Holy Cow, Where has the time gone?

This weekend we celebrated Yin's 3rd Birthday and Yuri's 7 th Annual Adoption Day. We invited family and friends to join in the celebration at the local skating rink. We skated, and by we I mean everyone else, and we hokey pokeied until we knew what it was all about. Then we retreated into the game room where everyone watched Yin open her birthday gifts. Yuri made out like a bandit also with a few adoption day gifts in the pile. We then had cake and drinks until we were about to bust. After all that food we managed to get back out on the floor for some Limbo and the Elimination game. The party wrapped up at around 3:30 as we loaded up all the goodies and left over cake and headed home. I think, all in all, everyone seemed like they had a good time. I know I did.

Later that evening we visited with the folks and they stopped by the house to visit and see the pond. Pilot ran home to get the tripod to take the great photos that you see below in the previous post. I wish I knew how to use my crappy camera. It was a very full and fun weekend.

Take a Look

Take a look at what a person with the right tool and a knowledge of how to use it can do. Pilot is great with the camera. Nuff said....

On Rudy Pond

Here are some day light pictures as I promised. We havent got all the landscaping done but we are looking for a Himlock tree and have not found one yet that is the type we like and also most places that have them are closed about time I get off work. Hope you enjoy.

Mr. Sandman....Where the hell are you?

As you can tell by my previous posts, I have an issue with sleeping when I have a project to complete. That is why with most projects, I like to get them done ASAP and with only one really hard day of work. So that I can just relax and sleep when it completed. However, with bigger projects which span multiple days, I find myself among the living dead. Normal my brain is in high gear from bed time till about 2 am then I finally dooze off to sleep until I have to awake at 5 am. It aint much but at least its a few hours. Here lately I have not slept at all. I have been awake from Saturday morning until Monday evening and my but is really draggin. I got home this evening and took about a 2 hour nap. I will probably not sleep tonight. I feel like crap. I am gonna try to get an appointment with the doctor and get put on Lunesta or Ambien so I can cook or drive while I am asleep. Multitasking is a good thing, Right???? Wish me luck while I try to coax the sandman to make a stop at our house tonight.

Progress

All weekend we have been working outside and our arms, backs and neck prove it. If it aint burnt it is aching. First thing on the agenda was installing the floor kit for the kiddos playset from hell. It worked out pretty well and was done with no big todo. Then we started working on the Super Secret Pond. I was told to keep progress reports and pictures along the way so as a good blogger I did. Here is the progression shots. It is truely amazing if I do say so myself how much our crew got done in a short amount of time. We still have some plants to get and set and a little more mulch to spread and a few boulders to place but basically it is done. Here ya go.

April 16th Progress shot

first layer of rock

April 17th Progress shot

second and third layer of rock

April 21st Progress shots

waterfall and circulator done and working

April 22nd Progress shot at night

Tomorrow I will try and get some day pictures.

Ketchup

Today I wanted to ketchup on some projects. The super secret eyes only fish pond is going swimmingly. With tons of effort from Pilot it is going to look really nice. I cant wait to enjoy the fruits of our labor. I have been taking pictures as we go to show you how it is going but the pics are at home and I am at work. I will try and post some in the comming days. We have the pond mostly filled and three layers of rock around the pond. Brando picked out a beautiful rock yesterday for the point and we got it placed just before sundown. I have alot of work to do on the waterfall but it should start falling into place in the next few days. I am just trying to hide all the wires and hoses and try to think ahead so I would have to redo things several times if the first attempt dont work so well. Wish me luck and pass the Tylenol.

Brandos a Genius

Our Easter weekend was highly enjoyable. We spent time with family and friends and the kiddos spent time with there Paw Paw and Nee Nee. After the festivities we ventured home to spend Monday getting the house in order and getting some projects done. I still needed to marry the tube slide from hell to the playset from hell where Brando wanted it. She purchesed a cedar 2X4 for me to use as a support for the slide on the side of the playset. It was a difficult ceremony but we managed to get the unlikely two together and the kids enjoyed the reception.

Here is what it looks like.

Here is a shot from the inside complete with kitchen set and lightsaber.

The next project was super secret so I cant tell you about it but it is an expansion of the old goldfish pond by the patio. Ooops I told you. Anyhow it is back breaking, muscle straining work. We dug the pond for 2 days with only working on it about 6 hours total. I was really impressed on how far we got in such a short amount of time and I could not have done it without the help from my Father-in Law, G and my wonder Bro, Pilot. They were both big help in getting this project off the ground. With the pond dug and the liner installed, I placed the garden hose in the pond and started filling it just as the rain started to fall at 8 oclock Tuesday night. I was happy to get this liner in before the bad weather but we had to work like dogs to do it. Thanks for all the hard work.

Here is what the pond looks like now. It is kind of hard to see but you can tell how much bigger it is going to be compared to the old pond.

Yes we had a wonderful weekend. I would like to thank Ragged and Cynical for having us over and inviting us to the local Japanese Steak House for lunch. From the sound of it, with the amount of the good food that lunch offered, we would not have survived supper. Maybe next time we will make an attempt.

Where To Stick It?

(Brando's Plan probably before I am through)

(My idea when the project started)

Here let me give you some suggestions. Yesterday while I was a work, Brando called a let me know that the turbo tube slide we have been eyeing for a while was in stock at the E,ville Home Depot. She called down to have them hold one for us to find out when she got there that they were sold out. After she just about came uncorked on them they said that they set one asside for us and they would get it loaded in my truck. She arrives home at around 5 oclock and I start assembling the slide. Every once in a while I glance over at the perfect spot to where this slide will attach to the playset from hell with minimal retro fitting of the exsisting playset. We would have to move one support board and remove the fence perlings of the tower and cut and move the bottom skirt board. Attach the slide and all would be done with chillin sliding to my hearts content. We would however loose the trapeze bar and move the swings together. Also you would not be able to have two kids swing and slide at the same time for safety. After we got the slide assembled, Brando throws a big ole monkey wrench in the works as usual. She wants the slide to come off the back of the house instead of the tower. I was fuming. I made the statement that if the slide dont go on the tower then I will take it back to the store. Now with having the slide coming of off the back I will need to make alot more changes than just 4 or 5 boards. Now I will have to cut and move a fence to get rid of a door way, remove , cut and reinstall the boards below the window, install a new 2X4 frame for the slide to attach to the opening and hopefully not have to cut the decorative board at the top of the window to allow a bigger opening to the slide. I must admit that it will be more functional there but to do all this work, I hope it looks ok when I am done. Also I think it would be easier just to tell the kids that if someone is swinging that you cannot use the slide. What a pain in the butt.