Jumpin Jacks

It was birthday party time yesterday.  Owen Hope, my second cousin once removed (thank you Grandma for your genealogy lessons!  This would make him Harrison and Bennett's third cousin if you were wondering!), turned 4 and they celebrated with a party at Jumpin Jacks.  Jumpin Jacks is similar to Chuck-E-Cheese but instead of all the games they have mostly bounce houses and inflatable slides.  The boys had a great time.  Harrison was a whirlwind as he went from one thing to another and Bennett continues to be one of the funniest, most athletic children I have met.  He jumped and jumped and then would lose control and fall over.  Often times quite hard.  And then he would do it all over again.  He loved the slide and even got Harrison to help him up one of the bigger slides.  I thought all of this was fine until he
 started doing what the older kids were doing.  They would get a little bit of a running start at the top of this slide and then jump.  This jump would land them about halfway down the slide!
  Bennett didn't get quite that far but still he was a bit of a dare-devil.  It really scared me the first time I saw him do that.  And then he kept doing it!

After the party I took the fam out to eat at Stella's.  There used to be a Stella's in the Skywalk downtown and we (work-mates and such) would go there occasionally for lunch.  It closed a few years ago, but the one in Urbandale stayed open.  It was a lot of fun.  Stella's is a diner and they are known for their ice cream shakes.  I didn't get a picture, but when they brought us our Oreo Shake, they poured it into the glass by standing on a table and pouring it into the glass that Chris was holding on his face.  The boys got a big kick out it.  The waiter even poured a bite directly into Christopher's mouth!  That really made Harrison laugh!  Fun times!