The Blizzard of 2010

Snow at last! It finally feels like a real winter here in Tennessee. Daytime temps in the 20s, kids with sleds sliding down the neighborhood hill, and a full weekend without any call. How much better could it really get? I'd say we had a good 4" here in Nashville, though my parent probably had more like 6" or 7" just up the road from us.
Speaking of sleds, we don't have one. This Sabbath morning I improvised with a rope an a laundry basket and took Aeva for wild rides around the back yard. As you can see, however, this particular sled had the unfortunate tendency to dump it passenger out on the right. No worries though. Aeva just smiled each time and said, "Más más."

Aeva has been loving the snow! We can barely force her inside.

It seems that this little one can't get enough of the snow. As much fun as sledding was, she would much rather have sat in one spot on continued to shove more of that crunchy, white, cold stuff into her mouth.

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!