Pump it Up: A Family-Fun, New Year's Eve 2009 Event in Baltimore

Year after year we find ourselves at home with cocktail wieners, sparkling cider and at least two kids asleep on the floor waiting for the new year to arrive. This year, I am determined to make it more memorable for all of us.

Sure I'd love to just squeeze into my favorite little black dress, grab my hubby and high tail it off to the nearest New Year's eve event in the city. I often day dream about dancing the night away with him and smooching in the new year at some trendy spot. But, with four kids we'd have to take a loan against their college fund to pay for a sitter! Not to mention that these days many of the local events start out in the hundreds of dollars for tickets.

So this year I decided to try and find something we could all do together that would make it feel like a celebration. We recently had our youngest son's fourth birthday party at a local Pump It Up party place. What is that? Well they've taken a warehouse type building, filled it with lots of those moon bounce type things, pipped in great tunes and waaaa la.. fun for all. We had a blast, all of us! There were obstacle courses, giant slides, over sized fun boxing things, a maze, air hockey and more! My fifteen year old had as much fun as the birthday boy and both my girls (ages nine and two) had a blast too. Even dad and I had a great time and probably worked off some of the birthday cake we ate, BONUS!

I got an e-vite from Pump it Up this weekend. They are having a New Year's Eve party. I won't be held as late as the the ball drop but it will tire out the kids so dad and I can ring in the new year in peace. They are providing pizza, noise makers, loads of fun and even a sparkling toast at the end of the bouncing. The cost is pretty reasonable as well, $11 per child and $5 for adults.

So if you are looking for family fun in the Baltimore area on New Year's Eve check out www.pumpitup.com and ring in the new year a new way!