Big Bounce New Castle

Being new to a state and region of the country makes it tough for families to find things to do. Thank the stars for groupon because it has helped me immensely.We have purchased a few groupons over the course of the past 4 years and it has given us the opportunity to not only find fun places that we may otherwise have not known about, but if we didn't end up liking the place, we weren't out too much money.

We recently went to Big Bounce in New Castle. I was afraid that it would be one bounce house in someone's garage, because that's just how I think. But I was pleasantly surprised. They have 5 bounce houses set up in a large warehouse type room and one is only for children 4 and under. The entire area is matted and there is a place for parents to sit. Just outside the berm, but in the same room, they have tables and a small arcade.

While we were there, they popped some free popcorn and we purchased $1 juice pouches for the kids. Our girls played for two straight hours! They had a bunch of fun. I got to sit and embroider and my husband played around on his phone. I would have worn socks if I had known that parents are welcome in the bounce houses as well.

We had an afternoon of fun and my children have asked to go back already.  Make sure you bring socks and be prepared for thirsty children!

An Adventure to Metamora, Indiana.

There's a small town in Southern Indiana that is so sweet and quaint. It's an 1800's town called Metamora and we had a chance to go there for Mother's Day a few years back.

We started our adventure in Connersville, Indiana. We decided to take a scenic train ride down on the Whitewater Valley Railroad. It was a chilly day, but they had a cute store and museum areas for us to wait for the train.  Since it was a Mother's Day trip, we splurged and spent the extra money to ride in the caboose.

The girls climbed up to look out of the higher windows. It was nice because we shared the caboose with the Railroad employee and an older couple. My only regret was that we couldn't hear the 'tour' on the way down. It sounded like the conductor was pointing out places of interest during the trip, but the sound connection wasn't the greatest. Which was nice on the way home, because my youngest was able to nap in silence. ;)

We ate lunch in the sweetest little place, owned by the sweetest couple. The town has a few different places to eat, shop and explore.

My girls loved running across bridges, looking at the ducks and sitting on all the cute benches.

There is a Grist Mill to explore, which is powered by a waterwheel.

Part of the charm of going to Metamora is that pieces of the 1800's canal are still intact. You can see remnants on the train trip down, and a large intact section is still used today for horse pulled boat rides. The horses were so sweet.

We visited a few antique shops, a few candy shops and had so much fun. We brought home hand made fudge and a few items that I had to have. It was a wonderful Mother's Day excursion and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun day trip. Metamora has festivals and holiday events. Whitewater Valley Railroad also puts on special train events throughout the year.

We will be going again soon!