Sky High with the Boys

Because Brayden's football practice* began in the evenings this week, camping with the boys was taken off the docket. Therefore, when we asked them what kind of "day activities" they'd like to do, they requested returning to "Sky High" - a trampoline warehouse up near Portland. The boys have been sleeping out in the tent in our backyard all week long, and they've spent a big sum of their time alternating between "Minecraft" on the computers and PS3 in the bonus room. With Brayden exerting a ton of energy at practices and Traig having his arm in a cast, we were relatively content with them wasting their last few days of freedom doing what made them happiest, even if it didn't make us feel like the "best moms". So, today, we tried to make ourselves feel a bit better by participating in some "bouncy fun" with our boys.

This place is huge - this is a picture of the main play area - along with another area of Dodgeball.

And this is the area with the foam pit where Michele, on previous visits, finally achieved a front flip. I have yet to make that happen, but did make one worthy try....I was pretty sensitive about what would be "neck-appropriate" behavior.

Oh my poor nephew!!! He's SUCH A TROOPER! We were all bummed that he couldn't participate, but he stuck close by and played on my computer. Even Andrew was still suffering effects of that fateful boat ride - apparently when the boys "flew out of the tube" he hyper-extended his knee, so he wasn't as active as normal.

When we first got there, I found myself in awe of what all these folks were doing, defying gravity, jumping off of the walls and flipping left and right. It took me quite a while before I could even jump up and push off the wall and land without falling on my face....it's funny how the body just "refuses" when your brain has something else in mind!

This is Michele and then Jackson and Brayden jumping off the wall. I only had my point and click with me, and they wouldn't let you take the camera into the jumping area, so I had to have them just play around close to the entrance if I wanted to get pictures.



While I may not be able to flip - or doing anything impressive against the wall, I am pretty flexible, so I was pleased that Michele caught me in action attempting a toe touch. (It would have been prettier, though, if I'd pointed my toes)

And, here's proof after more than a dozen attempts of me to "catch it in action" of Michele's ability to do a flip.

A final shot of our boys prior to leaving-

In the car, we watched "Aliens in the Attic", "Mulan", and finally a Disney "It's a Small World" DVD with short cartoons. They were all so enthralled with the movies - it was kind of precious...

Tomorrow, we get our girls back and Michele leaves. I suspect the boys will have a tough time transitioning to having their little sisters back, especially with all of the camaraderie and constant time they've had together.

* Ok, these 3 hour football practices are just killing me as a mom. The temperatures have been right around 90 when they begin - and while our humidity doesn't compare to the south, it's been higher than normal for us. Brayden is the smallest kid on the team (he and one other boy are tied for smallest...) - and somehow, dropping him off in the car having to be "heavily-conditioned" in the heat, while I drive away in my air conditioning is just torture to me.