Top Five things that should NOT go down the slide off the pirate ship

In the six months we've been open, we've seen all sorts of things descend the slide off the pirate ship at YoYo Joe's. Most of the time, happily, it's just people. Mostly kids, with an occasional 'grown-up' reliving their youth.

We've also seen all sorts of things that probably should not be going down the slide at YoYo Joe's. Bear in mind that no one should be sending anything down the slide on the pirate ship other than their own fannies.

5 - Lunastix. Lunastix are juggling sticks that are planted right next to the slides, so it's an easy grab-n-go thing. Actually, I only saw one little girl take the Lunastix down the slide, but she cradled it lovingly in her arms, which struck me as weird as we have dolls for the whole 'cradled lovingly' thing.

4- Corolle dolls. A while back, a little girl stood at the top of the slide and launched a Corolle doll down the slide. And when I say 'down the slide,' what I really mean is tossed above the slide. I don't think it actually even hit the slide, now to think of it. So, I guess this was just more or less a man (or doll) overboard situation. Either way, the Corolle doll wasn't the best flyer, so she landed a perfect faceplant beyond the slide. Luckily, these are some darn durable dolls, so she escaped the flight with nary a mark.

3 - Pirate rubber duckies. These guys are pretty innocent - not much chance of damage or injury here. We've seen lots of pirate rubber duckies descend the slide. Sometimes in bunches, sometimes alone. Sometimes with a kid, sometimes before a kid, sometimes trailing after a kid. They're stocked right next to the slides, so I guess it's a natural reaction to send them down to test the waters before plunging in yourself.

2 - Shopping baskets. We have these wicked cool rolling shopping baskets. They holds lots of stuff and can be either carried or rolled on the ground. We had one group come in and use the shopping basket to roll around their doll in. Then they sent it careening down the slide.

1 - Plasmacars. I've seen three of these go down the slide and each time, I just count mentally to ten before approaching the offender. Sure, it might seem it's a good thing, the Plasmacars have wheels, fit down the slide and look like they'd be fun. After the first couple, I tried it myself late at night and was surprised at how quickly the car goes down the slide. And since it isn't exactly made for speed, it didn't handle the slide too well. It seemed like it would be very easy for the car to capsize or slam into the side of the store, which would be bad for all around. Luckily, most offenders get chastised by their parents before I can reach them, but one of these days "To the moon, Alice!"