I retrieved Hannah from her extended retreat with my aunt. Re-entry will be challenging for her but I’m sooooo happy to have everyone under the same roof again.

How Hannah has been spending her time

I know the time she spent was constructive and renewing and an experience she’ll cherish forever. My aunt is becoming more limited in her mobility and her short-term memory. Her overall health seems good but her limitations may affect her ability to live independently for very much longer.

July will continue to be a relatively heavy travel and busy baseball month for us so I’ll be writing short snippets here as time allows. I’m also working on another project which I hope to finish and share soon.

Dodgeball at Skyzone

If you haven’t heard of Skyzone yet, it’s a cool trampoline park franchise. One just opened near us and Mark was anxious to go there to celebrate his birthday. Hannah had a couple of finals and Kate had to babysit so Mark and Luke each invited a friend.

Mark stalked the website daily and watched youtube videos about it over and over. I admit, it looked awesome. In person it was better than I expected. There are 5 huge areas of multiple trampoline grids including an open jump area, 2 dodge ball areas, a foam pit and a basketball area with 2 separate height hoops.

I guess homeschooled kids CAN play dodgeball

We arrived at about 4 on a weekday and most schools are still in session around here so it was an ideal time. The boys had most areas to themselves when they were in them and were sucking wind within 20 minutes. The foam pit had a short line but after about an hour of constant jumping, I think the short wait provided a perfect rest.

We opted to jump for 2 hours. It was only $3 more each for the extra 30 minutes. 1 hour is definitely long enough for younger kids (under 7 or 8). If it hadn’t been Mark’s birthday, I probably would have opted for the 90 minutes which would have been plenty but all the boys were happy to jump the extra 30 minutes.

They have a small cafe with mostly drinks and bag snacks. They order pizza from a local delivery place for birthday parties. In retrospect, limited food options is a good idea. Since it was after school, all the boys were pretty hungry after about an hour but they all agreed, they didn’t want to take the time to eat and they didn’t want to jump with anything in their stomachs. There is a water fountain which is perfect. I’d definitely save the eating for afterward.

All the employees at the place were pleasant and friendly with the kids and were very well-trained. They enforced the rules which probably reduces the risk of injury.

Speaking of injury, it is easy to see how injuries could happen frequently. Every jumper under 18 must have a waiver signed by a parent. In the case of the 2 friends who joined us, their parents filled out a waiver form online and submitted it. When we arrived, all of our waivers were in the system and there was no problem. I have heard that they will sometimes contact the parent to confirm the release.

The padded area between the trampolines cover the support bars and I don’t think they provide enough cushion. Also, if kids are used to doing tricks on a bigger trampoline surface at home, these mats are smaller, with the exception of a few longer, runway-type mats. The other potential hazard is a foot sliding down between the trampoline and cushion on the side walls. Like I said, though, I think the employees are vigilant and really enforce the rules in a pleasant way to reduce the risk of injury. While the potential hazard is real, I’m not sure it’s any greater than swimming or diving. Mark broke his collar bone last summer just running in our yard when his foot his a divot-so there you go.

Overall, it was a great experience and I would definitely go again. I’ll be biting my nails the whole time but I’ll let them go. I’ll probably take my own kids back again this summer since the girls didn’t get to try it.

In Midair