Bolling With 5: The Best Birthday Gift E-V-E-R!

Back in February 2013, we had a brand new (less than two months old) trampoline that pretty much blew away with the wind. You can read about it here. Since then, the kids and I have been BEGGING, literally BEGGING, E-V-E-R-Y single holiday for another trampoline and every single time Darren has said, "No!" I know my husband. It's the VERY RARE occasion that he tells me "NO" to anything, but he wasn't backing down at all to this "No!", so I knew the chance of ever getting another trampoline would be very minimal. After getting our puppy, Sadie, and a fence, Darren expressed an interest to get an in-ground trampoline. We called around and got a few estimates and we were in the process of really finalizing the details, but then we realized that Sadie would probably destroy it. The in-ground trampoline was going to run between $4,000 - $5,000, and the thoughts of having it destroyed by a dog eliminated the entire idea. SO... Darren eventually said, "Because we have a fence now, I guess we can get a trampoline. At least it won't stick out like a sore thumb like it would when we didn't have a fence." I'll admit, the trampoline is obnoxious looking, it's also a tad redneck, but it is THE BEST GIFT any parent could give NOT ONLY their child, but themselves too!!!! It's great exercise for the kids and a FREE, built-in babysitter for the adults.

We bought the trampoline at Sam's Club. It's a 15 foot, round, trampoline. I can't recall what we paid. Possible $199 and then we paid our handy man $100 to put it together. The kids HAD NO IDEA. Literally, NO IDEA. Their birthday had come and gone. The original plan was to have it put together on their actual birthday and when they got home from school they would see it, but all of those plans were destroyed because it was cold and raining the day of their birthday. So... almost one week after their birthday, our handy man arrived to put the trampoline together.

Back tracking... for a moment... The twins' birthday is ONE of the few days that I offer to take them to school as a "car rider". On their BIRTHDAY, I drove them to school and to make conversation, I said, "What do you want for your birthday!" I had been asking this same question, over and over, weeks prior to their special day and neither had anything substantial that they were wishing for. Well Lilah did, but they were unrealistic requests (a mini fridge, a bathroom in her room, night vision goggles, and an iPhone). However, on their actual birthday, they BOTH said they wanted "a trampoline". The thing is... they knew their daddy would NEVER agree to having another one after our first one blew away with the wind. The craziest part about the below video is that Lilah even requested a trampoline with decorations all over it. Those were my exact plans from the moment Darren gave me the go ahead.

After our awesome handy man put the trampoline together, I hung their birthday balloons all over it. I ALWAYS wait outside, for the bus to arrive, but this day... I didn't. I was worried the bus driver wouldn't drop them off, but she did and the kids let themselves inside. I was outside, sitting in the grass, near the trampoline, waiting to capture every bit of their reactions. Upon entering the home, I could hear their little feet scurrying throughout the house and them saying, "MOM, we're home!!!!" They told me later they were so worried I wasn't home.