Bounce!, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.
We're in the process of making the back yard a little more fun for the boys this summer. Phase I - the trampoline - is in place. The boys have been bouncing quite a bit the last few days. Phase II - the bigger kiddie pool - is still a work in progress. Our deceptively level back yard is not quite so level. Daddy is having to dig out a rather large chunk of yard to try to level the area for the pool. It may be a few days (or weeks). You know how those back yard projects go.
But the boys are perfectly happy with Phase I for the moment. They have always loved trampolines. I will never forget the first birthday party we took all three boys to last summer. It was for a friend of Connor's, and it was an outdoor party on a mini-farm. There was an old school trampoline (no safety net) down under the hill, and my boys found it and found their spot for the entire three-hour party. They bounced and bounced and bounced. They did the same thing not long ago when they went with Josh to follow up on a construction project (an addition to an existing home) and that back yard also had a trampoline. They wish all of Daddy's projects had that feature, especially when they have to tag along.
Sawyer loves it the most, of course. He bounces and bounces, spinning in circles as he bounces, and always with his eyes closed and a huge smile spread across his face. You can just see the happiness on his face, and that is more than enough to make it completely worth the expense (and worth the risk of injury, sorry Grammy, our resident ER nurse who was not at all in favor of Phase I). Xander and Connor both like it, but they're our rough-and-tumble boys, and you have to watch them pretty closely or they will end up hurting each other playing chase and then falling on top of each other. Connor may or may not have gotten in trouble tonight for pushing Xander down and then attempting to sit on top of his head. Brotherly love, right?
The boys and I have two long months of summer vacation, and we needed some more toys in the back yard to survive spending that much time together. So far, so good ...