Saturdays and S'mores

Someone get me an almanac, because I believe today was the longest Saturday on record. We crammed a lot of stuff into one day - even though we spent most of it at home. Much of it I shall not write about since it involves a mother's day surprise.

This morning we had our Wii party - a monthly ritual at our house. The highlight of my entire week came as I was tucking Maysen into the big cushy recliner with a giant pink, boofy blanket and positioning her perfectly centered in front of the giant 8 foot movie screen which glowed with Mario Kart goodness: she looked at me and said "Dad, I love you....you are so cool." It was exactly what I needed after being both mom and dad for the week.

Tonight we roasted marshmellows and made s'mores and hot chocolate out on the deck.

For those that are curious, this is what a perfectly put together s'more looks like as it's being gently squeezed so that the chocolate and marshmellow blend together in melted naughtiness.

Stockton's not much for a marshmellow roast, but he humored me with the occasional visit to the fire and a quick pose for the camera.

Marshmellow roasting is of course the highest expression of the outdoor cooking art form.

I planned to throw a steak on for dinner as well, but couldn't wait and had one for lunch with corn on the cob and a big mug of root beer.

Maysen doesn't mess around when it comes to marshmellow roasting. She is deadly serious about her craft.

Everyone knows that smoke follows beauty

Stockton and I ran down earlier in the day to Men's Wearhouse to pick up my suit and try on Stockton's Tux jacket for John and Cassie's wedding. I had taken my suit in for the "free" alterations since I have lost 30 pounds since I bought it.

Stockton wasn't very excited about going to the suit store, but he really seemed to enjoy trying on the jacket and checking himself out in front of the mirror. He could use a haircut though.

Jorja, Maysen, Preston and I spent an hour outside today hunting more worms for their garden. Those girls like it so much that I think we're going to build a worm composter and let them hunt worms for one of their chores.

And now, with the kids finally asleep, we have reached the part of the evening where Mike rushes off to embark on a cleaning marathon since his wife will be home in less than 10 hours.....

Remodeling a Groovy Tent Trailer

We bought a 1970's StarCraft tent trailer a few months ago for $500 from some friends of ours. So far we've only taken it out once but I'd like to use it more often.



It sleeps 5 - which is one short for our family, and it's decorated in true 70's style - mustard colors, dark wood, yellow linoleum, etc. A bit too retro for my taste. It needs quite a bit of work mechanically as well. The lift mechanism needs to be redone, as raising the tent up is a real chore, and it's got a 2x4 holding part of the tent to the roof.






Lately I've felt the urge to do some remodeling. We've decided to take out the odd fold-up closet and some of the drawers in order to make a second bench/table/bed combination so that it can sit and sleep our whole family. I have left over wood flooring from the bowling alley we made in the basement and that should make quite an improvement. My Home-EC-major sister-in-law volunteered to help sew some new covers for the benches and beds.






I took two-year-old Preston outside to spend some quality time with tools. We're in the process of dismantling everything so that we can redo the floors, replace the dark wood paneling, and rebuild the cabinets. Preston enjoys taking out screws and putting them in a jar for safekeeping.




Here are some additional pictures of the "before". Stay tuned for some "after" in the near future...



Holy 70's flooring batman!

Preston and Stockton exploring the trailer...

There was a old in-wall cooler in this hole. I plan to replace it with a working mini-fridge. Also seen above is a plank of wood flooring to cover up the sins of a past decade.

These cushions are in really good condition, but I think recovering them will add a really nice touch. It will also help make the place smell better...