~ Fin ~

The great magnificant all purpose end table/chest/game station is finished! Above you can see the heavy duty construction from 4" pine boards, and assembled in a sort of log cabin style with alternate boards overlapping the ends. The top is put together with pine boards as well and is one strong tabletop able to hold up to children and adults alike. The box is just the right height to put your tea down while reading or even to rotate your chair and elevate your feet. Recently Tyler and I have put the backgammon game on it and played a nice game in the afternoon Winter sun. The actual width of the box is the same as the length so that the base is a square, and although it may seem overly large to you it is perfect for holding the boys Geotrax trains. The cover lifts right off for easy access to this wonderful pasttime of train track designing.

As you can see the box fits nicely between our two swivel chairs and acts well as an end table or even as a seat for Ali.

Here are the boys showing off one of the many uses of this wonderful creation of Tyler's and mine. After slaving for four weeks (off and on) we have come to the end of this project.

Yay!

#1 Reason to Bowl: The Shoes Baby!

Tyler and I took the boys on their first bowling adventure today, and let me tell you it was a treat. I never remember bowling as an expensive activity, but it is no longer cheap. It cost us 16 bucks for each of us to bowl one game, and that is with Elijah and Josiah sharing a string, and Josiah didn't even rent shoes (his feet are too small).

Don't you just LOVE those shoes?

I was greatly reminded of that movie Uncle Buck. Do you remember that movie? There is a scene in that movie where Buck takes his niece and nephew bowling. His niece manages to push the ball down the lane so that it hits a pin and stops. Well, I thought that that is exactly what Josiah's bowling ball was going to do whenever he went to push it down the lane. It seemed to take forever for the ball to make the short journey down the runway; but in the end it always made it and he would even knock down a lot of pins. The boys shared a game and when all was said and done they did great with a score of: 78! What a score for a 2 and 4 year old!

Elijah and Josiah loved examining all of the mechanics on the machinery. Whether they were looking underneath the bumper or examining the ball return, they were transfixed on all of the things that they found. As usual Elijah would not stop asking questions, but hey, that is how you learn.

If you find yourself with some money and nothing to do in Maine on a rainy day; go bowling with a couple of kids. They love it, and you will love watching them bowl or just get freaked out by the air coming out of the ball return machine.