Every time Air Force spouse Rochelle McKeown took her 10-month-old daughter Josephine out to see what the other neighborhood children living on their cul-de-sac in Spanaway were up to, the two would end up just watching all the older children ride bikes.

"I just wanted her to be around other babies her age," said McKeown, whose husband is a pilot with the 8th Airlift Squadron at McChord Field.

When her neighborhood didn't offer that opportunity, McKeown turned to the Escape Zone at McChord Field.

"When she was old enough to crawl, we started coming," said McKeown, 27, who heard about the center through her husband's unit's Key Spouse.

The facility, nestled in a grove of tall trees located behind Whispering Firs Golf Course and next to the Western Air Defense Sector headquarters, gives spouses a chance to get together with their children and meet other spouses in the same situations.

"The whole intent is to keep families connected," said Master Sgt. Andrew Goodnight, superintendent of the Airman and Family Readiness Center, which oversees the Escape Zone. "It encapsulates all the services we can connect parents and kids with."

The center's attendance numbers have climbed steadily over the past few months as more and more spouses come to meet and have their children play together in two large playrooms packed with toys and activities.

"Every month we break an attendance record," said coordinator Claudia Crosby.

The common thread with most spouses who attend is that they are all stay-at-home moms with children ranging in age from newborn to age five. Last month alone, nearly 450 families visited the Escape Zone.

"Most want to just get out of the house and connect with other spouses," Crosby said.

The center provides a common place for them to talk about how they are dealing with a spouse who's deployed or what's going on in the family.

"It also gives us a chance to exchange information about the different support programs the base offers," Crosby said.

The Escape Zone has a long list of leadership figures at McChord and Air Mobility Command who are big fans of the center's mission and have earmarked money to help it add amenities. After a pipe burst in December 2009, the center underwent an 11-month renovation, which converted two storage closets to new offices as well as adding new toys and decorations.

"It seems more homey now," Goodnight said. "A lot of people went all out to give us the support we needed."

The office space and new lush couches in a meeting room in the back of the center provide a place for Military Family Life Consultants (MFLC) to meet and talk with spouses who might be going through various stressors while their loved one is deployed.

"The Escape Zone is the focal point for our outreach," Goodnight said.

The center - which is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 to 11:30 a.m. - is available to both Air Force and Army families who live and work on McChord Field.

For more information and a calendar of events, visit the AFRC website at www.jblmmwr. com/afrc_escape_zone.html.