pics from the okanagan, the water trampoline

i am jet lagged; feeling overwhelmingly fatigued and sleepy by six pm.  so much so that i haven't been able to finish the posts on our travels.  i asked stefan to write a post for today... a little peek into one of the activities that everyone enjoyed most.

now here's stefan:

the water trampoline is probably one of the most favorite things i played with this summer. it consists of a large (about 12 feet in diameter at least) floating doughnut shaped inflatable with a trampoline covering the top. there were three of them floating just off the beach by la casa resort, a small ladder on the side allowed us to climb on top and we would jump around madly. sometimes the trampoline would have several children on it plus a couple of adults. much hilarity ensued with people bouncing uncontrollably, children being flung around and others desperately trying to keep their balance. the best moment was when connie climbed on board and completely lost control, bouncing around on her back while jason, our friend, jumped at full force. she half-laughed, half-screamed throughout the process and i simply went limp with laughter watching the spectacle unfold.

it only got better once we discovered what we dubbed 'the launcher'. this was a half-inflated air bag attached to one of the trampolines. the close end was labeled 'jump zone' and the far end 'launch zone'. someone would crawl over to the launch zone, sit on the blue 'X' and wait for someone else to jump onto the jump zone. this would trigger a teeter-totter effect and depending on the weight difference between the jumper and the person being launched, the result could be quite spectacular. kai weighs about 65lbs, i weigh 180lbs so if i nailed the jump, kai would be launched 6-8 feet into the air. once we perfected this routine the other kids around the beach quickly caught on and soon i was launching kids one after the other. this would literally go on for hours, i must have jumped on that thing at least 50 times. kai managed some impressive moves, including a sideways back flip which was his masterpiece.

i would return to la casa resort just to be able to enjoy these trampolines again!

now, pics of one of the launches... i love the children's expressions, especially that little guy in the green shorts.
 

 

i really, really hope to get my pics together by the end of the week.  stay tuned... i know, you're waiting with bated breath ;)