Play Date: The Matrix

Play dates are still relatively new experiences for me and Jack. Until now we have only really done things with my sister and her kids. Which has been great, but has it's limitations since we live about 2 hours apart. 

As Jack continues to grow, I have felt more of a need to get him out playing with other kids and I need some mom friends in my life too. Thankfully there are a few other moms in our church life group and I have enjoyed getting to know them a bit better over the past year.

This morning Jack and I headed over to Huntsville to meet up one of our church friends and her twin girls at The Matrix in Huntsville. 

This was a first for me. I took gymnastics for a brief time in middle school, but I hurt myself doing a flip on a trampoline and kind of lost the taste for it. The Matrix is a huge gymnastics/tumbling/cheerleading and 24-hour fitness gym that offers a variety of classes for different ages. Lucky for us, it also has open gym time on Friday mornings for little kids.

Unfortunately we didn't get to go in the big gym with all of the trampolines. Since it was spring break, there were a lot of clinics going on for older children. We did get some time in a smaller gym and Jack had a blast.

It was $5 for an hour of play. There was an air track to run and bounce on. 

A foam pit to swing into (Jack is too small for the swinging part but he still jumping in the pit).

Uneven bars and low balance beams to try. Jack was really interested in the bars and he wanted to step over the beams. 

There were also two trampolines to play on as well as obstacles like a tunnel and wedged shaped mats to climb over or practice rolling on.

I didn't get much time to visit with my friend – all of the activities required a lot of supervision of Jack, but it was still a lot of fun and I am so thankful that we were invited to meet them.

Since our small town has very few offerings for kids (besides park playgrounds – which we love), I think we will start making a weekly drive over to Huntsville. Right now I am considering The Matrix every other week and Barnes and Noble for a free story hour on the off weeks. 

I'm still getting the hang of this mom thing and the whole idea of getting Jack out to do things that are fun for him. Plus it was nice to be able to run into Target and do a little shopping before heading home... it's the little things in life, right?