::new toy::

Max was so sad when we moved from RI because we had to give our trampoline away.
It was old and kind of gross and we had to hold the safety net on with wire ties. We weren't going to pay to move that dang thing across the country.
Besides the yards out here aren't exactly made for playground equipment.

And that's the problem. The yards are just different than what we're used to. Before we moved, Max spent hours out in the yard, swinging in the hammock and playing on the deck. Out here it's more complex. Our yard is less contained and the in the afternoons the little garden area gets HOT. There's also not a lot of room for chairs or hammocks or anything. Our hammock is out there, but it's on the part of the patio that's not contained by walls, so I'm not thrilled about him being out there all alone.
So there's not a ton of motivation to play outside, which I don't like.

So I thought maybe we could get a tramp again. A smaller one. One that would fit right in our useless gravel patch.
And I found it.
The other day when we got home from work/school/whatever, there was a big package waiting for us by the door. Max was psyched to see that the box said TRAMPOLINE on it!
Kris said he'd set it up right away.
When we started working on it the sun was up and the evening breezes were starting to blow. It was really nice outside.


(see the flower petals on Sultan's back? I love it when he goes out and rubs around the bushes. He comes in looking like he's been at a wedding or something, all covered with purple petals.)

For some strange reason Max had already gotten dressed in his PJs. This is honestly so weird and never ever happens without us bugging him a bunch. But that day, somehow he was on top of things.

He was just SO excited about the trampoline!!

And we worked on it and worked on it. Max played around and Sultan ate apples.


Isn't it tiny? It's probably half the size and half the height of our old one. It kind of looks like an overgrown exercise trampoline. I think it's cute.
Setting it up took way longer than it seemed like it should. And the sun was going down.


The sunset over the mountains never fails to disappoint.
And Kris finally finished up the last bit of the safety net set up in the dark.

And the little guy finally got to jump. He waited so long and so semi-patiently! We let him jump for about 5 minutes and then shuttled him off to bed.


It was a nice night. And Max was way excited to get up and jump on his trampoline the next morning. I'm hoping it'll inspire a lot more outside time this fall!
Thanks for spending the evening with us.

::it's gone::

The trampoline is gone. Over the weekend we disassembled it and passed it on to a friend from Kris's work. Their family has already been greatly enjoying it.

But Max was sad and miserable. The more things get sold/thrown away/packed away the more sad he gets. We have to keep reminding him of the fun things we're moving to!

I would miss the trampoline too if I were him. But if we get another one it'll be much newer and nicer--the safety net will not be held on with wire ties. I insist.

(No mom, he's not breaking his neck in this picture. He's just doing a weird somersault that he calls a flip.)

::staycation activity #2--sultan on the tramp::

Whenever Max is out playing in the backyard and gets up on the trampoline, Sultan always looks at him with this kind of sad and wistful glance. I always think he's wishing he could be up there bouncing around.
But does he really?
On Saturday we thought we'd test it out. See if he really liked the tramp or not. When Kris was growing up his dog would hop on tramp whenever anybody got on it and bounce around driving everybody crazy.

So Kris grabbed that lovely section of fencing that's just been sitting around making our yard look so nice, and made a little ramp. Sultan didn't think the ramp looked like much fun, but he went up it anyway after a little encouragement.
He walked around a bit and then jumped off.
Then we asked him to do it again, and he did.
He was rewarded by some pats, and he liked that.
Then he jumped off--not via the ramp, but just from the bouncy part of the trampoline to the ground.
THEN we asked him to get up again. And he completely bypassed the ramp. He really didn't like that ramp. He just jumped straight up from the ground to the tramp! It was quite impressive.
And then he spent some time reveling in the love and attention he got for being such an amazing stunt dog.




Then, after he rolled around and got the trampoline all hairy he lept off. Probably never to get up again. He's a bit of a pleaser. If everybody's cheering him on he'll do something he would never otherwise do.
But we don't care. He was awesome with his leaping. Way to go Sultan!

::the 4th part 2::

After the parade we went home, relaxed and watched some bike racing. Then in the late afternoon we headed outside to start cooking our delicious hot dogs. The temperature was so nice, and it was fun to spend time out back. Really it's amazing it wasn't pouring outside, the 4th was one of the first non rainy days we've had.
Kris picked up poop. Which, contrary to (Max's) popular belief, he does do. See, I have photographic proof. Just for the records.

We played a little ball.
Max is getting better at catching, though I don't have much photographic evidence of that, unfortunately.







And if anybody is wondering what I was doing, I was taking pictures. Just so you know.
There was some work being done. Some diet coke drinking being done also.

And some companionable relaxing, evidently.

Then there was some trampoline jumping.







(Max, momentarily contemplative. Why? Who knows.)

Then it was dinner time.
The Trader Joe's hot dogs are so dang good. They're the best hot dogs I've ever had. And add in some of their relish? Wow, that's a delish dog. And watermelon is a must on the 4th.

Sultan thought they would be good too. Please overlook the weird bread slicey eastern buns. They're weird.
Bad Max came to dinner.
He's usually not invited, but I made an exception since it's a holiday.

We were so glad to have Ken and Kathy with us for the holiday. It was so fun. We love having family around!

And the fact that he posed for this photo means he deserves to have it posted for all the world to see. So world? Enjoy.

::not just for jumping::

::new toy::

I've been watching Craig's list quite closely, and as a result of all my hard work saturday we went and picked ourselves up a new family toy.

What do you think it is??
It's pretty fun and took a lot of (re)construction.

Good guess! It IS a half pipe!

Just kidding.

If you haven't figured it out by now I'm a little worried about you!

We went and picked it up from a toothless guy out in the boonies in the morning. By the time we got it all put together it was late afternoon. Max was all cranky from staying up late the night before for the fireworks, and it was driving him nuts that the trampoline was there and he couldn't use it.

Sultan just lay in his special hole in the corner of the yard and wondered what all the big deal was about. He's not that impressed.

Then once we had it all up--including the "enclosure" of course--it was time for some fun.
And we had to have the fun fast, because though there was sun on saturday morning, the storm clouds started moving in, and we knew rain was sure to come!

Max was kind of like Mr. jelly legs when he first got on there, flopping all over.

Especially if Kris was up there jumping. It barely took a step for Kris to knock him over.

It doesn't take too long for these little guys to learn though, and by the time we had to get off he was doing really well.

Anybody ever played crack the egg? It's that game where one of you sits in the middle of the tramp and holds onto their feet and the other person tries to bounce them around until they have to let go of their feet.
Much more fun though--crack the mama fish.

It was hilarious because he could hardly get her to bounce--not for lack of trying. Or for lack of serious face making.

And he certainly couldn't get me to bounce very high. But it was fun all around anyway.


The biggest triumph is that he taught himself over the weekend to bounce to his bottom and back up to his feet. He tried a zillion times on saturday and could never figure it out.

It's definitely good exercise. I was sore all weekend!