Since we are going to be out of town for Christmas and didn't want to haul a lot of presents for the girls with us, we did part of Christmas a little early today. The girls and I took a student to the airport about an hour and a half away and while we did, Clark went shopping. We were going to get a 12 foot trampoline that Toys R Us had on sale...of course they were sold out. So, Clark headed to Walmart where there was a 14 footer for $70 more. He bit the bullet and bought it.

When I got home with the girls we told them we wanted to show them something in the car...we opened the back of the Trail Blazer (not ours, it belongs to the school) and there it was. You would have thought we gave them a million dollars. I have never heard squeals or seen jumping quite as intense! It is the giggles and smiles that just make all the hustling through stores and shopping worth while.

Of course it started raining at that moment. The girls wanted to see it up and so did we. So, in the rain Clark and I headed to the backyard and started putting it together. OH MY WORD!! Never believe a box that says "easy assembly" because it is a LIE! We had a feeling it was a lie when we took a look at the instruction manual and it said "may require THREE people to assemble." I am sure the rain and cold wind didn't make it any easier. The one T Brace that was bent out of shape and required hammering to get the leg in didn't help either. The rain did stop just in time to allow our next door neighbor to sit in his back yard for a front row show as we fought the 14 foot beast. His comments made our day, lol! Well, I am actually being mean, he wasn't that bad...he really just wanted to share the news of his engagement wtih us. But, it didn't make it any easier! Don't get me started on the springs. It said to wear gloves and eye protection as you put them in....we personally don't own goggles to protect our eyes and didn't feel like digging in the SCUBA gear to wear our masks...yeah that would have been a sight for the neighbor! Both Clark and I have black and blue knuckles and we had a near miss with two flying springs...I litterally heard them wiz by my ear! And once again I say "EASY ASSEMBLY"....YEAH RIGHT!

It took 2 hours but the tramoline was up by 7:00 and we spent 30 minutes jumping on it before hunger took over! The bruised knuckles and the wet jeans didn't matter one bit when the girls climbed on that trampoline and jumped their little hearts out. The giggled, they squealed, and they had a blast. All the stress from the last few days (and even though I haven't blogged about it, it has been stressful around here) dissappeared. The whole family fit on the 14 foot trampoline and we took turns making up funny new ways to jump. It was the perfect gift for my two little gym girls! I am SO glad we did it!