outdoors.
There's a lot of writing and talking going on about how little contact kids have with the natural world, and some of it is pretty compelling. We even live in an urban area with a ton of green space, and it still feels like the boys aren't really experiencing the freedom of the outdoors all that much. So, we've identified two kid-friendly, easy hikes with good payoffs (i.e. natural water slides, waterfall you can swim in) that we want to do this summer, and we have several planned trips to a nearby organic farm for vegetable picking (they won't eat the vegetables, but whatever. That's another issue).
But of course, rain. By yesterday we had exhausted our indoor options (dropping them off at the grocery store playroom -- yes, free childcare while you shop! woo!; going to the library; making cookies; crafts; fighting), and I was sorely tempted to push that "continuous play" button on their Franklin the Turtle DVD. But no, that would be bad parenting. So what did we do??? Can you guess? We went to.....
Funtasia.
Yes, Funtasia. We jumped in the car and headed twenty minutes into the suburbs to check out what was billed as "over 25,000 square feet of fun." OK, so this is what it was like: combine the carpeting, smell, neon lights, and vibe of a 1970s roller rink with the video game nirvana of Chuck E. Cheese (minus the chuck and the cheese). Then add in some of the tackier elements of a rural amusement park (bumper boats, miniature golf, pimply teenaged ride operators). There. You have Funtasia. Oh yeah, there was also the thing that drew us to this pleasure palace in the first place: a huge climbing structure for the kiddie set. This thing included a bouncy house, an obstacle course, a big twisty slide, and a winding habitrail tunnel system that connected all the pieces together. All this for $6.95.
We were there for hours. HOURS. The rain poured down, the kids jumped and ran, and Michael and I sat on a bench, so grateful for the reprieve.
I bring this up, because I was just reading that the National Wildlife Federation has started the "Green Hour" program, which is supposed to combat the "nature deficit" that kids today face. When you go to their website (greenhour.org), you find that outdoor play makes kids smarter, more creative, less stressed, and more respectful. Huh. Well, do me a favor, OK? Call up Mother Nature and tell her to turn off the giant faucet in the sky, or else I'm going to drag my kids to this syrupy, plastic, capitalistic, indoor fun factory every single day. Who can argue with this:
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So you all can guess that we're not too happy about the weather for the past week. Before anyone comments that the post contradicts the earlier one giving reasons to visit us, you should know that we're headed back to our normal 75-80 degree summer days that will make those of you in hot, muggy climates seethe.
Ah, Funtasia. A place where kids can accumulate a thick film of sweat and drag their parent-types through the kid-sized obstacle course to help push them over the rope-climbing wall. Green has already declared that we need to go back twice a year. Then he decided that 10 times per year would be better. Then it was 9. The point is, we're apparently going back someday.
But only if it rains.
Oh man can I sympathize. A couple of weekends ago, SkyGirl was invited to a birthday party at Stunning Sam's (name changed to protect the tacky). The place was Chuck E. Cheese on steroids. It had just about everything you described at Funtasia, plus go-kart racing, miniature golf and a ten-lane cosmic bowling alley.
There were three redeeming things about SS. 1) We didn't have to pay. As party guests, we all got in free and partook of the not-so-awful buffet that had actual vegetables: a major step up on Chuck E. 2) SkyGirl is still too young to really know that she's supposed to put money in the video games. She's quite content with the seductive prologues to each machine. 3) They served beer. I didn't actually order one, but was very comforted by the fact that if things got any worse, I could shell out the $6 for a Bud Light.
And quit bitchin' about the rain. You can send kids out in the rain. What do you do when it's 117 out?
Oooh! Beer! That would have made all the difference.
Michael was right. The sun came back today. No more bitching for me (at least for a few minutes).
> Beer! That would have made all the difference.
We have come so far since college.
Come to think of it, that had a funky smell too.
College itself had a funky smell, or the beer had a funky smell? Or both?
Remember the grape juice/unknown alcohol combination that was served out of garbage cans at NMQ dances? That managed to straddle the thin line between smelly and really good!
That's why I learned to drink beer. Safer than the mystery punch. Thanks for bringing me back Jennifer, I hadn't thought about those parties in a while.
Judy
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