On the morning of October 25th, I slept in and then noticed the sun peaking around curtains. The weather has turned quite rainy now so to get a nice, chilly, sunny, fall day on a Saturday no less is a huge treat. I went downstairs, ate breakfast and then went upstairs to get ready.
I recently started following a lady on Instagram that has been reading the book There's No Such Thing As Bad Weather. I need to request it from the library, but from what I've gleamed from her it's about getting outside no matter what. Just like most everything else it's all about the preparation. You put a little effort into it and you'll get a lot out of it. So in preparation for being out in the chilly weather I layered up! I put on leggings and then jeans, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt and then my coat, gloves and ear warmers and finally my Bog Boots. When I came downstairs I was all decked out in my cold weather wear. I walked right into the living room and the kids looked at me all strange. That's when I said, "I'm in my trampoline building clothes!" The kids were SO excited! They leaped up and ran around getting all their cold weather clothes on. It was so fun to see them so eager to get to work.
Jackson had been the one hounding us to set up the trampoline for weeks so he felt it was only fitting that he be the one to help me. Of course the other kids wanted to chip in too. It was really nice to have all those extra hands even if it was a bit crazy trying to guide them all around. After Michael brought the giant box down from the garage we opened it up and started sorting all the different parts.
Then we laid out the frame.
It's a 14 foot trampoline which seems like a typical size and maybe it is, but it's HUGE in our backyard!
Of course this is where things took a turn for the worse. I had read the instructions about making sure that the large holes on the legs were facing out, but they didn't say anything about making sure these tiny holes that were higher up were exactly lined up. I didn't know it needed to be so precise, but it did! I ended up needing Michael to come down and help me get them lined up so we could fully attached the poles that would hold the netting. After that we ran into a snafu when I put a couple of springs in the wrong place. They were stretched really tight and I could not for the life of me get them out to put them in the correct spot. Michael had to help me fix that as well. He also helped with basically sewing the security net to the trampoline. I would have been there all day and my hands were numb!
They were so excited to jump on it for the first time.
There will be hours and hours of fun spent on this thing.
Right about this time I showed Ella a Marco Polo video of Miss Jen telling us that she was one her way to our house with LOGAN!!!! Ella was so ecstatic! It's funny because in the past we've kept it a secret that Logan was coming and Ella would answer the door and it's been very anti-climactic. She just stands there all confused and then it hits her and she's happy, but it can be a little disappointing to Logan to have her friend stand there and look at her strangely. This time around I decided I didn't want to tell her too early or I'd have to listen to her asking how much longer until Logan gets hear for hours and hours! I also didn't want to wait until she got here and just spring it on her. I ended up telling her about 2 - 3 hours prior to her arriving. It was so perfect! Ella was excited and she had a bit of time to anticipate Logan's arrival. When she walked up to the door Ella opened it and they hugged and squealed. It was the best!!!
Side Note: While Ella was waiting she asked to go on her paint by number game on her tablet. She had already had her 3 hours of electronic time earlier in the day so I said no. She then explained that there was only an hour until Logan arrived and if she played her painting game that the hour would go by in a flash. I loved her reasoning and totally understood so she got to go on her painting game after all.
Here's what the trampoline looks like from the deck. I've already told the kids that they are NOT allowed to jump from the deck to the trampoline and if they'd like to see a video of a Dad doing that I can show them. They've all declined to watch the video and said they promise they won't do it.
So much bouncing fun!
While I was building the trampoline with the kids Michael was doing some finishing work in the garage. Last year Lance cut a hole in the duct work of our furnace and then installed a panel that we could remove in order to heat the garage when we wanted to. Now that the garage is a full-time game room I wanted the panel to be easier to remove. Michael went to Lowe's and bought a vent and then jimmy rigged it so it would be easier to use.
He reused the panel that Lance made.
Installed the vent...which is one of those attic vents, put hinges on the panel and then used an old computer magnet to make sure it would stay closed. He's so clever and it works great!
The last thing to button up the garage was installing weatherstripping around the doors. Of course our house is old so nothing is square. After Michael installed the garage doors there were some gaps around the edges. It seemed a bit ridiculous to heat a garage when there were areas where the cold air could just come on in.
The only thing I still would like to do is install those garage floor tiles. It's not necessary, but I really think it would help with the cold that seeps up from the concrete floor. I would really like to install it all over the garage floor, but that would require quite a lot of work like jacking up the pool table. We might just put it on the one side of the garage where there is a nice big open space. At least that would give the kids a nice cushiony place to play when they want to build with Legos, Hot Wheels, trains or Duplo blocks.
Logan arrived in the late afternoon and she was able to spend the night. Jen and I got to visit which was so nice! The next morning Jen came and picked up Logan. They did end up having to come back later in the afternoon because Logan "accidentally" left her hearing aid on the dining room table. ;) It was such treat and really did fill Ella's love tank up!
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