Mini Mystery Solved

In case you were wondering how we solved the mystery of the mini-trampoline...

We didn't take it with us to SC out of laziness more than anything else because we had room in the van for it. At least on the way there we did. The word "mini" should not be associated with this product. I made the mistake of:

1. putting it together by myself (it did suggest 2 adults)
2. putting it together when the kids were alert awake and enthusiastic to help
3. putting it together in my bedroom before assessing how big it was and strategizing a plan to get it out the door much less down the hall.

The Younger helped by getting his own snack from the fridge and leaving little bits of carrots all over the floor (at least he chose carrots) and then by using every adapter for the rachet on each nut and bolt. Finally by playing the drums on the walls with the screwdriver (sigh). I'll just remember to Spackle that before we paint over the sharpie marks (one day). The Elder was a HUGE help and helped me clean up afterward by picking up all the trash and putting the ratchet set back in the case (It's like a puzzle you know). They couldn't wait to jump on it! Somehow after multiple tries and then stopping to say a quick "Please Lord don't let this be stuck in our bedroom" prayer, I somehow managed to hold it in such a way that it barely made it down the hall (scraping the walls the whole way - thank goodness for the rubber handles).

Notice how it takes up ALL my floor space in the kitchen! It is also facing the microwave because I had to put a timer on Jump Time so they wouldn't kill each other by jumping on it at the same time. The Elder said to the Younger "You're going to break my back." A total echolalic moment of a time when I said that to him after he did a seat drop on top of me while I was laying on the bed and it cracked my back.

My fingers are swollen from trying to string the bungee cord through the mat. It totally wore me out and when I went to put The Younger down for a nap, I zonked out too, for like an hour. Thanks goodness The Asst (and her daughter since school is out) showed up sometime while I was out and The Elder wasn't totally unsupervised. When I came to, I was making no sense at all. It sounded like drunken speak. I just stopped talking and looked at her and said, "Let me go get a cup of coffee..."