I had the ridiculous idea of moving house in the summer holidays. Surely, I thought, it would be a fun little adventure with the kids? They could help to pack, sort through their stuff Kon Mari style (a popular declutter technique) and we could have some family time cleaning…
Plus Jasmine and Arianna (my daughters) would then be settled in our new home before starting back at nursery and school in September.
Oh how I was wrong!
Only now do I realise that my ideas were so absurd. One, the kids have no interest in decluttering or cleaning. Two, we haven’t found a house to move in to so we’re going back with the in-laws (for the 3rd time – boomerang generation!). Three, the house is becoming dirtier rather than cleaner as the summer goes on.
We’ve had workmen in doing major drilling stuff so the kids and I are covered in brick dust with no electricity and just a few toys left to play with.
And as ever with kids, we don’t have the right toys nor the correct shades of summer dresses available as everything else is in boxes or at the charity shop.
Oh and what, no TV? Cue major breakdowns from my two daughters. And whilst I try to rationalise the situation (i.e. #firstworldproblems – yes my brain now thinks in hashtags), I can’t help but feel overwhelmed and stressed by the situation.
So I have still had to get out of the house with the little tinkers and I am so glad we did as I too felt on the cusp of throwing a tantrum.
The perfect distraction from our dusty and chaotic dwelling was Oxygen Free Jumping at Cardigan Fields on Kirkstall Rd in Leeds.
The trampolining centre has taken over what was Control nightclub (my last outing to this club was for a daytime baby rave with Boomchikkaboom – the closest thing I get to a night out these days) and it’s a pretty darn fabulous place.
We had come for PJ Masks ‘Jumping Adventures,’ which is a daily session based on Entertainment One’s hit preschool show.
After the girls had put on their special yellow socks and watched the introduction video – they were off to the trampolines.
Jasmine, Arianna and their friend Ava had lots of fun playing games, winning stickers and, ultimately doing lots of bouncing.
The PJ Masks themed games saw the kids test out their super hero poses, jumping into an air bag and collecting objects. The activities are designed to help agility, strength and flight.
The park is made up of lots of different sections with tons of trampolines which we explored whilst playing the PJ Masks games.
I loved joining in too as the girls went wild jumping and dancing especially when the music from the film Frozen blasted out.
There is however a large viewing area and café for those who don’t fancy so much jumping around.
The main problem we had was trying to get the girls to leave but we managed to bribe them with our next activity – a sand art class at Angels and Butterflies in Garforth.
The special summer sessions take place until Saturday September 3 and children aged 5 or under will be able join in and express their inner hero.
The PJ Masks ‘Jumping Adventures’ sessions are from £4 per person exclusively at Oxygen Freejumping parks across the country including Acton, Croydon, Leeds, Manchester, Southampton and Wigan. Adult supervision is required.
For more information, go to: www.oxygenfreejumping.co.uk
Where are your favourite places to go this summer? Comment below or tweet us @LeedsNews @MamaMeiBlog – you may appear in one of our Summer blogs or vlogs for Yorkshire Evening News.
For more family blogs, go to: MamaMei.Co.Uk or facebook.com/mamameiblog
Disclaimer: This is a collaborative post therefore I received free entry in return for a review.