Monkey BOUNCE!

So last night my Monkey and I had a ton of fun together. Well, as together as it gets for us anyway. There's a group here in town that is I guess a support group for parents with kids on the spectrum. My sweet friend Kathy got me to a meeting a few months ago. I didn't really dig it, but this month Kathy was organizing the event and MAN did she choose a fab place for it!

Instead of a meeting where we sit and listen and then socialize some while our kids (if we brought them) are entertained in another room we all met at The Bounce. If you're not from around here you probably don't know what The Boune is. Here's a quote from their brochure:

"THE BOUNCE! is a 12,500 square foot party facility featuring your favorite inflatable castles, obstacle courses, huge slide, rock walls, and more, all in a safe, climate controlled environment."

My sweet Monkey bounced and slid himself silly. It was such a treat to get to see that joy on his face for such a long period of time. The owners (Mike and Betty Pinney - you rock!!!) kept the place open late for our group. We were there from 6:30-8:30 and from 7:00 on it was just our kids. I lost track of all the smiles. All the parents were relaxed and visiting. I ran into a guy I used to work with a lifetime ago who has two kids on the spectrum. Small world I guess. It was fabulous. Monkey would periodically look around for me and with a wave from Mom was off again. I'm seriously thinking this is THE place to have his b-day party.

I thought he would zonk out on the way home, but I guess he was a little overstimulated. I had to carry him to the car because he couldn't stop the tippy toe arm flap dance long enough to walk. So, we hit the grocery store together before we headed home. I had a hard time convincing him that I needed to pay for the turkey pepperoni before we could open it. I finally convinced him and then he forgot about it. He had a few minutes of time with his Daddy when we got home and then it was off to bed. He asked for "snuggle Mommy" and I of course obliged. It didn't last long though. One he got still his little body called it quits and with a softly spoken "OK. Bye bye now." he drifted off to sleep.

What a fabulous way to spend an evening. Just me and my Monkey experienceing joy together. So, maybe we weren't interacting so much, but he had joy from all the slides and bouncing and I had joy watching his face light up and that smile that stretches out a mile wide. I'll take a little parallel joy any day! Thanks you Kathy and thank you THE BOUNCE!