mama date at the color factory | 2 mamas + 1 museum|

I’ve never actually been kicked out of any pubic establishment before so being asked to leave the Color Factory while frolicking amongst yellow plastic balls might seem like a real low point in my life to some.  I have no regrets.

 2 months previous to this trip my great friend Aikane offered me a free trip to the Color Factory. She was lucky enough to snag 2 tickets while I missed out going back and forth with my google calendar. How are people able to know where they’re going to be 2 months out? I’ve yet to gain this skill. 

I’m lucky to have friends who love photography as much as I do and will jump at the chance to pose, shimmy, and schmooze in a place to let me practice my craft. We made it a mama’s night out and if you think you can’t take your kids anywhere, you haven’t met 2 mamas who desperately need adult time and are left to their own devices. Have you ever seen 2 sleep deprived moms amongst hundreds of blue balloons?  Take my advice: don’t jump in the balloon room!

In the midst of, what is arguably the best time I’ve had since a Korean Spa Scrub Down in 2012, we underestimated the actual size of the place. We rolled in around 8:30 and at 9:30 we were still on the ground floor (admittedly, the orange room took at least 35 minutes). We were trying to get our best angle in a cascading wall of ribbons when an employee let us know we had 30 minutes until closing time. 

We made our way upstairs and patiently waited for 3 girls who were dousing  their friend with confetti while she was crawling on the ground. This had to be the longest, most awkward minutes of my life. 

The yellow ball  pit was better than I expected, once I stopped freaking out about how many people had probably peed in it. We jumped in, posed for the Color Factory cameras on the ceiling and tried to “swim” our way through. We were warned multiple times that our time was running out. So when the attendee gave us the “look” and sternly told us “Ma’ams you really have to leave”,  we hung our heads low and left. 

Our photo shoot just continued outside while the security guard looked on and onlookers passed by. It was 10:30pm, which is at least 2.5 hours past my bedtime) by the time we got to the car and I couldn’t wait to edit these photos. I normally shoot in natural light but stepping outside of my comfort zone got my creative juices flowing in new and exciting ways. Thanks for the date, Aik!