Last Sunday Ish and I took a drive down highway 99, taking the viaduct through the city to see Seattle’s skyline lit in bright setting sunlight. Going on advice from one of Ish’s photographer friends, we exited at South Park. Winding though the backroads, as industry became residential, I asked Ish, “Are we supposed to be here?” She answered with a definitive, yes. I drove on with renewed confidence.

Turning onto the main street we were immediately greeted with a huge bouncy castle, bouncing in the parking lot of an apartment complex. Hispanic kids were playing inside it, squealing, and jumping around. We felt a little creepy approaching the kids, to take their pictures as we didn’t see any parents around to ask permission of. It was too good to pass up though, and as I reasoned, it would be way weirder for us to take pictures from my car parked across the street. Ish agreed to do the talking, and we were given consent by the only parent present, as well as a 7 year old who may or may not have been in charge.

We learned that the bouncy castle was there in celebration of a baptism that had happened earlier that day. The newly baptized baby came outside in her fathers arms; he held her as though showing her all the fun the kids were having at her party. She was so little, only a few months old, her jet black hair fastened with a white bow. He looked at us, without any suspicion, and went back inside.

We chatted with Santa, a neighbor who had followed her son, Daniel who ran over when he heard the noise and fun that was being had in the bouncy castle. We learned that she loves living in South Park. The night before she went to a discoteca party at one of her neighbor’s apartments, where they danced all night. Daniel seemed to enjoy playing on the slide the most, and running back and forth between the hole in the fence that separated his yard from bouncy castle.