A new form of seaters- Tim and Mark would be proud!

I don’t know if you grew up with a trampoline, or if you had LOTS of uncles who were a little older than you, or if your uncles were as crazy and fun as mine are. My mom has 11 brother’s and 2 sisters. She is 3^rd in line, the baby of the family (Mark) is only 5 years older than me. My parents got a trampoline when I was younger. I LOVED my trampoline! We didn’t have a fenced in yard and all the neighbor kids would jump when we were not home. My dad did not like this, he was worried someone would get hurt. So the trampoline was packed up and sent 10 miles away to my grama and grampa’s house. There we spent hours with my uncles, cousins, and friends. My uncles had amazing imaginations, they would make up all kinds of different jumps and give them names. We would play games where we had to imitate the jumper or they would just put the younger kids in the middle and form a circle and see how high they could “jump us”. There was no protective cage or much safety at all. I remember getting my fingers pinched in the springs and falling off (or should I say, being “jumped” off) the trampoline more than once. I remember some of my uncles landing on the springs (which I am certain did not feel good), and I remember the trampoline coming very close to hitting the ground.

The boys now have a trampoline, thanks to my parents. I love it as much as they do. Before I got pregnant, I would go out and jump after they went to bed. We do have the cage and the foam around all the poles. The boys know they have to zip the cage shut before they jump, and no shoes or hard toys on the trampoline. Nathan, Doug, Lisa and I have taught them all the “trampoline lingo” we know. Everest knows what a seater (start by standing and jumping then drop on your seat and try to bounce back to land on your feet) is and what it means to jump someone. After we had dinner with Doug and Lisa, Everyone wanted to jump for a while. I even got in for a little bit when everyone was sitting. We were rolling the balls around the trampoline and the boys had to chase them. (I miss jumping- hopefully I will get some good jumping in this fall). Everest and Nathan came up with a new version of a seater.

First you climb onto daddy’s legs, sit down, and try to balance.

 But daddy is trying to knock you off…..when you land, you do a seater

 Leaf does more of an airplane than a seater, but he is young and still learning…

 Soon he will be schooled in the art of jumping. Until then, he has fun doing what he can. He did not like the trampoline until he was about 16 months old. He hated being on it, even when you were holding him. You would never know it now.

Everest decided to play “leap frog” with Doug. Poor Doug, he was a very good sport about it.