A couple weekends ago it was cold and rainy, so we spent the mornings inside with the heat on, but by 3-4pm both days the boys were ready to explode in our tiny apartment. Sunday Erin and I caved and decided to bundle up and trek to Alto Palermo Mall, where we had seen a Fun Factory-like place: Cartoon Network. I know, it was a weak decision to take them to Cartoon Network while in Buenos Aires, but we've found better alternatives since... Inside we found really tame kiddie rides - The Flinstones and Scooby-Doo:

I have never seen a safer ride policy demonstrated by the workers, who looked to be teenagers, much too young to be as patient and responsible as they were. On the Scooby-Doo ride each child was escorted to his or her personal car, which meant Quinn, who only agreed to go on the rides as the big brother, ended up in his own car - what a good sport! Once escorted to their cars, children were carefully seatbelted in and doors were latched. The loading process was easily twice as long as the ride itself. I had no complaints, though; after all, we were there to kill time!

Thankfully, Jack quickly had his fill of two-kilometer-per-hour revolutions after a few rides, and after I returned from a strategic bathroom trip (funny, the bathrooms were across the mall in the food court...) Quinn and I ventured into the arcade area. Jackpot! We found air hockey, which neither Quinn nor Jack had ever before played. After demonstrating lighting quick reflexes and the goal-scoring, quick-twitch wrist that used to zip penalty shots past Duplanty (you reading out there, Chris?) I soon gave up my place behind the goal and let Jack mount the stool (no, I wasn't using it, too!) and take on his older brother. The classic battles ensued for as long as the debit card held pesos and the card reader swiped successfully.