Bounce, Bounce, Bounce.......

Again, I am a bit behind with the blog, sorry about that.  Just pretend when reading this that it is Friday of last week. ok? cool, lets begin...

Today was the School Bounce Day!! its what we have been waiting for, and finally it was upon us.

The day started in a typical fashion, dropped Megs at school and came back with the other two, I then dropped them at Ts house as Mr Mum had an interview! yes that's right, Mr Mum might have to hang up the buggy and nappies and head back to the office (for some well earned peace!!).  Fortunately, the interview was local, but a bit scary being interviewed by two women.  Although we soon turned the conversation to kids and schools etc so I was in my element! 1.5 hours later and drained, I left their office and picked Emms and Rosie up from Ts.  We then came home for a bite to eat and a power nap.

It was then off to Bounce Day!! For those of you who are unsure what I am on about, Bounce Day was created instead of the school having a typical Summer Fete.  The thought process being it would attract more people as it is after school instead of expecting people to come back at the weekend.  Well, this thought process was bang on - it was VERY busy!!

Let me paint you a picture.  The Bounce Day was on one of the school fields, and was open to both the infants and the junior schools.  It consisted at one end of a refreshments stand selling hot dogs, hamburgers etc, with a lovely Pimms tent next to it and a sweets / popcorn stand for the little people.  There was also a bounce castle for the under 5s which Rosie loved.

At the other end of the field was a collection of bouncy castles never before witnessed, there was a bungee rope bouncy castle, assault course bouncy castle, massive slide bouncy castle to name but a few.  The kids were in their element! In between the bouncy castles and the refreshment stands were some Mumsters trying to take it easy on a picnic blanket with the rest of the parents running frantically between the two areas looking for lost kids.  The distant shouts of "anyone seen my child?" and "who's getting the pimms?" could be heard all afternoon. 

So how did it work I hear you ask? Well,  £5 gets you a wrist band for access all areas. So Megs and Emms got one (Rosie was too small) and off they went.  Not to be seen for 3 hours! They had a ball, running between bouncy castle and bouncy castle with their mates H, I, C, K, K and A.  Admittedly, due to the success of the day, queuing times were between 5-10 mins with the exception of the bungee bouncy castle, where we queued for somewhat longer, but it didn't matter, the kids had a great time - and to be frank, that's all that mattered.**

The only slight issues we had during the afternoon tended to be with other parents, who felt their little "treasures" had the god given right to push to the front of the queue.  Well done to S for taking a stand on this!!

However the biggest problem of the day wasn't the queues, the bouncy castles or even the fact J and I promised H and M a hot dog but they had run out by the time we went to get them! No, the biggest problem was my flip flops! they broke - disaster! so I spent the afternoon bare footed!

Anyway, after an enjoyable 3 hours the castles started to close, so it was time to go home.  J,S,H and C came back to our house for tea so we could provide the promised hot dogs they longed for and gave the adults a chance for a beer and to watch yet another Brit crash out of Wimbledon at the Semi-Final stage - when are we ever going to win the blooming thing!! The Ns left about 8pm and I put our kids to bed - they were cream crackered!

So all in all a good day and a great Bounce Day - roll on the next one..........stay bouncy everyone


Footnote:

**just a footnote on Bouncy Day.  There has been a lot of negative feedback after the event from Parents who were there and some who were not (quite why they feel they can give any sort of feedback amazes me).  I think the negative feedback was unjustified.  Alright, it was busy but the kids didn't care - they loved it and to be honest, that's all that mattered.  Also,  for £5 it was a bargain so well done School and the PIPF / PTA and all the other organisers - looking forward to next year! PS for the mums who asked for a refund during the afternoon - hang your heads in shame, the money goes to your kids school, so you are disadvantaging your own kids for goodness sake! So I now request you think about this and take the £5 back to the school tomorrow with an apology.  Anyway, rant over.