Monkeying Around

Hope everyone had an awesome holiday and has recovered (at least partially) from the madness of it all. We are decidedly in the post-celebration phase of winter vacation and looking for fun!

I have completely not been following my own advice this week and we have been completely winging it. After approximately 47,000 hours of MarioCart on the new Wii, we (I) decided it was time to get out of the house.

The need to get out, combined with Tater jumping around the house like a lunatic, led me to believe that a place with moonbounce-type entertainment would be the way to go.

After considering several local alternatives, we chose Monkey Joe's in Pottstown. Strangely, their website is www.monkeyjoesphilly.com - although they are seriously REALLY far from Philly.

Located in the "Suburbia Shopping Center" on Route 100, essentially an oasis of commercialism in the middle of nowhere, Monkey Joe's, unlike many similar establishments, is brightly lit, with huge windows in the "parent lounge" area (with massage chairs and free WIFI!!) The facility is relatively new - they have probably been there about a year - so everything is nice and clean and new.

There are referees who monitor the kids (although I still can't quite allow myself to plop in front of the big screen TV (!) and watch Judge Joe while the kids are playing). Everyone seemed to be playing nicely with no major catastrophes looming on the horizon.

I really liked that they had a wristband system where kids and parents are tagged upon entry with matching numbers and no one can leave with a kid unless the numbers match. I am frantic that way :) Something about Chuck E. Cheese makes me think child predators are lurking in every corner, this felt very safe to me.

The kids bounced and slid for 2 hours, only taking a break to recharge with some scary Spongebob popsicles. Ahhh...the joys of artificial color and flavor molded into the shape of a cartoon character!

There was a moment when Mr. Monkey Joe himself (creepy - see picture above) made an appearance and I thought Tater might lose it. But he held himself together surprisingly well and even waved from afar. I think we have turned a corner in the realm of dressed-up things. Not quite Disney ready, but possibly less likely to run screaming from Chik-Fil-A if the cow makes an appearance. Good stuff!

Monkey Joe's is offering 1/2 price admission on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day - and they have lots of special things going on during the week - magic shows, story times, etc. I would highly recommend checking out Monkey Joe's if the kids need to get out and let off some steam while it is cold outside!

A great place to get your bounce on!