Almost Complete

Here it is. This is the almost-finished loft. Since last posting I have put down carpet and underpadding, assembled the slide, and completed the suspension bridge. We have also started to put up some decorations like suspending chinese paper lanterns and gold starts from the ceiling, as well as the placement of door bead at the entrance of exit of the first platform.

Here's a shot form a differenct angle. You probably can't tell from this small picuture how I build the bridge, but it ended up being quite the headache. No matter its finished now. Not only can i disconnect the bridge to lower my kyaks from the roof, but I can adjust the tension on all teh ropes to keep the bridge tight and minimize excessive swinging. I also had to place some handles at either end of the bridge since Aeva is still a little timid about crossing by herself.

The best part, of course, is the slide. I can personally vouche and tell you that its not only sturdy enought to support a grown man but its also quite fast! The last big task to do will be completing all the sanding.

Playhouse

This weekend Dad and Curt came over to help me turn my r0ugh sketches of an indoor child's playloft into reality. Its a work in progress, and several design elements have changed in the process of construction. Aeva was excited about helping out as well. As you can see from the above picture, she's holding a wrench in the hands, ready and eager to jump right on in. I have yet to document all the work done to date, but this will catch you up on the major stuff. Don't worry, you will hopefully see a finished product by next weekend.

We had an excellent cheer squad keeping up motivated in our chilly work. The temps last weekend were in the 30s.

Good thing Dad is retired now. I have lots of projects in which to enlist him.

Here's the large platform. This thing is STURDY.

Once finished, there will be a wooden suspension bridge connecting these two platforms. I actually put up most of that today.

Last of all, the platforms will be sanded, varnished, padded and carpeted, and there will be an assortment of doodads like a ship's wheel etc. mounted to the rails. Oh yes--don't forget the 10-foot wrap around slide I bought for the main platform. That will be the final and crowning feature of the playhouse. All of this is a bit bigger than it looked on paper, but we have been cleaning out of garage over the course of several months in anticipation of its conversion to a playroom. Add a little light, heat, and a killer setup like this one and voila--kiddie paradise all winter long.

Christmas Time is Here

Here's a quick welcome to the Christmas season from the Korzyniowski family! We have already celebrated and early combo Christmas/Thanksgiving with the Watkins side of the family, but the season isn't over yet. Merry Christmas everyone, and don't forget the true Reason for this holiday season.

SKEETers

Just picked up a new sport. This week I sold a bunch of junk from my garadge on craigslist, and afterwards went down to the local pawnshop and picked up a 12 gauge Winchester 1400. Logically, it needed an immediate test drive, so this morning my father and I went down to the local clay pigeon range to see what kind of damage we could do.

I let the ole pro have have the first few shots as seen above. Apparently, he has had some experience in a prior life, when some 50 years ago he placed third in a local turkey shoot. Besides, if an untried firearm is going to explode with the first shot, its best if you're not the one holding it right?

I ended up hitting about 20% of my targets.... okay maybe more like 10%. Dad, on the otherhand, was much better than me. Still, I got a good feel for the thrill of the sport, and now am pretty sure that it has won itself TWO new disciples.

Autumn Colors

This was what treated our eyes the first weekend of November here in Nashville--beautiful fall colors on a cool, crisp Sabbath afternoon. We took these pictures at the historic Grassmere farm behind the Nashville zoo. This is Aeva's first fall that she is old enough to enjoy and its been a treat so far.Here's my little girl getting tossed up in the air by her Papa. She tend to let out little excited gasps just as she leaves my arms.

Too bad such pretty colors are destined to fade so quickly. Shortly after these pictures were taken, we several hard rains that took most of the early colors off right away. Fortunately, there are still an abundance of hearty maple trees in middle Tennessee that cling to those fiery orange and vivid red colors until the last moments of autumn.

Intruders Beware

After months of talking about it, I finally had the chance to take my wife to the pistol range. The recoil from my 9mm was a little much for her, but this Ruger Mark III .22 that we rented was just her speed. And Jessica is a deadly shot too.

Here she is from 30 feet just as she is warming up. Keep in mind that she has never shot a pistol before.

Right before this video I had asked, "What are you going to do if a badguy breaks into our house in the middle of the night?" Well... here's your answer. Evil dudes stay away!

Marathon Woman!!!

Big Congradulations to my wife Jessica and, of course, running partner and long time friend Sergeant Alex Larrea for running the 34th Annual 2009 Washington D.C. Marine Corps Marathon in 3h 43 min!!!!      Wow!    Talk about a feat!   An check out that metal.  I'd say its well worth it for a job well done, something I will no doubt never ever ever do or even be able to attempt.

Here's the happy mug shot of one half the dinamic duo immeditely after finishing the race.  Congradulations to two great athletes and very  special people!   

Autumn

Autumn is upon us and old man winter is already just around the corner. I haven't had much time to update the blog lately, but here are a few random pics from a trip to a local pumpkin patch. Aeva loved it!

Happy Birthday Aeva

Last Sabbath, September 19th we celebrated Aeva's very first birthday! For those of you who couldn't make it, you might assume this 1-year-old would have been indifferent to the party, presents, and cake. But Aeva understood exactly one thing.... this is all for me!!! Just look at the expression on that little face after diving into her smash cake.

Even though we had set up for an outdoor event, angry overhead clouds threatened to drown us out. The Lord blessed, however, and the rain held off right until the last guests left.

Aeva has been enjoying her new pink scooter.

Can't see it in this pic, but the party theme was puppies. No, we couldn't actually spring for a real puppy at this stage, but everything else was canine: puppy plates, cups, balloons, and most importantly a puppy cake.

Aeva's anticipation before each present was pallatable. She would stand right next to Mami as each present was unwrapped, bounching up and down with excitement, then grab the present and parade around the patio, clutching it to her chest or proudly displaying it above her head.

To see more pictures from the big day, CLICK THIS LINK: http://picasaweb.google.com/akorzyni/BirthdayParty?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzf9p-Ks_igzgE#

More Pictures from Panama!

CLICK HERE to see a few more pictures from our recent Panama Trip.
http://picasaweb.google.com/akorzyni/Panama2009#

At Last

This post is for you Mom and Dad. At last, after months of waiting, my medical license has finally arrived. I am now official and can hang out my shingle ? Moonlighting here I come!!!

Shootout!

Finally got the chance to take out my surplus gun collection! You can see me and my Dad holding my 1940 Finnish M91 mosin nagant (left) and my 1933 91/30 Russian mosin (right). Now, those are a couple of mean looking dudes don't you think? Turns out both guns shot pretty well... excellent, actually, considering they are 76 and 69 years old. I can't vouch for the two yahoos begind the sights, however. At 100+ yards, I didn't hit any of the targets, whereas Dad turned out to be a reasonable decent shot.

Here's Dad with my Yugoslavian M48 Mauser, testing the scope. Our friend Tony Reynold's and his British .303 Mark 4 Enfield and also did some pretty impressive shooting that day. All these guns take pretty large bullets, and my shoulder testified to that fact in the morning.

You can see more pictures from our shootout if you CLICK HERE at this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/akorzyni/Shootout#

Aeva's Panama Adventure

Hey Everyone, this is just a cursery post about the Korzyniowski's most recent family vacation--Panama! Actually, the destination was an island off the Pacific coast of Panama called Isla Bastimentos. I just got back yesterday in time to resume work today and left Jessica and Aeva there with Jessica's parents to enjoy a few extra days of sun and tropical weather.

We spent a whole lot of time at the beach with Aeva, who absolutely loves playing in the sand. She didn't care too much for playing next to the surf at first, but gradually did warm to the idea somewhat.

Here's just a quick view from the porch of our house overlooking the jungle and ocean. Don't have much time to tell more now but I'm hopeful to post more later. We saw quite a few cool animals, ate lots of good food, and even got a little healthy sun in the process. More later.

Ammo

At last!   The UPS guy finally dropped off my surplus Czechoslovakian ammo for my Russian mosin nagant.  The shells are pretty big.  As seen from left to right we have a .22 cal, 9mm, 7.62x54mm.  If Vanderbilt will ever give me my life back, perhaps I can acutally get out and shoot it!   More to come when I do...

Garden Delight

Our little garden we planted a couple of months ago has taken flight. Initially I thought everything had shrivelled, yellowed, and died, but after two batches of miracle grow, everything greened up and started growing again. Look at the result.

Walking in Memphis

This past weekend I took the "fam" down to Memphis to see our old friends Alex and Bernice, and to celebrate a baby shower from another church friend as well. Alex and Bernice's beloved 150lb child Bruno (a bull mastif) was a source of endless fascination and delight for Aeva. He didn't take well to me, but turned into a gentle giant for Aeva. He gave her more than one tongue bath, with each lick easily wrapping around little Aeva's whole head.

Saturday evening the girls stayed in the kitchen talking about who-wants-to-know what, while we guys (Alex, Ronnie, and myself) had good wholesome man talk out on the patio.

Turns out Alex isn't half bad as a grill master. The veggie burgers were great, Alex! Someday soon, you too must become a vegetarian... it is inevitable.

Now, as much as I LOVE baby showers, we boys took a little trip down to the shooting range Sunday afternoon.

Ronnie and me did okay. Alex, on the other hand (Mr. I-don't-know-anything-about-guns) made us look like little girls out there. Somehow, Ronnie and I just didn't believe this marine's claims.

Futher insights

EPIPHANY #5 - Blueberries are also yummy, and do not require chewing before swallow. Of note, they do not always digest either.

New Discoveries

Everybody knows that somewhere along life's journey there are certain sentinel events that change the way we view the world. This last week has been one of those pivotal times for Ms. Aeva, though, what what some would call milestones, others might more rightly name epiphanies--for that is what they are. Here are a few of Aeva's this week.

EPIPHANY #1 - Mud. No explanation needed

EPIPHANY #2 - Cherry tomatoes go "Pop!" when bite them. They are also yummy.

EPIPHANY #3 - Sand feels wonderful on your toes. Aeva's Buela bought her a sandbox a few days ago, and now we literally have to drag her away in order to eat and do other things.

EPIPHANY #4 - Sharing is a good thing: Food, toys, pacifiers. The world is a much better place when Mami and Papa get to enjoy then too.