New Tire Swing!

Alex put an addition on the Swing Set!!!

...and now Jeremy has learned the effects of spinning too much/too fast.  Poor guy.  He was a trooper though, so it didn't stop him from getting back on (once his stomach settled down). 

New Swing Set!

Alex is the man!!! 

After keeping our eyes peeled all summer for a great deal on a big, used, wooden swing set, Alex discovered, picked up and repaired this fantastic swing set for the boys!!!  

A family about 20 minutes way had outgrown it and posted it on Craigslist  (for FREE, can you believe it?!?)  Alex found it and contacted to owner only to determine that there was already plenty of interest (not surprising) and he couldn't get their quickly enough due to other obligations.  So, we let the idea go and forgot about it until almost a week later when Alex got an email from the woman he'd contacted about the swing set.  It was still at her house.... as seems pretty typical for Craigslist, despite all the interest and assertions that they'd be there, no one had actually shown up to take it... did he still want it? 

Uhhhh... ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

Despite the rainy day, he ran right over, spent a couple hours disassembling it by himself and loaded it all into the truck and a borrowed trailer.  Thankfully, Uncle Matt was home later that day to help unload it and I hear they even had to pull out some of the fence temporarily to get all the pieces into the back yard! 

 (thanks Matt!)

Since that day about two weeks ago, Alex has been a man possessed...  assembling the clubhouse, the slide and the swing section, replacing a few boards on the roof and replacing the purple-painted wall boards.   Thanks to Alex's focus, it didn't take long.... Then last week, once the two regular swings, the disc swing and the trapeze bar were hung, the boys were enthusiastically outside and playing all over it! 

Despite the fact that the boys aren't quite big enough to take on the monkey bars by themselves, Alex didn't let that slow him down. He's now also replaced all of the individual wooden "bars" and bolted the monkey bar section to the clubhouse as well.  The swing set is complete and so far it is a HUGE hit!  They boys are out there on it every day.  I hear even Uncle Matt has been out there once or twice!  

I can't wait to see the first time they figure out they can jump off the swings and fly through the air like we used to do as kids.  Over in the clubhouse, sooner or later I imagine they'll monkey themselves on up to heights that be sure to make this mother panic-stricken.  (all part of raising boys, right?)   In the meantime, I'm just going to keep smiling... remembering how much I loved the big wooden swing set we had when I was a kid and grateful to both the family that gave this one up and to Alex for making it all happen! 

MI Renaissance Festival 2011

 

 

Happy Birthday Alex!!!

Thanks for having a birthday today Daddy!!!

We love cake - see?!?!?!?!?

Alex's May Home Improvement Projects

I am very excited to show off Alex's handy work! Upon my request, he made a few improvements to the deck.

First, he built this railing to protect the kids from falling into the garden, and protecting the garden from the kids. :)



He also granted my wish of wrap-around steps off the deck... I can't believe how much bigger the deck feels because of this simple thing! You really notice it when multiple people are standing around talking because you can spread out without feeling like you'll stumble off the deck. Also, notice, the alternating board design of the step corner... this means we see minimal end grain... nice touch!

Finally, now we blog....

How technology sucks the hours right out of your life (and keeps us willfully and happily coming back for more)

Step 1: Check out free blog website that friend is using. It looks like fun!

Step 2: Set up your own free blog - manipulate page look and feel making everything perfect and user friendly. After all this will be such a great communication mechanism!

Step 3: Daydream about how cool it will be to keep friends and family updated - create grand visions of daily blogging and constant photo uploading.

Step 4: Go to bed for the night - after all it's 2:00 am

Step 5: Don't touch blog again for 2 months. Keep checking friends blog... get jealous because it ROCKS! Realize this is a far superior way to share than old baby website you were using (and haven't updated in over 6 months) Call a do-over!

So here's our first post.... a photo taken at Uncle Eric's wedding in February. All four of us... the kids are more adorable though, so next I'll add more photos of just them. Cool slideshows coming soon! (really this time - I figured it all out!)