Our family has been working on anger recently -- rather we have been working on controlling our anger -- and finally filled our cotton ball jar with a month's worth of daily personal effort from each person, so the children got to pick a fun place for all of us to go together.
We ended up at "Main Event," an inside entertainment center with extensive rock climbing walls, laser tag, bowling, arcade, etc. The rock climbing was fabulous! Wish we'd brought a camera. Daniel wasn't tall enough, but everyone else tried it. Emma determined after about 60 seconds that it wasn't for her. Matthew took most of the half hour fighting his fear of heights, but by the end was doing very well. Josh and Isaac ate it up. ("Do you think I got more muscles, Mom?" Josh asked.)
Then the three older boys and Ben went over to play laser tag. Sadly, the equipment they were given was poorly constructed and barely functioning (ie: Ben's shooting accuracy was 384% and Isaac's vest wouldn't recharge for anything). After that, we discovered that the arcade was noisy and set up for you to pay out a lot in a hurry, although the center did have quite a few high-tech motion oriented games. So, by the time it was time to go, we were all VERY ready to leave.
We stopped at the store for milk and bread on the way home and picked up a small watermelon.
Eating a cool watermelon on a warm day outside (78 degrees right now) is far nearer to absolute bliss than that mega-entertainment center. Happy chatter and quiet slurping are music to my ears compared to the onslaught of raucous arcade action. I wonder if next time we have earned a family outing I can pick the "main event." We had a nice time today, but for next time, a walk in the hills and a watermelon would be heavenly.
3 comments:
Hmm, good point and well put. i'll remember this next time we're planning a special family day. I agree. My all time favorite family times are almost completely unplanned and inexpensive - we just happen upon them in our living room or back yard. :)
I bet a climbing wall is a dream come true for Isaac. It's interesting to see how they all reacted to it. I wonder if Daniel would've liked it if he had been old enough.
Ben, amazing accuracy score. You have mad skills.
And we're jealous of your 78 degree weather. . . We're so ready for spring! We love you all! :)
My favorite part, after I got over the initial scare (Matthew inherited much of his cautious nature from me!), was belaying down. It is a really neat feeling to be safely suspended and pushing off with your feet out into thin air!
The wall is almost 30 feet high and they say there is 8500 square feet of climbing space. Here's the web site with some pics, if you are interested: http://www.maineventusa.net/newsite/dialup/Austin/rockclimbing.html
I like belaying too. We had a climbing wall at Aspen Grove that I loved. I'm crazy weak though. . . My favorite part was standing at the top looking down at the kids coming up and encouraging them as they came. It was a really powerful experience.
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