Annie was invited to a birthday party this past weekend at one of those cool all-indoor kid play zones. It had a bounce house in one corner, train sets in another, tons of ride on cars, and a giant two-story clubhouse. The clubhouse had a ball pit, obstacle courses, swinging ropes, two slides, and several ways to climb to the top. It was so huge even adults could play inside. I’m not gonna lie, I wanted to go in it. Kid stuff these days is way cooler than it was when I was young.
At first Annie just wanted to climb the foam shapes.
Then she ventured over to where a bunch of toy cars were parked, and took each one for a test drive.
Her friend Meghan came over and persuaded Annie to join her in the ball pit.
The ball pit was pretty much the greatest thing that had ever happened to Annabel, and she put all her trust into Meghan.
She followed Meghan all over the play zone, which allowed Meghan’s mom Diane and me to drink coffee and talk.
Eventually, Meghan wanted to climb to the top of the clubhouse. Meghan called for her mom to climb to the top with her, and off they went. Annie watched them go, then grabbed my hand and said, “C’mon mama, let’s go!” YES! FINALLY we were going to play in the club house! Woo hoo!
We slowly made our way to the top, Annie wanting to do the climb unassisted except for those times when she wanted my help and how dare I not anticipate that! When we finally made it to the top, we discovered Diane and Meghan had waited for us. The girls played a little until Meghan announced it was time to slide. Annie and I watched Diane pull Meghan into her lap, and then they disappeared down the twisty tube slide. I knew there was NO WAY Annie was going to want to do that, so I started to plot our climb back to the bottom.
“Mama! Annie slide!”
“Annie, are you sure, it might be a little scar-”
“ANNIE SLIDE ANNIE SLIDE!!”
“Ooooookay!”
I sat at the top of the slide and lifted Annie into my lap. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket so I wouldn’t break it. I then realized I could take a video of Annie’s face as we slid so Mike could see it. I hit record and pushed off to let gravity do its thing.
This is probably one of my favorite videos of Annie ever (other than this one, which makes me laugh every single time). She goes from excitement to fear to TERROR to happiness in about five seconds. (Turn the sound down because I am shouting, “wheeeeee!” like a complete dork.)
When we got to the bottom Annie ran over to where Mike was sitting with Diane’s husband and said excitedly, “Dada! Annie slide, look!!” I then showed the guys the video I took and they cracked up. For the rest of the party, Annie would point to the clubhouse and talk about the slide.
Finally I said, “Annie, do you want to go on the slide again?”
She looked at me and her eyes got wide. She shook her head, then sat down on the floor.
“No mama. Annie sit.“
AmazingGreis says:
That video cracks me up. Her face is priceless!! Yay for being adventurous.
Heather says:
We used to have one of those play places here in town, but sadly the owner went bankrupt early last year. We still miss it!
I did the ‘wheeee’ thing too, when I used our underwater sports cam on the waterslides at a hotel last Christmas, other than my dorky voice, it’s kind of awesome to take the videos for later one.
Shan says:
I love that you thought to take the video! It’s priceless!
Michelle says:
Ha! Priceless. We were just looking through our videos and I came across one of my hubby and now-6-year old son at Disneyland when he was 3 and the hubby took him on Madderhorn for his first time. It’s hilarious and adorable to watch the complete terror in his face (especially with my goofy husband’s mouth wide open in the background “wheeeeeeing” like a dork, too) and a few time he just utters, “Mama” and at the very end of the ride states, “I need Mama WIGHT NOW.” (It was just a Daddy/son day trip for a few hours.)
Love videos like that.
Lanie says:
So fun! Love the video. I see many more slides and ball pits in Annie’s future :-). Take care.
Rebecca says:
My son is almost 5 years old and only just now going down slides. Annie is a brave girl.
Pattie says:
That video is awesome. I’m sure before you know it she’ll want to go on slides all the time.
Shannan says:
LOVE HER FACE!!! I seriously laughed out loud at my desk!
Trisha says:
So cute! I love the fact that she calls you Mama. My kiddo does that too instead of Mom or Mommy, I just think it sounds so cute when they say Mama for some reason.
You could see the relief when she realized it was over so fast and she could smile.
meoskop says:
LOVE the grimace.
My younger girl begged and begged to ride something at WDW when she was six. I finally gave in – she stepped off the ride, burst into hysterical sobs and screamed “Mommy!!! Why did you let me do that!!!” An moment later it was “I NEVER wanted to do that, that was the worst thing EVER” For the next hour, I was the Horrible Mother Who Terrorizes Children. Then she begged to do it again. Now she’s only held back by height requirements.
I totally know that face.
Sherry says:
Funny story, love her facial expressions! I clicked on your link of your other favorite video and was happy to see it was that one (Stuff Toddlers Say). I watched it again, and was just as entertained as the first time I watched it. SO DARN CUTE!!!!
Shannon says:
Love that look of terror (does that make me a horrible person? She’s just too darn cute!).
J from Ireland says:
Oh my God, that just made my day, she is the cutest little girl. I miss my kids at that age.
Jeanie says:
Annie sit. Ha! That video was priceless. I really must stop reading so fast. I read that the play zone had a pit bull in it instead of a ball pit.
Madeliene says:
I totally agree on your favorite videos of Annie! I personally love the phrasing, “Oh, Banana.” That catch phrase seems to perfectly sum up the way I feel some days.