Laser Tag

Sunday afternoon I took the monkeys to C's LaserQuest party. It was a ten-year-old party, but the monkeys got an invite under the "Our Parents are Friends of the Birthday Boy's Parents" clause. Having spent the better part of 2008 playing Legos Star Wars on the Wii, they were stoked to be going to a laser tag party.

"Can we bring our light sabers?" Satchel asked excitedly.

"Uh no," I said.

"What about our swords?" Jiro asked.

"You won't need that stuff," I explained. "You'll get a gun."

"COOL!" they screeched in unison.

Ah, little boys.

Once we got there and they saw all of the big boys (and girls), their enthusiasm waned a bit as they realized they were both little fish in a very big sea. Warren was home painting the kitchen (yay!), so it was up to me to boost their egos enough to participate.

I was told that I could go in with them, so I did. I tried to get Satchel in his light-up vest, but he refused. I held it as the three of us squatted near the entrance and watched the other kids play. After a few minutes, I handed Satchel the gun and encouraged him to try and shoot it.

Once he did he got interested in actually going in to play, but he didn't want to wear the big, heavy vest.

So, what's a mom to do?

I wore the vest, Satchel held the gun, and Jiro served as our scout. It was actually pretty fun. I laughed as Satchel acted out tactical moves from his beloved video game and Jiro enthusiastically alerted us to enemy fire. Of course just as soon as we were all getting into it, our time was up.

But, there was a second round!

We chose our code name to be Anakin and wasted no time suiting up. The three of us moved as one tight unit through the day-glo terrain. Because the gun could stretch a good ten feet from the vest, we had quite an advantage. I could safely hide behind a wall as Satchel shot passersby. There were about thirty kids (and one very enthusiastic dad, not RJA) in the second round and it was a bit crazy.

Yes, we lost Jiro.

Normally when Jiro gets separated from me he uses his amazing lung capacity to make his whereabouts known. There was no such option in the very loud and dark laser tag arena. Satchel and I frantically tried to find him as infrared shots flared at us from all sides. Suddenly the game had taken on a sinister angle.

We had no luck locating him in our immediate area, so I determined he had been captured--hopefully by an ally--and led to safety near the entrance. I steered Satchel toward the front where we found JP, codename Ninja Tiger, guarding the door.

"Have you seen Jiro?" I asked.

He looked over both shoulders, hunched down with his gun, and said, "Caleb has him."

Caleb is a big kid at Satchel & Jiro's school. Relieved, I asked, "Where are they?"

Ninja Tiger motioned toward the western blockades and then took cover behind a wall. Satchel and I headed west where we soon found Caleb & Jiro. Jiro was balling his eyes out and Caleb was doing his best to console him. It was very sweet to see such kindness during wartime.

I gave Jiro a big hug, effectively covering the targets on my vest, and calmed him. Soon he was ready to resume fighting.

Team Anakin placed 11th out of 29. Not bad at all.

During the cupcake portion of the party, Caleb was coming to terms with his seventh place finish. "I was winning until I had to rescue Jiro," he said.

"Well, you are #1 in my book," I said.

Sorry Aunt Katherine, I was relying on Chip to be there with his camera!