Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

The new job is great, but it's not all fun and games

Those inflatable bouncers are heavier than they may look, and folding them back into neat little packages isn't easy.

By JACKIE RIPLEY
Published August 28, 2005

CARROLLWOOD - The first time Lani Lugo hauled a large, inflatable bouncer off her trailer and onto the site of a 6-year-old's birthday party, she was more excited than the kids were.

"I was so nervous," said Lugo, whose Long Island roots add spice and cadence to her speech. "I got in the car, called my boyfriend and said, "I did it. I did it all by myself.' "

That was saying a lot.

Inflatable floats such as waterslides and bouncers can weigh anywhere from 250 to 350 pounds. And not only do they have to be hauled on and off a trailer, they have to be inflated, deflated and rolled back up again.

"I've learned to lift using my whole body," said Lugo, who owns Bouncy Doodles, a business that rents inflatable bouncers, slides and waterslides for kids' parties.

Fortunately, Lugo, who is 40 and not exactly muscle-bound, gets some help with the lifting from her brother, Ronnie, and her 14-year-old son, Chris.

Most of the responsibility, though, falls on her shoulders.

"I can do the bouncer by myself," Lugo said. "It's only 250 pounds."

Lugo, who works for the U.S. Postal Service, started Bouncy Doodles in June after seeing how much fun kids were having on a jumper, or bouncer, at her niece's birthday party. She figured she could do the job better and charge less.

After a few months of research, she was ready to go. She invested about $15,000, purchased insurance for the company and checked with neighbors on her street in Beacon Meadows. She wanted to make sure no one would object if she occasionally hauled the inflatables onto her front lawn for cleaning.

Next, she cleared out her garage to make room for the bouncers and started taking delivery. There was just one problem: The inflatables didn't come with instructions.

"They just drop the stuff off and say, "Here,' " Lugo said. "You have to figure out everything on your own."

One of the hardest parts of the business was figuring out how to fold the inflatables back into neat little packages. In fact, her first bouncer still sits in her garage, listing to the left and bulging around the middle.

She also was chagrined to find they come with no "extras."

Extras, Lugo found, include a ladder for kids to climb onto the bouncers and a liner to cover holes in the bottom of an inflatable swimming pool.

Without a liner, such a pool "will only hold 8 or 9 inches of water," Lugo said. "That's a 2-foot drop. Kids can get hurt."

So she purchased a liner for her pool and a ladder for the bouncer.

"Then I found out the ladder falls down," Lugo said. "I had to figure out how to make it stay in place."

She also discovered there's not enough horsepower in one air pump to properly inflate her 360-pound combination bouncer and slide. And she knows the challenge of gates that are too small to get her equipment through, as well as ground that's too mushy to get it across.

So why would a relatively small woman go into such a physically demanding business?

"I love kids and I know how much fun they're going to have," said Lugo, who says she's still astounded by the size of the inflatables once they reach full height. "It's amazing."

She also loves being around young people, and on any given weekend her home is filled with kids, from her niece and nephews to her son and his friends. And some days she's a big kid herself, especially when she gets together with her brother and his girlfriend and they try out the equipment.

"We giggle like the kids do," Lugo said. "We're just three big goons jumping on it."

To learn more about Bouncy Doodles, go to www.bouncydoodles.com or call 813 846-4100. - Jackie Ripley can be reached at 813 269-5308 or ripley@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 27, 2005, 11:05:06]