Bouncy Bouncy

Oh my god, bouncing around on a trampoline wreaks havoc on your legs. I think because you’re just messing around, having a laugh you don’t even notice. Until the next day that is, when stairs become the enemy.

I’m going to pop a little disclaimer in here that this post is Boomerang heavy because these places are built for being silly. As if to prove my point, here’s one of my face.

I’d driven past the Better Leisure Centre on Hornsey Road loads of times on my way to my friends’ house. I’d never really given it much thought. It just looks like a smallish gym with some outdoor courts next to it. Well, it’s holding a pretty big secret. Upstairs, there is a pretty huge trampoline park.

Tom, Cece and I went down there* to see what all the fuss was about and had a brilliant evening. So much so that when we stopped for some food Cece refused to eat because she wanted to get back to it. She wasn’t happy about it and has asked to go back to the “bouncy hall” a few times since. In fact, I’m starting to feel a bit guilty now that I haven’t taken her back. Once I’ve finished this post I’m going to have to check out when the next toddler bounce session is.

Now, I’m not the most fearless person when it comes to doing physical things. So I was quite happy bouncing around on the flat trampolines and acting silly, falling into the foam pit from ground level. Tom is much more adventurous than me though. He spent some time working out how best to use the vertical trampolines to get the most air and do the biggest flips. He also headed straight up to the raised platform to fling himself into the huge foam pit. He did convince me to have a go at this a bit later. It took a lot for me to go through with it. It was deceptively high! Then I went and got myself a bit stuck. Let me give you a little tip here and now. You may think your jeans are stretchy and super comfortable, they’re also like velcro in those foam pits and will make your exit from them much more difficult and incredibly embarrassing. Consider that nugget of information a present from me to you!

As well as being adventurous and trying to do the biggest flip he could, Tom was loving the basketball hoop. He was living out his dreams of smashing a slam dunk. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy.

I think my favourite part if the park was the sectioned off dodgeball arena. Tom and I took great pleasure in launching balls at each other trying to catch the other one. Cece also thought it was a lot of fun trying to rescue the balls after we threw them at each other. I don’t know how long an actual game of dodgeball is supposed to last, but after about three minutes I was shattered!! There were two sections in the park that we didn’t have a chance to try out sadly. The first was the tube slide down into the foam pit. Cece was so desperate to try it out but she was just a little bit too small. We had to tell her that it was closed and make sure she didn’t see anyone coming down it. She doesn’t quite understand just yet that she’s a bit too little for some things.

The other part was swipy arm thing reminiscent of Total Wipeout. Sadly, it was out of order when we went. If it had been working I’m not convinced I’d have managed more than one round if I got over it even once. But it would have been funny to try!

Tom has already talked about leaving Cece at home (not on her own, obviously) and going back with his brother and sister. They’re all pretty active and lunatics so they’d have a great time flinging themselves around the place.

There are loads of trampoline parks at Better Leisure Centres across the UK. Just look for the Better Extreme logo. They also have the facilities to hold birthday parties there. Yep, I’m seriously considering it for Cece’s 3rd birthday… or, you know, my 35th!

*We were invited to Islington Better Extreme trampoline park for review purposes but all thoughts, words and aches and pains are my own.