Deck Update / Documentation

Before / The Usual

Whew! So we got those first few boards pulled but then lost momentum due to parenting.

We, of course, had high hopes for the weekend. On Friday Danny and I spent some time at Jerry's getting prices and shopping lists. Fast forward to Saturday morning. I take the girls to Bounce while Danny stays home to work at demo'ing the deck. We get home to find about 3 boards and 1/2 the frame left. Danny was a rockstar and rewarded himself by sharing a popsicle with Maya!





We quickly realized that needed a truck (and soon). We had lots of debris and wood scraps filled with nails to get rid of before we could let Maya out to play. We also realized that we needed help. Danny called John and Elaine who jumped in their cars and headed down here to help. By the end of the day the truck was loaded with the old deck and ready to go to the recycle pile. It took a high-five from Fin as a final incentive!



Sunday morning the Thomases bring donuts and we go over our plans over breakfast. Danny and I run off to dispose of the old deck and get a yard and a half of gravel to level out the ground under the deck. Let me say that it was a lot of rock to shovel, load and dump!


We needed to get the truck back by 5:30 so we had to kick it up a notch and run off to Jerry's to get our supplies.
8 deck blocks
2 2x6x8
13 2x6x12
42 2x4x8
42 2x4x12
18 joist hangers
60lb bag of concrete
10lb of stainless steel screws
some flashing
a few lag bolts
and some Starbursts

Picking, loading and unloading the lumber was fun. (Read the sarcasm.) It feels great to know that we have the supplies at our house now we just have to find the time and energy! :)


We have a lot of work to "start"...but we'll get there (eventually).

Adventures in...

Decks!

We did it. Tonight we cleared off the deck and started pulling up boards...step one of operation deck rebuild! Timeline? Plan? Perhaps....ay, ay, ay!

Tonight we got about 1/4 of the boards. Hopefully we will do a bit more tearing out tomorrow and Friday night and then get a truck to go to the dump, get some fill (rock or dirt or something), and then a lumber run. Then, of course, at some point we will have to build the new one. We are thinking it will be 10 foot or 12 foot lengths so there will be minimal cutting which will be awesome.

Ugh...a necessity with Fin moving and grooving...but a bit overwhelming!

Goodnight Maya...

Tonight, during a very tempestuous bedtime extravaganza the following exchange was heard:

M: What's the anniverse?
D: Do you mean universe?
M: Yeah, universe.
D: Everything really.
M: Everything in the house?
D: Everything there is, everywhere.
M: Can I have my llama?
D: No
(insert Maya's sniffling and whining)
D: OK, fine. Who told you about the universe?
M: My llama.
D: What's your llama's name? Dahli?
M: No, Dahla but she tells me about the universe.

London Posts

I posted the first London blog (Days 0 & 1). I am going to post-date these entries so that they are chronological. Check the April sidebar on the right to check for any posts you haven't read.

Sorry these are slow in coming. It has taken a while to get the girls transitioned back 8 hours and Danny had a tech weekend this weekend. Hopefully things will slow down a little bit!

We Made It...Home!

Hey everyone....just thought I'd pop in and let you know that we made it home last night about 7pm. We had a slight delay in San Francisco that worked to our advantage, getting the kids home a bit closer to their actual Pacific bedtime.

This morning we woke up at 5am--which was a lot later than I was expecting. Danny and Maya headed to the grocery store about 6am and Fin and I hung out at home. We are just getting ready to head off to school and work. It will be a short day but it feels important to get back into a bit of a schedule.

We have a ton of pictures and stories. Our internet connection was spotty at best so we couldn't post as we went. I will try and do a couple a night...so page through for the back dated posts.

Here is a photo teaser--a shot of us on the Millennium Bridge--yes, both girls are passed out cold.

Devon (Day 6)

Today (Monday the 20th) we had breakfast here at the Duke

I know it is usually Danny that writes about food but I'm going to take a line or two to talk about the loveliness that is the breakfast at the Duke. English breakfasts are hearty...to say the least. Pippa, a co-manager, made a breakfast that was to die for. I had poached eggs and toast. Danny decided he was just going to do cold cereal because he was feeling "full" from the night before. Maya had a great time choosing between the mini boxes of cereal--Frosted Flakes became a quick favorite. Of course, the instant my food came out Danny was feeling a lot less full! :) I'm not a big breakfast eater but in England and at the Duke...hell yeah I'm going to eat breakfast!

Now back to your regular scheduled programming...

Then went to Paradise Cottage (yes, that is it's real name) to explore the abode of Matt and Jane – communed with the Chickens then strolled down the lane to commune with the sheep and cattle…

This was shortly after releasing the beast from the car. This pic is shot from Matt and Jane's house and down the lane (yes, a two-way road). She was intent on locating the moo's and baa's that she was hearing.


She found a fence gate and hopped up to make googly eyes at the cows and sheep. They kept their distance and stared back curiously and a bit frightened (a good choice on their part).


We went back and looked at Matt and Jane's chickens (including the cheeky chicken who constantly escapes) but didn't document the meeting. A deal was made the night before between Jane and Maya about going to sleep "easily" and if she did that she could feed the chickens in the morning. Needless to say, Danny and I were sleepy and Maya didn't feed the chickens.

after gathering ourselves together and getting motivated we drove to the Sea at Bude (I think that’s the spelling)

It was a lovely day--sunny and warm--but the breeze definitely had an April chill. Here is the crew making our way down to the beach. I should add that we hopped on the chance to go to the sea on a "nice" day because we weren't sure when / if we would get another. Little did we know we would have sunny, warm weather the entire week! (Lucky us.)

Maya, of course, was ready to disrobe and get in the water. She grabbed Uncle Matt and dragged him down to the water. Danny followed while Jane and I sat and enjoyed the sun and sand with Fin.



There were several trips back and forth. Even Fin got a trip down the water--although she didn't get dipped.


Even Auntie Jane got in on the "cold feet" action! The things Aunties do! (The weird arms / hands are because they dipped their hands in as well.)


We did have a "tragedy" at the ocean. Jane, through no fault of her own, lost her cell phone to the salty water of the sea. After much drying and putting together / taking apart, the phone was pronounced dead the next morning. This tragedy continued to haunt us the remainder of the week. (I should add that there was quite a bit of giggling and smart-ass jokes re: aforementioned tragedy.)


Fin and I enjoying the scenery, looking a bit wind-blown.


One of the beauties of toddlerdom (can I still call Maya a toddler?) is building sandcastles in your underwear.


we had a nice time it was sunny and gorgeous but windy and cool we played for a short time on the sand and in the water and then Maya and i found the playground.

Another task that only toddlers would willingly repeat...sliding down a metal pole with no pants on.


She went for an encore performance when all of us (Matt, Jane, Fin and I) made our way up. She realized that it really is quite a bit fast and less painful to try this trick with your pants on! :)

We all gathered for a tasty lunch and then wrapped things up with a final romp in the tide. Matt and I drove the little ones home and they both passed out on the drive so Matt and I could get our full gab on – the ladies went and picked up a few necessities at the grocery store (and got our gab on as well), and we all ended up back at Paradise Cottage for a lovely dinner of Roasted Venison and chicken, mashed potatoes, cabbage and spinach…

As we had plenty of little odds and ends to attend to, including two daughters who we were hoping to get on a regular sleeping schedule and Uncle Matt had schoolwork to do we called it an early night and came home to get the girls in bed and get caught up on pictures and journals and stuff like that…

London - Devon (Day 5)

After Maya's full night of sleep we all slept until 9:15am Sunday morning – and had a 10am checkout – we hadn’t packed and the kitchen was full of dirty dishes and Chinese takeout!

OH NO

hurry hurry

But it worked we got out and got going – got ourselves to Dino’s Italian Café for a full English breakfast??? and then on the Tube to Paddington…

Maya definitely seemed to be getting the hang of traveling. She declared herself in charge of her carseat (with stroller attachment) and took advantage of her seat while we waited for the Tube. She looks like such a pro reading her book and taking in the tourists (: while waiting!

Trained it to Devon – The train was crazy full as it was the end of a holiday weekend so there were vacationers and students all with loads of luggage all over the place…

It was pretty high stress finding a seat and a place for our luggage… eventually Matt just camped out in between cars with our bags. The rest of us had seats but ended Jen and I ended up with the kids both passed out on our laps. It was good to have the time to wind down after getting so tense at the start of the ride…

We arrived in Exeter and spent a little time fighting with the carseats then drove directly to the Duke. There was a crowd gathered we sat and drank and ate in the back garden

Maya instantly made some friends Sarah, Benjamin and Samuel who she ran around with for a while – so that Jen and I could get acquainted with Jane – we had a lovely visit that lasted ‘till late in the evening when we all came up into the room for a night cap – we plugged Maya into the DVD machine with her prize for an excellent night of sleep the night before (Anastasia, the childrens animated take on the fall of the Romanovs…).

But unfortunately we nightcapped for too long and Maya turned into a bit of a Rasputin herself…