The Tarp

My children had talked about putting a tarp over the trampoline when they wanted to have a sleepover the other night.   I said to them that while the trampoline had a mesh wall around it, putting a tarp over it wasn't something that could happen because anything we had that was large enough, would fall into the center of the trampoline from sheer weight if we were even able to get the edges over and off the side. 

They didn't need a tarp, I had followed up because if they wanted to sleep outside, we'd make sure it would be on a night that didn't have rain predicted.   They were a bit sad a this but since there was nothing to be done about it without putting excessive weight on the netting, having complex tying down schemes, and possibly not even being able to find a lightweight tarp that would work—and we weren't going to buy one—they had to go with the open trampoline plan if they wanted to sleep out there at night. 

The trampoline zips up completely and the mesh from the sides connects seamlessly with the bottom surface of the trampoline, so when they're zipped in, they won't be available for vicious rabbits or rabid deer that are too afraid to come near the house now that the neighborhood has been developed.   In short, they would be quite safe, except from rain. 

Today I was up in the craft room and I looked at something I'd seen lying in the back storage closet where we keep the toy and clothes overflow.  There are things in there from when the children were much younger and the clothes need to be gone through and handed down. It's a bit of a mess in there and it needs some cleaning up.   I had seen something I'd ordered from China and had hoped would come in at the size I'd specified and was surprised that I actually got what I had paid for.   I pulled it out and thought I'd mention it to the children the next time they got bored. 

So when I walked by it tonight something clicked.  It was a parachute for a group of children who would stand in a circle and hold on to a looped handle at one of the seams of the very colorful segments.  Everyone would lift the parachute up and down and feel the air resistance.   Then, on the word of the teacher, everyone would lift up, step inward, pull the parachute behind them and sit down.    The parachute would make a bubble around the group as the air slowly let out. 

Was the parachute big enough to be a tarp?  It was round and it had pre-made handles.   Would those handles be something I could connect to the top of the mesh wall's poles?   Yes, and yes, it would work.  I couldn't believe my great good fortune.   But how to attach it?  I didn't want to damage any of the trampoline or the parachute.   

I decided to pull out the huge rubberbands I had and see if I could connect the parachute to the top with them.   That way if any stress happened, the rubber bands would just snap.   After a half-hour of tying up the parachute and we had a trampoline with a parachute on top.   It's a lot of fun to jump up and down and feel the parachute push the air out of the area after you pushed it up with your head and hands.   What an unexpectedly fun discovery in the back closet from years back. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son did not want to take a break from dinner as he was in the middle of a game online with his friends.   I was putting rubber bands on the trampoline when I saw him walking around from the back porch with something in his hands.   He had brought his soup from the kitchen outside (because he would get in trouble had he carried it through the house,) had gotten his headset, and was right outside the door by his computer with his headset on, talking to his friends and eating Mimi's soup for dinner.   He figured out a way to do both dinner and be involved in the game at once. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter loved the parachute on the trampoline.  She wanted to spend the night outside but her brother said it was too hot—it was.   We suggested finding a cooler day and making plans to set the parachute up again then.