'cause she's a wild and wacky child

When it's too cold and dark to walk outside in the evenings, we often walk in the mall. This is definitely not an ideal option, but it works well enough sometimes. For about a month from Thanksgiving until after Christmas, I refuse to go into the mall, though, because I'm anti-mall-Santa (I'll not get into that now, but you might now think I'm some horrible freak...sorry).

So, it'd been a while since we'd visited our local spending palace, but a few days ago, Cardo and I decided to give it a shot. (And, I have to say that at four days after Christmas, they had yet to dismantle the Santa set-up. I didn't see anyone dressed as the jolly old (giant) elf, but, really, the set-up was still there.) For the last several months, there's been a bungee-trampoline-experience set up in one of the many open areas. Basically, there's a giant trampoline and, over that, a structure that suspends many bungee cords. Kids wishing to bounce are strapped into what looks like a climbing harness and connected to a bunch of bungee cords, the number of cords determined by the weight of the child. I'm probably doing a horrible job of explaining this, but I hope you can picture it. After the kid has removed her shoes, she's strapped into the harness, connected to some bungees and begins jumping. The person operating the...ride (?), raises the cords, allowing the child to bounce higher. This is one of Pic's favorite treats ever.

Although the wait was wonderfully long tonight, Pic opted to sit and wait and have a turn to bounce. She was growing very antsy and grumpy near the end of her wait and I was thinking she might melt down and have to miss the ride. She held it together, though, and her demeanor changed the moment she was strapped in and ready to bounce. And, oh my, is my child a ham. That's not a question. She's definitely a little ham, and I love this about her. She was having fun entertaining the crowd of waiting kids and their accompanying guardians. When she struck a very serene-looking tree pose in the middle of a bounce, though, I was lamenting that I stodgily stand by my dinky old phone sans camera. We didn't get a picture of her mid-air yoga pose, but it's an image I probably won't forget anytime soon.

On a related side-note, we love the guy who runs the ride. (I really feel weird calling it a "ride" but I don't know how else to refer to it.) He's great with kids and he's always treated us well. And, if there's no line, as often is the case when we don't happen to hit the mall in the middle of winter break, he lets the kids stay up for much longer than the posted five-minute time limit.