This project was a beast to say the least. My wife helped me with the last bits; mostly helping heft the walls into place on the platform and general helpy type stuff. Thanks for that honey!

My kids are over the moon about it, so that alone makes all the hard work worth it.

I’m tired from all that work, so I am going to make this a bit shorter then it really deserves, but if you ever want to build a tree house for your kids… call someone else. I’m busy.

Cheers

Her thing was that she couldn’t see all the builer-y type things that I was talking about. So we drew it out again; and its a good thing we did. I was adding full walls to the treehouse and she reminded me that were going with half walls to make it more fort like. This was fine with me because my only condition was that it actually be in a tree.

Anyways, after some more sketching we had our plan. That is to say, she said “build this” and I said “O.K.”. Here now are some pics for your enjoyment.

I got wood.

A sturdy Cedar tree.

And so it begins.

First brace in place.

Some more progress.

Joists are all in now. Heavy stuff.

Starting on the floor.

Thats what I have so far accomplished over the weekend. I was also able to finish tacking down the floor but got rained out before I got a chance to trim the ends. Next steps are starting on the walls and roof rafters which should go pretty smoothly. I’ll post more pics when the sun comes out again.

So what do you think? Pretty cool, huh?

A lot of times, parents get so bogged down with the meal preparation, clothes buying, teeth brushing, tucking in, story reading, bath time, dinner times, school time, that they forget one very important fact.

Having kids is, without a doubt, the greatest possible excuse you could ask for to act like a kid. I mean, how else would it be perfectly acceptable for a 30 year old to play video games in the middle of the day? Or go and poke things with sticks? Or, on occasion, enjoy a tea party with ten or twelve of your daughters closest stuffed animals?

I don’t mean to sound maudlin, but when I think about it (and forget the troubles of the day), its actually like being able to have a second, better childhood.

What brought this on, you ask? My kids tree house, I respond.

Yes, I am building, with my own hands (and many a power tool) an actual tree house in an actual tree. This fact surprises people more than anything, since kids could fall out or throw things or whatever. But anyone who had a tree house growing up will tell you that it was awesome.

When my wife first threw this idea out there, I was dreading it a bit. The time investment, the cost, the prep, the actual construction, and eventual destruction (kids grow out of these things apparently) were a lot to handle for this cowboy. Now though, after my wife and I worked through the issues and the costs and are finally getting ready to build it, I am actually pretty excited about it. I mean, I didn’t have a tree house when I was a kid. The only trees around my home in California had oranges or avocados in them, and the owners got pissed when you started climbing them.

But in Oregon, where trees are not only plentiful but downright loved, a tree house seems perfectly fitting in my little suburban neighborhood.

So the next few posts will be mostly me building this thing, which starts this weekend. I have the tree prepped, the lumber sitting in the yard, and an excited 8-year-old who is now more excited since he can see that its actually happening.

But to bring things around to a close here, let me say this: Go climb a tree. Go swing on a branch, or slide down a slide. If you have a kid, go do it with them. If not, borrow a kid (preferably with the parents permission) and just go and play. You may be surprised at how much fun you, as an adult, can have playing tag or poking things with sticks.

Cheers

It is a bit nice to connect with my sisters and my mom though (if she did the whole social thing), but for the rest of the extended family… I would have to say that its weird.

Perhaps I should have talked to them more than once a decade. Oh well.

Cheers

We also did our pumpkin gathering on Sunday which was, well, quiet. We got there right when they opened and were first in line for everything so we got to do all the activities (face painting, boat ride, etc). We also came away with some honking huge pumpkins. I’ll post pics in a bit (I seem to have misplaced our rather expensive camera).

How was your weekend, Internet?

-Cheers

Giving the cat a bath.

For those of you without the scars from claws, this is not as easy a task as you think. You fear holding the kitty tighter cause its so small in your hands and at the some time you want to squash it into a jelly mold just so it would sit still long enough for you to get the overpriced pet shampoo on it (and let sit for 4-6 minutes).

Anyways, Tom, our cat, is never happy about it. And every bathing he gives me a few good scratches to let me know so. The least I can do asuage my pain is to post pictures of our wet cat. They are funny to look at and I get a sense of fulfilled revenge, even though Tom doesn’t give a shit (and will possibly take one in my shoes later).

- Cheers

And so it happens we have a very energetic 6 year old boy and Nike has a Youth Triathlon planned. Convienent timing for sure. We told him about it and he was all fired up to do it.

The race was 2 laps in the olympic size pool, a 1.5 mile bike ride, and a half mile run. I thought this was a lot for a 6 year old but it turns out I was wrong (which often happens when I think). During the pool section he was in the middle of the pack and doing well. He sprinted out to his bike and took a bit longer than I though was needed to change into his shirt and shoes and get going, but he was off in good time.

I didn’t see the bike portion because it went all the way aroung campus but I was there at the second change point to see him off to his run. It was 2 laps around the olympic track (are you spotting a theme here) and on the second lap he kinda half-walked half-strutted, but still did really well (somewhere in the middle i think). They didnt have a first or second place, but each participant got a really nice bronze medal (solid bronze) with the youth games insignia on it.

I can’t say when I’ve been more stoked to be his dad. We were so proud of him I irritated my coworkers when I told them. As a treat (and because we were planning on it) we got him a Nintendo DS since he was asking for like 6 months. All in all it was a great day to be him. Pictures after the jump.

- Cheers

OK, technically, since I got my iPhone, I could blog from anywhere as well, but Twitter is just easier all aroung (hence why I added my Twitter feed to the site).

Anyways, things are starting to calm down somewhat. Its mostly been work and dealing with summer and since schools out that means I have both the kiddies with me all day. Its hard coming up with new things to do. Theres only so many times we can go to the zoo, the park, the fountain, strip clubs, etc. I mean, it gets dull sometimes. If anyone has suggestion please leave a comment.

In other news, my wife and I are going down to Eugene to see the Olympic trials for track and field. Since she works and Nike she got premo tickets and accomodations. The funny thing is that there is a very long list of rules that are going to be enforced; such as specific size of allowed fluid container (no more than 1.5 liters) and bags only so large and clothing requirements and a whole lot more. Its weird but I guess theres a valid reason for it. What it is I have no idea, but there has to be a reason, right?

Anyways, I’m trying to post more so hopefully I can make money again from this thing. That, and provide an outlet for me to rant about whatever I want. Or post sizzling pictures of my favorite female celebs. Or videos of kittens. Whatever.

-Cheers

She certainly is taking a liking to girly things too. Everything is pink and Hello Kitty and I really am wondering if I will ever survive such an age. I guess only time will tell.

We went to the sweet park in Portland for a nice b-day picnic which was really quite fun. She got a lot of neat games and clothes and a couple instruments that are sure to drive mom and I crazy. But other than that we had cake and a nice picnic and she had a lot of fun with her brother and cousins.

-Cheers

And so it happened the other day that we were driving dow. To one of her friends house to pick up it present. She tried to keep me in suspense but I ended up guessing where we were going.
To pick up a brand new kitten that I have been wanting for a long time.

Her friend take in strays and after a vet visit they are put up for sale. There were a number of them there but one stood out from the others. A cute little grey stripes ball of fluff that was just begging to be taken home.

“I shall call him Tom” I decreed. And so it was done.

I can’t say how groovy it is that she would do that for me. And even though she said she hates cats, I can tell that she was digging Tom to.
And now for some pics.

- Cheers