Tag Archives: jumping

Jumping With Friends at Altitude Trampoline Park

When the local Altitude Trampoline Park offers a discount for toddlers, you jump on it! Last week, our friends/neighbors asked several of us parents if we’d like to get the kids together for a little jumping action (aka increased naptime success), and there was no way I would say no to this cutie.

altitude trampoline park, toddler, parenting, jumping, kids

It’s not a major concern to Going Mom and me right now, but sometimes we wonder if Avery gets enough social interaction with peers. With me staying at home, we obviously avoid daycare and/or nannies. We love our situation and wouldn’t change it for the world, but know she needs her time with others. Luckily, she has plenty of peers in our neighborhood and they all get along pretty well.

altitude trampoline park, toddler, parenting, jumping, kids, friends

When together, they seem to keep to themselves and interact every now and then. I expect this is normal for 2 and 3 year olds and will change as they get older. At the trampoline park, they showed more interaction than I’ve seen with Avery in a while and I loved watching them play.

altitude trampoline park, toddler, parenting, jumping, kids

These balls of energy scoured the whole facility but kept gravitating to this trampoline ramp (tramp ramp? No?) to use as a slide. Belly sliding was the thing that day.

Trampoline Belly Slides

Once down, they would scamper right back up to go down again. Yes, that’s it, use that energy!

Climbing Trampoline

I always try to interact with these kids when we see them in the neighborhood, but they usually just hide behind a parent while shooting unwelcoming facial expressions my way. Natalie, who just had a birthday at Altitude Trampoline Park, simply dropped to the ground and curled into a ball as I smiled at her. I got the hint.

The other girl, Emma, started off shy but we ended up playing a lot after she warmed up. By play, I mean she pushed me off the edge of things and jumped on my back to attack me. It was fun though. One of the boys, Tanner, was constantly running laps around the area, but he gave some great high fives. Something about the boys at this age, most of them just are not as shy.

Without a doubt, the best playmate is and always will be my precious little girl.

Daddy and Avery Sticking Tongues Out at Altitude Trampoline Park

She played a lot with the other kids, but made sure to save a little playtime with Daddy too. I appreciate the time with her and know this time won’t last long, so making the most of it is vital. I think she enjoys our time too, at least that smile says so.

Looking Up from Trampoline

Once she finds out what dating is, her feeling might change. But lets not talk about that now…..or for a loooongggg time.

Heading to Altitude Trampoline Park is fun whether it’s just us or with friends, but hopefully we’ll get a group together again soon!

Star Wars, Something Hit, and A Family Trampoline Trip

Going Mom made use of Memorial Day and extended the already extended weekend by taking additional days off to spend with the family. As always, time flew by, but it was well spent with lots of love from Mommy.

family, love, parenting

My wife loves making our home better and more “homey” and she constantly has a running list of 10+ projects to do. Mainly replacing light fixtures, hanging shelves and pictures, and painting. The project du jour for her time off was to paint every area where the walls were beige, another color. Oh, that’s about 75% of our house, by the way.

As if I expected anything less, she got right to it with the painting while simultaneously rocking motherhood. Avery had to be around everything Mommy was doing, and Going Mom would stop to read, play, and kiss boo-boos as needed. I’m ashamed to say I did not lay a finger on a paint brush, but for what it’s worth, I kept busy in the kitchen making good food for the family. Or I hope it was!

Since “everything beige” includes the ceiling, that will probably be left to a professional since my shoulder issue would make it hard to help, and it’s just not a fun or easy task to take on with a toddler running rampant.

One of the days, my wife took some time for a nice hair appointment, so Avery and I held down the fort by going on the longest ride she’s ever been on with her WOOM 1 Balance Bike. We ventured around the new construction in our neighborhood and said hi to the construction trucks we saw. Just as we made it home, the rain started coming down, so we took it inside for her second Star Wars experience.

family, star wars, daddy's girl, love

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. I can’t wait for the next one where she will see the Ewoks! I’m not sure, but I think she enjoyed watching with daddy.

daddy, daughter, family, star wars

For the last day of Mommy’s time off, we planned on going to Urban Air, a local trampoline park and stopping at Costco for our weekly store trip. We left home and stopped at our neighbors to celebrate the capture of the masked bandit killing their chickens, then took off for some jumping fun together. But something happened right before we could get there….

Subaru Front Driver's Side Damage

Yep, a freakin’ fender bender. Some smoker mom with her kid in a car seat in the back of her car dismissed a stop sign and pulled in front of me on a main road. That had me already not a fan of the lady, then, as we both entered a left turn lane with a yellow flashing yield arrow, she started to go since there were no oncoming cars. I proceeded to follow (albeit maybe a little close, but still), and then she suddenly stopped as she was attempting a u-turn instead of a left turn as I thought. A screech of the brakes and our bodies lunging forward later, and my poor “blue rocket” as Avery calls it, made contact.

Luckily, we were going pretty slow and hardly any damage occurred. Just some bent plastic and scratches. The woman made a huge fuss and her dad (who was not even there) decided to call the cops. We exchanged info and said we wanted to go, but she whined that we’d get in trouble if so. I left to drop Going Mom and Avery off so they could start their jumping fun, and then came back. After sitting around longer, it turns out, the cops never showed, and we finally parted ways.

Not sure what will happen with the wreck at this point. Most likely it’s on me since I rear-ended her. Damn. But, the good news is that I made it over to jump with my favorite girls. They were already busy, um…..jumping?

family, trampoline park, fun

Whatever it was, we ended up having a great time. I think we stayed a little too long as Avery wore herself out and started getting cranky by the time we made it home for lunch. Crankiness aside, we enjoyed having Mommy home and now we have her again for the weekend!

Have you ever been in an accident where you swear it wasn’t your fault but because of how the law works, it was on you?

Are you a Star Wars Fan?

Merax 36″ Foldable Mini Trampoline Review

With our daughter seriously upping her energy levels as she neared the 2 year mark, Going Mom and I decided an indoor trampoline would be a perfect birthday gift. The search, as with most kid things nowadays, took a while to decide which would be the best quality/value. I use Amazon for almost everything, and after reading a novel’s worth of mini trampoline reviews, we finally decided on a trampoline worthy enough for us Avery; the Merax 36″ Mini Trampoline.

mini trampoline, amazon

She turned freakin’ 2 back in November, and took right to her new trampoline when we brought it out.

mini trampoline, birthday

I assembled it the day of her birthday and found it rather easy to setup. Took me longer than expected because of the vague instructions that came along with it, but in retrospect, the entire process was hardly an issue. Just unfold, fit the cover over the elastic bands, screw on the legs and foam-covered handlebar (optional) and you’re good to go. Getting the cover to fit properly was probably the biggest “challenge”, but that didn’t take too long.

Having thick elastic bands instead of springs is a major plus, and I feel the trampoline doesn’t even need the cover as a result. But, to prevent any little feet from falling through, it’s probably a good idea to just put it on. The handlebar is optional too and can easily be removed, but Avery seems to like it right now, so it stays. Other than a great stabilizer, it works as a perfect mini-blankie rack too.

jumping, trampoline, toddler

With a max capacity of 220 lbs, the Merax 36″ Mini Trampoline is great for adults too looking for a fun fitness option. Kids or no kids, the current price of $79.99 makes it a viable and affordable option for any adult looking for a way to keep active. My wife and I can never get on to jump without Avery quickly joining in, but with the high weight capacity, we can bounce with our kid without the fear of breaking the trampoline.

So far, we have both bounced with Avery and have had zero issues with stability. The only thing we find ourselves saying is how we wish it were bigger. When there’s two people jumping, you’re basically limited to your exact foot placement, and if you shift around, you run the risk of jumping on the other person. Sorry, Avery. No worries though, she never seems phased when she’s stepped on and would rather have us keep bouncing her.

Since she’s had it, this trampoline has been in our living room and is used every day. It’s the perfect addition to any toddler obstacle course creation which helps an easier transition to naptime….usually.

Our little obstacle dominator! #playing #fun #toddler #exercise #loveher

A video posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on

I love having the ability to quickly and easily fold the trampoline up for storage or to take along when travelling. Really the only major complaint is the small size, but that’s more of a nitpick since the price alone makes it well worth it to me. A trampoline with the word “fitness” in front can easily go for twice as much, but I would find the Merax can do the job just as well.

Avery has found her trampoline useful for doing yoga…

trampoline, yoga
Upward dog, toddler style!

…..playing “hide-and-seek”….

Avery on Trampoline with Mini Blankie

…..and just relaxing after an intense jumping session.

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The Merax Mini Trampoline is not the top-notch rebounder you might find for well over double the price, but for a quality kid’s item that adults can use too, it’s well worth it to me. It’s also a great way to gauge interest on a full-sized trampoline for the backyard, which, after using this, has moved to the must have list in our family. Come summer time, we’ll be flying high in the sky!

Buy the Merax Mini Indoor Trampoline on Amazon!

Do you have or are you currently looking for an indoor trampoline?

Do you have any other products you find useful to keep your kids busy inside?

I purchased the Merax 36″ Mini Trampoline myself and all opinions are strictly my own, but there are affiliate links within this post. If you use the links to make your own purchase, I will earn a small commission which helps keep Going Dad going.