Airbound Trampoline Park #Greensboro

Our twins are about to turn 6.  The first four years of their lives Darren and I celebrated them as a unit. They came into the world together and I never considered celebrating them individually. Their birthdays were always unisex and it was awesome, but when they turned 5, I thought they would enjoy a personal celebration.  Sometimes, I have to be intentional about celebrating them as individuals.  Last year, Lilah had a SPA Party and Jax went to the Great Wolf Lodge with his best buddy Cohen, to celebrate his special day!  As their 6th birthday is nearing, I am giving a lot of consideration into what the best gifts to buy them are, but birthday parties are very low on the radar.  Lilah has requested to have a sleepover with 2 older girls and 1 of her closest friends for her birthday, so that is what we are doing. For Jax, we chose to surprise him with a visit/road trip to the Airbound Trampoline Park, in Greensboror.  We planned the trip about a week prior to telling the kids. We told them the Friday before we went.  At the last minute, I decided to invite Carlene and the girls, but we NEVER told the kids they would be meeting us there. Before arriving to Airbound, we treated the kids to Subway.  We ate as a family and then as we got ready to leave, look who just happened to walk in the door.... Can you spot "Cee Cee"?  She had a big smile and was giving the twins the look of "SURPRISE!"

Lilah was trying to use the potty, right as they were arriving.  I was trying to stall her and she was getting really upset with me saying, "I realllllly have to go the bathroom."  LOL!  I said, "Can I just ask you ONE question?" She said, "What mom, hurry?!?!" I said, "IF you look out the window, do you see anything or anyone you know?"  Haha

Ty exclaimed, "I KNEW IT! I knew they were coming." No he didn't.

Loads of smiles, laughter, hugs, and kisses ensued.  

Everyone greeted each other and then....

Off to Airbound we went!

I tried hard to capture ONE good photo of the 5 of them before they all ran in seperate directions, but it was not as successful as I had hoped.  Half looking, half NOT looking.

Salene loves Ty.  I think he's as good as a big brother to her.

Salene helps Lilah take a peak at the other guests jumping.

The park is divided into four sections.  Jax and Tyson's FAVORITE section was the trampoline "Dodgeball". They stayed in that section for more than half the time.

Ty trying to dodge someone, possibly his little brother.  He has gives no mercy.  

Jax was so brave.

Carlene was so good about grabbing the camera from me, so I could actually be in some photos.  I sure wish Lilah was in this pic. We were in line to play dodgeball.  

Leecie and the girls spent MOST, if not all, of their time in the "youth court" and a little bit of their time in the large foam pit.  

I even joined in on the fun!

In the foam pit section, you run or jump on a trampoline and then jump into a foam pit.  Ty was brave enough to flip into the foam pit, but the younger kids just jumped into it.

Darren is SUCH a BIG KID! I love that about him.

It was nice to spend the day with my children and my little sisters.  

Darren's favorite section was the Slam Dunk area.  It took Darren a little while, but he eventually figured out how to literally dunk the ball.  He said, "It's NOT as easy at it looks!"

After jumping, the kids shared a ICEE from the concession stand.  1 ICEE and 3 straws and a WHOLE LOT OF LAUGHTER.

I love the photo below!

Goal: To exhaust the kids to the point of passing out, so our car ride home would be peaceful.  Mission accomplished. 

I think it's safe to say the kids had a blast.  IF YOU PLAN TO GO, BE SURE to reserve your jump time because jump time does sell out.  The lady at Airbound, when we checked in, said "It's a good thing you reserved jump time because we JUST sold our last jump ticket for the 1:00 pm slot." It costs $10 per hour, per person, to jump! We jumped for two hours since our drive was long.  If you didn't see enough of our fun, be sure to double click on the Picasa Web Photo Album or videos below.

A Visit To A Pumpkin Patch At Christmas Time!

Carlene was really excited to share the Christmas Pumpkin Patch experience with us at Hill Ridge Farms, over the weekend. We didn't 100% plan on it because we had a few other ideas in mind, but we did wind up going.  It was a REALLLLLLLLY cold night and we were NOT properly dressed.  Fortunately, Carlene had a hug bag of clothes, in the back of her van, so if you see Jax in a girl's coat or Ty is his Poppy's sweat shirt, that's why! During the Month of December, Hill Ridge Farms has what's called the "Festival Of The Lights". The patch has a crazy amount of Christmas lights/decor, turning it into a magical celebration of Christmas cheer.  

I love how the hay had a Christmas scene painted on it.  During the Fall, a Fall theme is usually painted on the hay! You can see Saleece and Lilah walking through the beginnings of the lite up pumpkin patch.

We were able to do several things that evening, that was included in the cost of our ticket prices. First up, the Giant Mountain Slide.... I apologize for the poor footage.  I was having a hard time with my lighting.

 Below is Carlene and Leecie heading up for a ride!

 As they say, "What goes UP, must come down!"

 Sorry Darren!  That is ONE bitter-sweet shot.  Bitter that Darren's face was left out, sweet that these children are having the time of their lives.  

 YES....I EVEN rode it! It's hard resisting LEECIE!

 Next up, we waited in line to meet Santa!

For anyone that reads our blog and doesn't know... the two little girls with my daughter, Lilah, are my sisters. I bought them all matching outfits for our yearly visit to Santa tradition.

Photo with Santa.  We started this tradition 5 years ago and have only missed ONE year!  

Telling Santa what they want!  Leecie is afraid of Santa, so she stood farther away!

 Wagon Hayrides Through The Festival Of The Lights!

Bonfires & Kettle Corn! Oh how I was so very grateful for the bonfires.  I failed to wear socks and I truly felt frost bite coming on!

Other items we ran out of time to enjoy were the smores, hot chocolate, and the train ride.  

We had to zoom through Hill Ridge to be back in time for the Tech-UVA game, but it was probably a good thing.  I didn't wear socks and I almost got frost bite.  So thankful for Leecie's extra pair of socks AND the hot bonfires.

Our goal was for the kids to pass out and the adults to watch the Tech-UVA game in silence.  Mission accomplished...well sorta.  ONE BIG kid fell asleep, while the other BIG kid stayed up. Look below. You'll see what I mean.

 It was a DEFINITE intense game! TECH WON!!!!

It was an eventful day to say the least.  We also took the kids to Chick-Fil-A and Five Below to pick out their gingerbread house surprises!!!! It's always an challenge taking one kid, much less FIVE kids, into a store where ALL things are $5 and BELOW!