Dancing on the Edge

Bounce Houses, Trash Compactors, New Bed Frame and Saying Good-Bye to the Double Stroller

Friday we decided to take the kids and go to a place called JJ Jump, which is a huge building full of different style of inflatable bounce houses. We had so much fun! It was early (and school is still in session) so it was just the four of us and a dad with his son so we literally had free run of everything! We were all sweaty messes from playing so hard when it was time to leave. :)


Saturday was a busy day for us - the kids wanted to go to garage sales so we loaded up and drove around. We picked up precious little but the kids had a good time. After that, we called on something I had been looking for and finally found and just let me say: trash compactors ROCK! Seriously. I have been wanting a trash compactor for the past two years because it has become fairly often that we are needing to add an extra can, and pay extra money, for additional trash collection. So I've been on a hunt for a decent used compactor that we could put in the garage. This weekend we scored! I found a really good one on CraigsList and, as a bonus, we didn't have to drive an hour to see it. It was literally 5 minutes from our house. It's an older model but the woman only used it for about 9 months - it is in absolute pristine condition!


I confess - I am in heaven! You should have seen Kelton and I compacting all the trash we could find and I was over the top delighted to find that all the trash in the garbage can PLUS all the trash still in the house compacted nicely into one container of compacted trash. WAHOO!!!!! I am so, so, so excited!!! (a little more than pathetic, no?) Kelton has been constantly asking today if there is more trash to put in and squash. There isn't, of course, but I promised him that after Dakota's mom and step-father are here for dinner there will be plenty of trash to squish. :)

After setting up the compactor and squashing all the trash, the kids wanted to go for a walk. The double stroller was what they wanted to ride on (it's been in the garage for months now since I haven't been using it). Sadly, Kelton is just too big for the stroller so I had to break it to him that it was time to sell it to another family who could use it. He was less than thrilled but agreed that it was time...after one more trip in it, of course.

So we set out around the neighborhood for our good-bye stroll. When we were almost back to our house we passed a couple loading things from their garage into their truck. As we walked by the woman yelled out "Hey - you wouldn't happen to need bed frames for a queen or single bed, would you? Totally free. We're loading it up to take to Goodwill right now." At first we thanked her and said no, we were good but then on second thought...I turned to Dakota and said "You know, I would really like a new bed frame." So we said "On second thought....." so we went up the driveway to take a look at the queen bed. It was really, really nice. They had recently bought a sleigh-style bed and no longer had a need for the mission-style. It was in great condition and ours for the taking! WOW! A $500 bed for free!!!

We shared that we were out for a last walk in the double stroller before selling it. The woman's eyes lighted up and she said "Really? I am really, really wanting a doubler stroller (she has a not yet 3 year old and a 4 month old). I don't suppose you'd consider a trade?" It didn't take much thought on my part: of course I would!

So we finished our walk and I loaded up the stroller and drove it back to their house. A great bed set-up for a stroller we can no longer use. Sounds like a good trade to me!

So last night we changed our bed from this:



To this:

(Ignore the comforter set. It was an error in judgement last year. Kelton loved it and was sure Dakota would as well as she loves all things tropical. Turned out, she thought it was "ok" but not our (my) regular style (which is darker, richer colors). I never liked it. We've put up with it for the past year but now I'm on the hunt for one that is more our (my) style.) I love the new bed!! We've had the hunter green wrought iron one since December 1994. Dakota bought it for me for my 30th birthday because I really, really loved it. I still do - I'm just ready for a change. I posted the old frame on CraigsList last night and someone is coming to buy it later this afternoon.

Smooshed in there we've also had all the usual fun of playing in the pool, playing adventure and restaurant in the yard as well as playing endlessly on the swing set. It's been a really, really great weekend!