Creation of a Giant Playhouse

For the boys' 3rd birthday, we decided to build the boys a playhouse. The pictures below cover a span of exactly three months... starting on May 25 and ending on August 25. We had hoped to finish by the boys' birthday on July 15, but a huge delay with receiving the side windows pushed back our entire schedule. I don't think the boys minded though!

First step: Deciding exactly where this gigantic 12' x 10' playhouse will sit in our backyard!

Stage 1: Foundation complete!

Stage 2: Framing

Daddy's little helpers...

Mommy lounged on the playhouse floor and enjoyed the gorgeous spring day while everybody else was hard at work!

Ben made sure dad's measurements were correct!

Framing complete!

Stage 3: Roof trusses

Stage 4: Wall sheathing

Ben looks like he's thinking, "Oh, will this playhouse ever be done?!"

Wall sheathing complete!

Stage 5: Roof complete!

 Upon close inspection, we found that the boys had already started decorating their playhouse with stickers!

Stage 6: Interior floor

Watching daddy build the front door...

Testing their new door!

Stages 7-12: Door, porch tiles, front windows, trim, soffits, and caulking

Stage 13 (mommy's job!): Two coats of prime...

...and paint! Then, daddy topped it all off with a peep hole in the door, black shutters around the front windows, and a wrought iron "B" sign above the door!

All done!

Two happy boys lounging on their very own porch!

Well, daddy thought he was done, until mommy decided the inside of the house needed to be dry walled!

Advanced Waterbabies Class Graduates

The boys took swimming lessons every Monday at Emler Swim School this past summer. It took about two classes for Ben to really start enjoying the class, but it took Bryce about five. But, now they both absolutely love it, and we've enrolled in the Fall classes, which will go all the way to mid January.

The summer session they recently completed was called Advanced Waterbabies, and here they are with their graduation ribbon and t-shirt...

I took a few pictures of class one day from outside the window where Melissa and I always sat to watch. They keep the pool room really warm for the little swimmers, so it's not very comfortable for us to sit in. Here they were at the beginning of class sitting with their other two classmates, Sam and Lucy, and listening to their awesome teacher Mrs. Sarah...

They love waving to us during class...

At the beginning of each class, each student gets a turn swimming from their turtle seat to the island and then back. Here's Sam taking his turn...

This is one of their favorite parts of the class...

I think Stella wishes she can swim too...

She's so cute!

It looks like Sam and Ben got there hands on a pool toy while Mrs. Sarah wasn't looking!

At the end of class, each student jumps into the pool from the island...

And, gets bounced around on the duck...

Then, they each get a turn going down one of the slides... Ben always picks the biggest one!

Before getting dressed, they always like to stand under the shower until I make them get out...

By the end of the summer session, the boys were able to swim on their own for seven seconds underwater! I'm so proud of our two little fish!