A Raging Sea of Pink and Turquoise

I am bruised and battered... to give my wife a break today, I took our son to the Adventure Zone at the Granville Island Kid's Market in Vancouver, BC. Boy oh boy an Adventure it was!
I had been there before, so kinda knew what I was getting myself into, but the last time I was there the moons must have been aligned in my favour, because not too many kids were there. That was not the case today, unfortunately.
There must have been some preteen girl's party going on, because the Adventure Zone was swarming with them. The birthday cake must have had speed in it too. I got climbed on, trawled over, kicked, punched, pushed, body-checked... you name it.
I made several attempts to hold them back while my son climbed, because they would have marched right over him given the opportunity. At one point, he was climbing up a narrow passage and I was blocking them from coming up through this passage until he got up safely. I felt like Will Smith in I Am Legend, with all the hungry Dark-seekers at my feet, grabbing at my legs, trying to climb up around me or over me. It was a raging sea of pink and turquoise.
What is the point of all this you ask? Well, I learned a valuable lesson in perseverance... I was prepared to leave after about 5 minutes of these shenanigans, but my son was having such a good time that he wanted to stay. Surely enough, after about an hour, the girls were worn out and left, and we had most of the place to ourselves. In the end I was glad that we stayed.
My conclusion: Adventure Zones like this are great on days when they are not too busy or the kids are about the same size as your kid. But on busy days, they can be quite the challenge!
Well, I am off to go nurse my bruises now!
Until next time, hope you are getting enough sleep,
TBD