New Playset!

Project: Swingset purchased as a DIY kit from Menards (on clearance)

Time Investment: About 14 hours. (The box suggested 4-6 hours for two people. We had Four people for at least 8 of the hours…)

Cost: I don’t remember.

This was fun to put together, even though I think we both got a little short-tempered at times. Randy’s parents came over to help, and we couldn’t have done it without them. I’m so glad we’re done, though!

Wally seems to like it, though he’s not head over heels in love with it. I guess I had visions of Wally just excitedly playing all over it and then declaring that we were the best parents in the world and he was going to stop hitting immediately out of gratitude. But that didn’t happen.

But we all had a good time playing on it today, and anticipate we will use it often until it gets too cold out.

More photos here.

The Crocodile Hunter

It is with great sadness that I write of Steve Irwin’s death. Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, died while filming a documentary off the Great Barrier Reef. Apparently, he took a stingray barb to the heart.

I feel so bad for his wife, Terri, and their two kids. The news has kind of put a pall over our day today. It’s a little bizarre, really, to be so sad to hear of the death of someone you’ve never met. But, as Randy put it, he’s like a friend we just never met. We watched The Crocodile Hunter for years. We’ve watched numerous specials on Steve and Terri and their family. We watched their courtship and marriage, we watched Terri in labor with Bindi, we watched the family take a whirlwind vacation tour of American National Parks and Australian Parks. We watched Steve cry as he recounted the death of his dog.

I feel like I know the man.