Kidapalooza 2010

We are officially recuperating from Kidapalooza 2010!
Last week our house was abuzz with 5 little boys between the ages of 2 and 6. We were outnumbered 5 kids to 3 adults as my best friend Sue and her three boys, ages 6, 4 and 2 visited us in North Carolina. It was an absolute riot! :)

A few of the highlights for the boys:

• Staying the night in a hotel with a pool enroute from MI to NC.
• Visiting the newly renovated Discovery Place
• Chuck E Cheese
• Monkey Joe's (a place full of bounce houses)
• The Monster Buster Club theme song dance party (I wish I could post the video!)
• Playing in the backyard inflatable pool, in the front yard, at the park
• 4 boys racing on Mario Cart for the Wii together

The biggest highlight for the adults:

• Naptime!

Admittedly, going into this, I had visions of the adults staying up late, enjoying adult beverages, talking about grown-up things, maybe watching a movie or two. I figured naptime would be much of the same. In reality, I think we were more tired than the kids. We adults also napped each day and promptly went to bed not long after the boys each night. I think I'll be catching up on sleep for a while.

Despite how tiring this vacation-week was, I loved being around their youthful energy. Even more, I loved seeing the boys enjoying the chance to play together again. As someone that often moved away from childhood friends, it was nice to see that the distance between them these last nine months has not diminished the bonds of friendship that they share.

I may be tired, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.... maybe next year we expand the invitation list to 7 or 8 kids! :)

*note: to protect the online privacy of those kids that are not mine, I have excluded pictures of their faces. In case you wonder why I posted pics of only the backs of their heads. :)