Thanks to Sofia for cutting the boys’ hair this morning. It is too hot to do much outside other than go to the beach.
Hair Cut Day
A full house
Susanna’s youngest sister, Rebecka, arrived from Sweden yesterday. That brings the number of Swedes in the house to four, outnumbering the non-Swedes for now (unless you count the dogs). It is quite crazy with both boys here and three guests – crazy, but fun.
We have two days with a full house, then the boys head back to their other house. Today will be a “take it easy” day – the boys want to invite friends over (so we can have more boys in the house than girls – the normal balance of things) and have Sofia and Linda cut their hair. Tomorrow will be Six Flags.
This weekend it will just be four Swedish women and me. I’ll lock myself in the workshop. And visit the Sawyer farm – fewer Swedes there.
Boat Progress (a little at least)
Susanna and I have been making progress on the sailboat this weekend. Yesterday, Susanna cut out the pattern for the new carpet, and cut the carpet to shape. I was able to drill all the holes needed in the new steel square tubing for the trailer (and prep the steel for painting).
Today, after a nice relaxing morning enjoying coffee on the patio with Susanna, I spent time on the trailer. The second wheel was removed and I cleaned and painted the fist coat of POR-15 on it. I also removed the remainder of the old/rusted square tubing. I spent some time painting the new steel, and cleaning the rusty old steel.
Susanna finished preparing the floor for the carpet, and just before lunch we were able to install the new carpet. What a big difference. Now to get new cushions (or at least one new cushion – we have one that sort of fits).
Tonight, if it cools down enough that I feel like working in the workshop, I will start milling more trim for the boat. I have to make pieces to cover the joint between the hull and the deck. I also need to make trim to cover the edge of the carpet, and some more trim for around the hatches…
Dinner on the Patio
We enjoyed a nice evening on the patio. The weather hasn’t been so hot the past two days. I have been off of work all week (okay, I’ll be back for a part day on Thursday). Susanna’s sister, Sofia, and her friend, Linda, were scheduled to arrive later in the evening.
We enjoyed a quiet day. Or as the boys like to call it, “a boring day.” But we all needed a quiet day. That isn’t to say that we sat around and did nothing all day (even though the boys like to think that).
Susanna got the house ready for her sister’s arrival. It is nice to be able to relax and not have to stress about being the one in charge. I just did the chores assigned to me… no planning or stress required. I figured it is nice to have only one person in charge of getting the house ready, and I’m happy for it to not be me.
I made some progress on the boat and trailer. In the morning Will and I went to Mid-City Steel to get new cross beams for the trailer. I finished painting one of the trailer wheels (black paint looks much better than rust). I even decided to take a little break from the chores and got the lathe out to turn some toys for Ben. I still don’t know what I’m doing on the lathe, but it is fun to try to turn wood.
After dinner the boys and I watched the end of “Return of the King.” We started the movie a couple of weeks ago, and it seemed a good way to end a quiet day.
Six Flags!
Yesterday we headed north to Massachusetts for a visit to Six Flags amusement park. We spent the morning at the main park, and the afternoon at the water park.
It was a perfect way the split the day. We were able to do rides before the full heat of the day – and cool off in the water in the afternoon heat. Of course half a day at each park doesn’t give enough time to do all the rides…. but we have season passes so we will be returning several times this summer (starting with next week when Susanna’s sister, Rebecka is visiting).
Ben was finally tall enough to go on some of the bigger coasters. He still wasn’t tall enough at 51″ to do the really big rides, but we were able to do more than last year. The first ride we did when we entered the park was “Thunderbolt,” and old wooden roller coaster. Ben hadn’t been on one that big yet, and the look on his face for the entire ride was of pure shock. But he loved it, and wound up doing “Flashback” twice (he convinced Will to ride at the end of the day). Flashback has a corkscrew and loop that you do first forwards, then backwards. So in one ride, you are upside down 6 times. They didn’t make them like that when I was a kid. Or maybe they did, and I was too chicken to ride on them.
A visit to Providence, RI
Last Thursday Susanna and I decided to take a break from the house chores and the heat. I was up in Providence for other reasons that day, so we decided to spend the night in the Hilton Providence.
While walking around Providence, we passed a dining establishment that had been on “Man vs Food.” The boys enjoy watching “Man vs Food,” but haven’t seen the one for Providence yet…
The story behind the sailboat
There has been a sailboat sitting on a rusting trailer in the garage for many years now. It is an 1973 O’Day 22 sailboat. A relic from a previous life of mine – one of the unfinished projects that I kept through the divorce.
I’ve had the sailboat for nearly 10 years. Or maybe 10 years, I don’t remember exactly when I bought it. I think it was the year before Will was born. But maybe it was the year after that. I have never put it in the water.
So it sat in the garage. The tongue of the trailer protruding into the driveway, an eyesore that went with the house. The kids played in it. It collected leaves and dirt. Before sitting in this garage, it sat next to the garage at the previous house I lived in.
It was easy to make excuses on why it was never finished. Having kids took up too much time. Then the new house. Then the divorce. And so here it sits. But in reality – it never got finished because it is easier for me to start projects than finish them.
It is a perfect sized boat. It fits on a trailer. It isn’t too large. But it is big enough to have a cabin that fits 4 people.
It is also going into the water this year.
I am pretty sure of that. Not because all of a sudden I’m good at finishing projects. But it has now become a family project. Susanna decided she was tired of it sitting in the garage, and she wanted to go sailing this summer. So with a little encouragement from her, the boat is making progress.
The boys and I have lifted the boat off the trailer. We have started progressing on the inside of the boat, and I have started working on the trailer. The goal isn’t to make the boat perfect, but to get it in the water. This weekend we will dig out the sails and see what kind of shape they are in.
It helps having someone around to keep things on track – and encourage me to finish things. It is much more fun to work on projects as a team.
Sunday Morning
The boys eventually did calm down last night. But of course not until Will had to head to my room to fall asleep. We all slept in. But not much (up at 6:30 – I guess better than up at 6). Now to cook breakfast….
Winding down a crazy busy day (hopefully)
Running the house always seems a little more hectic and crazy when Susanna is away. Who am I kidding… it seems a lot more hectic and crazy. Today was one busy day. And it started early. The dogs were up at 6am. Will wasn’t far behind. Thankfully Ben slept in.
The morning didn’t start out too crazy. We didn’t have any early morning plans, and a 6am wakeup always makes the first part of the morning seem more relaxed. After breakfast we started and finished our “magic tree house” ladder. It is now hanging in a tree in the side yard. No tree house yet (don’t worry, Ben already asked if we could put one up in tha tree). Next was the beach. Okay, submarine base lake beach. But still kind of beachy. Lunch at McDonald’s, then picked up Will’s best friend, Tyler, on the way home.
I worked a bit on the boat ladder, then we headed out to pick up a pool cover (thanks to freecycle). On the way back we stopped by Will’s other best friend’s house (Shane). He wasn’t there, but we made plans to have Shane spend the night. Then we picked up Ben’s friend, Anthony, on the way home….
The boys played… keeping cool in the sprinkler. I did more chores (weeding the garden and cleaning up the house a little bit). Dinner was hot dogs and hamburgers. Shane arrived in the middle of dinner. So did the girl from across the street, Amanda.
More chores – cleaning up dinner while the boys (and one girl) played in the back yard. Amanda only got stuck in a thorn bush once – so it was a success.
Anthony home. Then Amanda home. Then trying to calm down a bunch of boys and get them ready for bed. And more trying to get them to calm down. I’m still working on it. It’ll soon be time to make Will leave his room and calm down in my room. Or maybe I should just turn up the AC in my room, go to bed early, and let them get to sleep when they get to sleep.
Only 4 more days until Susanna is home. Then maybe we can find some sanity here…
A “Magic Tree House” rope ladder (or a quick Saturday morning project)
I picked up some 1/2″ rope this week to make a boarding ladder for the sailboat. It seemed simpler and much cheaper than buying a transom ladder, or pre-made rope ladder.
Ben immediately decided that we should build the rope ladder from “The Magic Tree House” series of books. He even brought down a copy of one of the books so we could look at how it was made.
This morning we went out to the workshop and picked out some wood (I think it is cedar) that was the proper size and didn’t need milling. It was a quick project with both boys helping. The rough lumber isn’t slippery, so it makes the ladder safer.
Total time: 5 minutes picking out lumber; 10 minutes cutting the lumber by hand; 10 minutes to drill the holes on the drill press; 10 minutes to make into a ladder with both boys helping.
We finished in time to head to the submarine base and spend an hour and a half swimming at North Lake before lunch. Now to build the boat ladder….
