AdventurePlex: I kinda want to play there, too

Yes, my child is in there somewhere. I promise. Granted, she tried to lose me several times, but CC is definitely in there.

On Saturday, we drove down to Manhattan Beach for an open house at AdventurePlex -- a children's indoor/outdoor wonderland if there ever was one. I was almost waiting for Willy Wonka to pop out and offer the kids an endless supply of guilt-free sweets because it was that kind of kid-friendly experience.

There wasn't a fountain of chocolate, but there were $1 hot dogs. And, yeah, we doubled down on those.

The open house offered visitors free access to classes such as Moms & Daughters Yoga, Tae Kwon Do and AdventureTots. Guess which one we chose. (Truthfully, opting for the Meaningful Manners class wouldn't have hurt, either. Just sayin'.)

So I handed over $5 (under 3 years old), which covered two hours of free play in that mammoth structure you see above, plus a 1/2 hour session of AdventureTots.

When we arrived for the class in AdventurePlex's multipurpose room, CC didn't hesitate to start crawling through the collapsible tunnels, rolling around a few huge bouncy balls and basically just running free with the other tots.

I have to say, it's totally absorbing to watch your child in these situations, because you get to really see just how athletic or agile they really are. And I have to admit, my daughter is no slouch.

(Side note: One day the three of us were sitting on the couch, when CC decided to leap over the back side of it. She landed on her feet and just smiled at Ian and me. We were totally shell shocked on several levels, but mainly because it happened in an instant. Our first response: We do NOT leap over the couch! Our second response: Wow, that was really athletic. Our third response: Where did she get that, because it didn't come from either of us?)

During the open house, the AdventureTots instructor was available, but it was more of a Q&A opportunity than an actual class. So we didn't get to experience what it would be like for CC to focus on movement, listening skills and games -- which is what the class offers. Instead it was more of a free play. And the more I saw CC wanting to jump and run and chase babies who were just learning to walk, I decided the indoor chutes and ladders (rightly named the Adventure Room) was more up her energetic alley.

And, man, did she play. And play. And play.

At one point, I looked up -- literally craning my neck -- and thought, "What if I have to go up there and get her?" (Luckily, parents can crawl in there, too.) My other thought was, "She's rocking out, like, two stories above me. And she loves it!"

It took a little coaxing, but after some serious playtime, she did make her way down to the main floor, where her mother stood eyeballing every slide down the slide, every step down the stairs and every (quick) step through the indoor romper room.

And, let me tell you, nap time was a cinch.

AdventurePlex
1701 Marine Avenue
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
310-546-7708