A Day of Fun at Papio Fun Park
Oct 4, 2020After being transferred to Nebraska, our family settled in the Papillion area. My son just turned 10 after our move and was pretty down missing his friends. Since we did not know anyone in Papillion yet, we decided to have a family birthday party. Our younger daughter was also missing her friends. Not knowing the area, I searched the Internet for a place a 10-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl could both have a great time. We found Papio Fun Park online and decided to give it a try.
Coming from a larger city I expected to pay a lot for a family pass, but I was surprised by the reasonable price for day pass. We hit all the attractions! My daughter, who loves basketball, went straight for the Jumpshot Trampoline Game. My son challenged his mom to air hockey and I said I would take on the winner. I played my son in the next game. I have not played air hockey since I was a kid. It brought back a lot of great memories of me taking on my brother in an air hockey match to the death! (Well, maybe it wasn’t quite that serious but we were pretty competitive.)
Our final indoor activity was a heated family game of lazer tag. Boy, I wish we had lazer tag when I was a kid. After lazer tag we played a friendlier game of miniature golf. The greens were new and holes fun. Little did I know it would be a little educational since the course has an Around the U.S.A. theme.
After some snacks, we were ready for the grand prix of go-kart racing. Everyone got to drive their own go-kart. My daughter was thrilled to make the age and height requirement. As the engines roared the race began. Like air hockey, my mind raced back to my ten year old self and the excitement of go-karts for my brother and I. As I employed all the strategy I could recall from my youth. As an adult, I was glad they didn’t go too fast to be unsafe or scary for kids. I began to pull away from my family. Then, as the time was running out this red go-kart snuck by me on the last turn. Yes, my son for his 10th birthday beat his dad!
As we drove home, the smiles on my children’s faces were spectacular and they could not stop talking about Papio Fun Park. The family birthday party was a success! My wife looked at me and said I look like a kid today. I looked back at her and said, “I felt like a kid”.
