Summer reading fun

If only all moments could be this quiet and peaceful.

Smart water controller

Here's my latest upgrade to the house - Solarsync for Hunter irrigation systems. It's a smart controller for the water irrigation system. It basically measures the sun intensity and adjusts the watering amount automatically. It also will shut off the water if it has rained recently. The one thing it doesn't do is adjust the watering intervals. It only adjust the amount of time the water is on.


I ran the wire behind the gutter so you can't really see it except for the small transition to the down pipe.


In order to get the snake the wire to the controller, I bought these fiberglass poles that are used for snaking wires. Picked these up at Harbor Freight tools for $8 which is a lot less than if you were to buy them from Home depot.


Here you can see the tip of the pole. I've attached the wire to the end so I can pull it up through the pipe.


Here you can see a close up of the pole in the pipe. Thanks to Chuck for helping snake the wire too.

I'm 8 yrs old today!

I finally lost some of my baby teeth including my two front ones as you can tell. I'm dressed in my PJ's because it was Pajama day at school today. I'm also sporting some of the handmade jewelry I received for my birthday. I still love reading and would have finished the Harry Potter series if my parents didn't regulate which books I could read. I just read the 3rd book in the series and finished it in about a day. I still love my stuffed animal doggie and if I could have one wish, I'd wish for a dog despite being allergic to dogs.

Wood's best friend

Cole accidentally broke the drawer front to his Ikea desk. The desk didn't cost much but it seemed a waste to have to buy a whole new one. So instead I bought some wood epoxy and repaired it.


Here's the epoxy in the chipped out area. You just mix the two different parts of the epoxy to activate it and let it set.


Here's the epoxy after sanding it down so it's smooth.


Our exterior door frame started to get some water damage and dry rot. I had some estimates to fix it and originally I thought you could just replace the damaged wood pieces but it turns out that you have to replace the entire door frame. One of the guys suggested to use epoxy and then paint over it and replace the door frame after the whole frame gets worse.


Here's a picture of the epoxy before any sanding.


Here's after sanding (not the best job) and paint.


You can buy this product at Lowes but not Home Depot.

I'm 6 years old today!

This is a big birthday because I can finally say that I'm potty trained with the exception of a few accidents here and there. I can also say that I've learned to ride a bike without training wheels. I can't believe my parents started potty training me before I was 2. I showed them who's in charge. The only milestones left are learning to drive a car and going to the prom which I heard you have to dance with girls. I can do without that milestone.

Not a kid anymore

Lauren opted to skip the sunglasses at the dentist this time. She's growing up. Here's one of her previous visits.

Tucson Spring Vacation Trip '15

We recently took a short vacation down in Tucson. The first stop was Kartchner Caverns which is about an hour past Tucson. Cole is being his silly self.


Lauren and Cole fit through the holes. They could become cave explorers.


After the caves, we went back to the hotel so the kids could hit the slides and pool.


The next day we checked out the Pima Air and Space Museum.


Lauren and Cole standing in front of a MiG-29.


The kids were playing some game and started becoming more interested in that than the planes.


The next day we went to Sabino Canyon. It was the first time we had been there and we were wowed by the desert scenery which isn't easy considering we live in Phoenix.


Lauren smiling at the end of the last tram stop.


Lauren and Cole were playing by the stream passing through the canyon.


Luckily the water was just a trickle.

Finally learned how to ride a bike

Cole learned how to ride a bike last weekend. This picture was from the weekend before where he tried without training wheels for the first time. What finally put him over was pretending to hold his bike while running along.

The Next Bobby Fischer?

Lauren's 2nd chess tournament.

Scavenger

Cole recently found a lot of change under a coinstar machine so now he's checking for money everywhere we go.

Milestone

Finally after 10 years...

Merry Christmas '14

Ice skating

Tips

I've never seen 22% before.

Benihana style

Kids were mesmerized at their first Benihana experience.

Buckled up

The books had a tendency to go flying off the car seat so the kids now strap them in. I think the seats were a little too slick. :)

Training for American Ninja Warrior

Poop or pine cone?

Cole picked this up and we were convinced it was some poop but luckily it was a pine cone that was wet.

Side gate fun

The wood in our side gate was starting to break off. It didn't help that the kids would ride their bikes into the slats and even broke off a piece. So I got some quotes to have the wood replaced by a handyman and they ranged from $200 up to $425. A little more than I was expecting so I decided to do it myself with some help.


Here I removed the wood slats, sanded any major rust spots, and then repainted with some spray paint. This is after I taped and covered the area. One piece of advice. If you want to keep your hands and arms clean, wear disposable gloves and a long sleave shirt.


Here's the synthetic fence wood I picked up at Lowes. Hopefully I won't ever have to paint or stain these or replace them for that matter. Our local Home Depot and Lowes carry the same synthetic wood slates but Lowes has this darker color and a red cherry while Home Depot only has the red cherry. My neighbor fortunately has a very nice table saw and even offered to cut the wood while I was at work. All I had to do was let him know the measurements and then pick them up later. Now that's a neighbor.


Here's the finished project. I bought new bolts at Home depot and the kids helped me install the pieces. All I had to do was drill the holes for the bolts.

Cousins 2014

Justin and Caroline came for a visit back in April. So we naturally took them to Butterfly Wonderland since Arizona is known for its butterflies. :) Here the kids are posing before heading into the 3-D movie on Monarch butterflies.


Justin and Caroline showing off their pearly whites.


Lauren and Caroline are trying to pet one of the stingrays. It must have gotten close.


Caroline demonstrating one of her katas.


Justin doing one of his medal winning ones. Okay maybe not but it still looked cool.