Sunday, June 21, 2009
Water, Water Everywhere
Now that the new patio is done, Alton has a fun place for outdoor activity with: water! We got him a "water table" for cool times in the hot sun. It's about waist height for him with a deep reservoir and a shallow one, plus a little tower with a paddlewheel. His favorite activity is to scoop the water out, so we helpfully provided him with a bucket for dumpage. Here he is a week ago with Daddy and Mommy! Happy Father's Day to all!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Easy Rider
After much hemming and hawing (pretty much since he's been born), we bought a bike seat for Alton to ride in. They are pretty impressive these days, much more so than the seats of our youth, which were little more than a booster screwed somewhere onto the adult bike frame. These days, it has a three-point harness, foot rests, roll bar handle and suspension. Add in a helmet, and Alton and I are practically ready for the X Games. We made our trip to the bike store at the end of May, where Alton tried on a helmet and posed on a balance bike--we can't wait until he's old enough for one of those! (A balance bike is a bike with no pedals so that the child's footpower is what makes it move forward. It teaches the kid to balance on the bike from side to side, the essential skill for being able to ride a bike with no training wheels. Ask Matt and Di for the story of how it works, for real!)
Andy installed the bike seat after completing his stellar, amazing, gorgeous, professional-quality paver patio, but Alton has been sick this week with a stomach bug, so the seat sat unused until this morning for his inaugural ride. But that didn't stop us from fitting his helmet on properly while he was relaxing in the playroom on a hot afternoon. We kept the helmet on while he read books so that he would get used to it and distracted by everything around him.
The helmet brand is called a "nutcase," and their baby/kid helmets are called "Little Nutty." The tagline (LOVE it) is: "I love my brain."
This morning, after much pumping of tires, tightening of brakes, adjusting of seatbelts and more, Alton was ready for his first bike ride! We just practiced up and down the street today to make sure that we were not too far from home in case Alton didn't enjoy himself, but he had a great time! He didn't fuss about his helmet or the harnesses, sat back and relaxed, and even chattered a little at parked cars and waved hello to "Daddy! Daddy!"
Daddy also took a turn!
We are very excited for this new family activity. Andy has a bike and, you will remember, was avidly riding to work in the gorgeous fall weather last year and intends to start it up again this summer. He bought me my bike as a birthday gift the first year we were together to replace my old one and we used to enjoy riding together on the suburban streets of Vallejo, where we lived when we were first married. After moving to Oakland, a much more urban neighborhood with busy streets that made biking a little scary, we stuck to walking the dog more than two-wheeling it. Now safely ensconced on less hectic roads once more, we're looking forward to challenging ourselves with some summer riding time.
It's just too bad Minerva can't join in...or can she? Hmm.
Andy installed the bike seat after completing his stellar, amazing, gorgeous, professional-quality paver patio, but Alton has been sick this week with a stomach bug, so the seat sat unused until this morning for his inaugural ride. But that didn't stop us from fitting his helmet on properly while he was relaxing in the playroom on a hot afternoon. We kept the helmet on while he read books so that he would get used to it and distracted by everything around him.
The helmet brand is called a "nutcase," and their baby/kid helmets are called "Little Nutty." The tagline (LOVE it) is: "I love my brain."
This morning, after much pumping of tires, tightening of brakes, adjusting of seatbelts and more, Alton was ready for his first bike ride! We just practiced up and down the street today to make sure that we were not too far from home in case Alton didn't enjoy himself, but he had a great time! He didn't fuss about his helmet or the harnesses, sat back and relaxed, and even chattered a little at parked cars and waved hello to "Daddy! Daddy!"
Daddy also took a turn!
We are very excited for this new family activity. Andy has a bike and, you will remember, was avidly riding to work in the gorgeous fall weather last year and intends to start it up again this summer. He bought me my bike as a birthday gift the first year we were together to replace my old one and we used to enjoy riding together on the suburban streets of Vallejo, where we lived when we were first married. After moving to Oakland, a much more urban neighborhood with busy streets that made biking a little scary, we stuck to walking the dog more than two-wheeling it. Now safely ensconced on less hectic roads once more, we're looking forward to challenging ourselves with some summer riding time.
It's just too bad Minerva can't join in...or can she? Hmm.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Patio Perfect
Pretty much from the moment we moved in, we knew our back yard needed some sort of facelift. There was nothing terribly bad about it: standard 8' x 8' concrete patio, grass, a DIY paver BBQ pad and some small trees. But we knew that it wouldn't fit our needs of having a little explorer-man running around.
So we set out thinking about what we wanted. A new patio/ deck was definitely in order. We pondered a bit about materials of construction: wood, pavers, concrete, etc. We settled on pavers - bricks that are laid in place without mortar or spaces between them. This has become a Rhyne-Family tradition. Grammy & Grandpa Rhyne have a paver patio, Zach & Karen put in a paver patio once their daughter *P was enroute, and so now we joined the club. We had our plan: patio, BBQ pad OUT! We settled on a pattern and color and hoped for the best. So we started out taking out the existing features and doing all of the demolition that was needed for the installation of the new patio. Andy had the opportunity to play with a jackhammer and angle grinder to take out the concrete patio.
Minerva, of course, inspected everything along the way for any safety violations. Next to come out was the grass. There was grass in the area that we wanted to install out patio, but we decided to remove ALL of it so that we can look ahead to finishing the second half of the yard.
So now that the patio, grass and BBQ pad were gone, all that was left was dirt. We ended up removing about 6 cubic yards of dirt, or about 6 completely overloaded truckfuls. Fun.
Now it was time for our help to arrive. This entire project became possible because Grandpa Charlie was able to make the trip up to help. His experience is endless with having put in his own patio, helped Zach put in their patio, and was involved in other installations during his job at a local landscaper. Charlie came equipped not only with his experience and dirty work pants, but with a plan. It's not so simple to just lay down nearly 300 square feet of bricks. First, we were to excavate to the appropriate depth and begin forming our grade for drainage. Next, we were to pour a concrete footing around the entire patio border for the edges to be mortared down to in order to keep all the other bricks in place.
Bare feet, beer and 24 bags of concrete - that's how we roll.
Once the forms were done, we were able to move in the 3 cubic yards of road base (rock) and 1 cubic yard of sand. Once these were leveled properly, the bricks were all that remained! Our plan included a channel drain that would run the width of the patio and remove any water collected (that's the small interruption you'll see in the patio from here on out).
And finally it was all done! When Grandpa Rhyne left us, all of the bricks were in. Three of the four sides of the soldier course (the mortared down edge) still needed to be mortared, about a dozen bricks needed cutting to be put in place and our drain still needed to be attached to the house drain. Andy took care of these items over the next couple of weeks to get to the final product you see here.
Special thanks on this project go to of course Charlie Rhyne for making the trip up here. Also, Matt Groener for putting more than his share of time hauling dirt here and there. Katie, Alton and Jennifer Rhyne were especially tolerant of the time and frustration that was needed to get this done, essentially, in 4 days. Katie was the one that kept Charlie and Andy alive past the morning of day 2. And now for some random pictures from the project.... enjoy!
Charlie, the smile indicates this is early in the project.
Andy. With a beer. In a hole he dug.
Like father, like son.
The first bricks that went down were actually mortared in place under the sliding door.
The finished product, facing the slider.
And, of course, the family using the new patio. Yay!
So we set out thinking about what we wanted. A new patio/ deck was definitely in order. We pondered a bit about materials of construction: wood, pavers, concrete, etc. We settled on pavers - bricks that are laid in place without mortar or spaces between them. This has become a Rhyne-Family tradition. Grammy & Grandpa Rhyne have a paver patio, Zach & Karen put in a paver patio once their daughter *P was enroute, and so now we joined the club. We had our plan: patio, BBQ pad OUT! We settled on a pattern and color and hoped for the best. So we started out taking out the existing features and doing all of the demolition that was needed for the installation of the new patio. Andy had the opportunity to play with a jackhammer and angle grinder to take out the concrete patio.
Minerva, of course, inspected everything along the way for any safety violations. Next to come out was the grass. There was grass in the area that we wanted to install out patio, but we decided to remove ALL of it so that we can look ahead to finishing the second half of the yard.
So now that the patio, grass and BBQ pad were gone, all that was left was dirt. We ended up removing about 6 cubic yards of dirt, or about 6 completely overloaded truckfuls. Fun.
Now it was time for our help to arrive. This entire project became possible because Grandpa Charlie was able to make the trip up to help. His experience is endless with having put in his own patio, helped Zach put in their patio, and was involved in other installations during his job at a local landscaper. Charlie came equipped not only with his experience and dirty work pants, but with a plan. It's not so simple to just lay down nearly 300 square feet of bricks. First, we were to excavate to the appropriate depth and begin forming our grade for drainage. Next, we were to pour a concrete footing around the entire patio border for the edges to be mortared down to in order to keep all the other bricks in place.
Bare feet, beer and 24 bags of concrete - that's how we roll.
Once the forms were done, we were able to move in the 3 cubic yards of road base (rock) and 1 cubic yard of sand. Once these were leveled properly, the bricks were all that remained! Our plan included a channel drain that would run the width of the patio and remove any water collected (that's the small interruption you'll see in the patio from here on out).
And finally it was all done! When Grandpa Rhyne left us, all of the bricks were in. Three of the four sides of the soldier course (the mortared down edge) still needed to be mortared, about a dozen bricks needed cutting to be put in place and our drain still needed to be attached to the house drain. Andy took care of these items over the next couple of weeks to get to the final product you see here.
Special thanks on this project go to of course Charlie Rhyne for making the trip up here. Also, Matt Groener for putting more than his share of time hauling dirt here and there. Katie, Alton and Jennifer Rhyne were especially tolerant of the time and frustration that was needed to get this done, essentially, in 4 days. Katie was the one that kept Charlie and Andy alive past the morning of day 2. And now for some random pictures from the project.... enjoy!
Charlie, the smile indicates this is early in the project.
Andy. With a beer. In a hole he dug.
Like father, like son.
The first bricks that went down were actually mortared in place under the sliding door.
The finished product, facing the slider.
And, of course, the family using the new patio. Yay!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
April Visitors: Part III, Zach, Karen and *P
Warning: the following two babies are so cute that even their pictures have been known to cause blindness and involuntary exclamations of "Oooooh!" Proceed with caution, and do not view these images if you are elderly, have heart trouble, or if somone has ever described you as a person whose "biological clock is ticking."
Uncle Zach, Auntie Karen and Cousin *P were the caboose in our April train of visitors. *P had just turned 9 months old, a crawling machine, so she and Alton had a blast playing with toys, visiting the park, and taking a trip to the zoo!
At the Park
Sliding down the slide
Whee!
Creeping up the steps one at a time
Hmm, looks like the other Rhynes pretty much spend their days the same way we do!
Chillin' in the grass...they are pretty much the same size in everything except feet right about now; Alton wears big 'ol man-shoes, and *P has dainty girlie feet!
"What is this stuff?"
"I don't know!"
*P decides to play Attack the Cousin, and Alton is her unsuspecting prey!
Alton waits until Mama isn't looking...then samples the play structure. Yes. Ew.
Looks like it's time to go home!
Zoo Trip (Approximate number of pictures the dads took of the polar bear: 800. Pictures of their children: 20.)
The infamous polar bear.
Alton and *P want to know what the big deal is with this big white dog.
When we started out, the day was cold!
Alton says, "No, Daddy, I take YOUR picture!"
*P watching the elephants...Karen watching the camera!
The baby elephant with his mama.
Me with Fancy Nancy; *P kindly loaned Alton a pink sun hat when the sun heated things up.
Finally we were ready to pack it in...
...and take this tired little koala bear home.
Uncle Zach, Auntie Karen and Cousin *P were the caboose in our April train of visitors. *P had just turned 9 months old, a crawling machine, so she and Alton had a blast playing with toys, visiting the park, and taking a trip to the zoo!
At the Park
Sliding down the slide
Whee!
Creeping up the steps one at a time
Hmm, looks like the other Rhynes pretty much spend their days the same way we do!
Chillin' in the grass...they are pretty much the same size in everything except feet right about now; Alton wears big 'ol man-shoes, and *P has dainty girlie feet!
"What is this stuff?"
"I don't know!"
*P decides to play Attack the Cousin, and Alton is her unsuspecting prey!
Alton waits until Mama isn't looking...then samples the play structure. Yes. Ew.
Looks like it's time to go home!
Zoo Trip (Approximate number of pictures the dads took of the polar bear: 800. Pictures of their children: 20.)
The infamous polar bear.
Alton and *P want to know what the big deal is with this big white dog.
When we started out, the day was cold!
Alton says, "No, Daddy, I take YOUR picture!"
*P watching the elephants...Karen watching the camera!
The baby elephant with his mama.
Me with Fancy Nancy; *P kindly loaned Alton a pink sun hat when the sun heated things up.
Finally we were ready to pack it in...
...and take this tired little koala bear home.
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