Seize the Day!

Earlier this summer David and I were treated with a gift from Mimi to go and see the Broadway musical of Newsies. After seeing the show Finley kept asking and asking us about it, so I finally decided to let him watch the Disney movie. I thought it might be a little boring for him, but he loved it! And thus began his Newsies obsession.

 

 Late in the summer when we learned there was going to be a ward talent show Finley decided he wanted to sing a Newsies song. Knowing his singing capabilities, I convinced him to dance and sing along to the song instead. He also asked David to be in the dance too as "Davey" from the movie. Of course he would be "Les" :).

David agreed in the hopes that Finley would forget all about it, but of course he didn't! So a month or so ago I started choreographing and having the boys rehearse for our talent show number. This past weekend it was finally time for the show! Finley was very excited and just a little bit nervous. Here is what went down: 

 I was really proud of them both! David for being brave enough to do a dance routine in front of our whole ward and Finley for not making a single mistake!

I bought Finley some of his favorite flowers to congratulate him on his wonderful performance. And now he is already talking about what song to dance to at next year's talent show. So stay limber David!

Finley's Magic Tree House!

This past year, Finley somehow got it into his head that the house was getting a little too cramped for his liking.  And so began the subtle (well, let's be honest, he is a six-year-old kid, so not so subtle) requests for a place to call his own . . . his Walden Pond . . . his Camp David . . . his Palace of Versaille . . . or a tree house in the backyard would also do.

I did my best to convince Finley that the idea was impossible.  "The mosquitoes are absolutely horrid in the backyard," I reasoned.  The next day we received a flyer from the Mosquito Authority offering to rid our yard of mosquitoes.  "Well, there aren't any trees that could possibly support a tree house on our property," I pointed out.  Finley set about the task of finding a suitable tree, and quickly located the largest tree I have ever seen outside of the Redwood Forest in California.  "Ummmm . . . .I simply do not have the expertise to safely construct a structure several feet off the ground in a tree . . . just ask your mother."  In steps Abuelo offering his more than capable services.

Recognizing defeat, we (and by "we" I really mean Abuelo . . . with some help from me and Finley) set about the process of building Finley's tree house. We finally completed the tree house last month, so I though I would share some pictures of the process.

We started with this scale diagram prepared by Finley.  With plans and specifications like this, how could we fail?  We were off to a great start . . . Abuelo . . . HELP!!!

So, Abuelo made some slight adjustments with this drawing and we were off to the races!

Here we are with all of the lumber!  

Here is Abuelo after we had finally secured the frame that would support the tree house.  The lag bolts that were used to attach the frame to the tree were ridiculously thick (and long), and had to be screwed in by hand.  At one point, I found myself hanging onto a wrench, suspended over 10 feet in the air, trying to turn the bolt with the entirety of my body weight.  It was then that I questioned positioning the tree house so high in the tree.

With the frame in place, it was time to start putting in the flooring.  This was not too bad after we had several planks in place so that you could move about. 

We then cut along the edge of the frame to remove the excess decking.

With the flooring in place, it was time to build the structural posts and tie them together.  Finley had a really good time helping out whenever he could and got pretty good with a drill!!

And no tree house would be complete without a trap door and rope ladder.  Abuelo was terrified that a child could lose a finger in the trap door, and so we were careful to create a little box to support the door that was slightly smaller than the door itself (and added a lining of rope) to avoid any digital amputations. 

Here is Finley drilling a hole for the rope handle on the trap door.

And here we are building the rope ladder! 

Finley is actually pretty good at getting up and down the rope ladder.  The rungs are pretty narrow, so it is actually much easier for him to climb than for me or Natalie.  I think that was his plan . . . 

Here is Finley with some of his friends guarding the tree house even before it was totally finished (we still had to put the top cap on the railings), but they didn't seem to notice!  I wouldn't test my luck with this motley crew.  

And here is the construction crew enjoying the partially-constructed (left) and fully-constructed (right) tree house!  Finley really loves his tree house.  It is great for him to have a little place to call his own!  We have to send out a huge "THANK YOU" to Abuelo for all of his help and guidance with this project.  To say that we couldn't have done it without you is a gross understatement.  You are the BEST and we love you.  And, no . . . we are not just buttering you up for the "next step" . . . the roof . . .