Sweet Ride

It has finally come the time to start moving some of the bigger things into the new shop. Last weekend, we got the Camaro out of storage at the neighbors. The kids and I washed and shined it up and then Daddy gave them their first ride in a '69 Camaro.
They were super excited to get to ride in the front seat! I am normally the car seat and seat belt Nazi but since there are no belts in the back seat, I opted for letting them both ride in the front with a lap belt (plus it is only about a mile to the shop). And by golly, they were EXCITED! Audrey kept saying they got to ride in the 'banana car'!
I was right there behind them {snapping pictures one handed} to document the big event. I know, I know! I was not the pillar of safety on this very day which is ironic because my title is 'Corproate Safety Analyst' at the utility company I work for!
I did capture some pretty cool shots though :)
As Daddy was snuggling the car safely into it's new home, the kids and I found a tree frog sunning himself on the concrete. The kids thought it was so cool that he could turn from green to gray and back to green again.
Grant is like me...loves to play with frogs and toads. Audrey, on the other hand, is not so sure about them. She was acting all tough and wanted to hold him but the minute Grant handed the frog to her she would drop it flat on the concrete. Poor thing probably had brain damage after that!
Maybe, just maybe her reaction to the frog had a little something to do with this...
I think it went something like this: "What Audrey? You want the frog? Okay, I'll give you the frog!"

She did end up finding her comfort zone in the end... arms length will do just fine for this little dumplin'!
Yesterday I spent the ENTIRE day emptying out the kids' room, cleaning and then putting it back together. I did manage to bag up 3 garbage bags of toys and the kids didn't even notice. Their room looks so much bigger now that it is rearranged. Now it is all ready for Grant's new bed. Still can't decide if we are going to go with bunk beds, if I should get a twin for Grant for now. Bunk beds scare me a little but they are so convenient and space saving.
Today we spent the day cleaning more stuff out of the garage. Sheesh, do we have LOTS of JUNK! It feels so good to get things cleaned out and organized though!
The count down is on to Kindergarten too. Grant starts on Tues but it is more of an orientation day. I go with him from 10 to noon and that is it for the day. I took the whole day off so we can have lunch after and spend some special time together before the all day every day stuff starts on Wed. {sniff, sniff}
Hope everyone is enjoying their long holiday weekend! Happy Labor Day!!

Getting closer by the day...

The long awaited 'Shop Update' has arrived!This building sure has been keeping us busy (and our pockets empty) this summer!

I will spare you the step by step pictures that led us to the inside being (almost) done.
The pic below is me standing inside the overhead door and to the right. In front of me are two 'pits' where motorcycle lift tables will go. The room in front of that is the 'fabricating room' aka the 'dirty room' where Duke will have his grinder, machining tools, welder, etc.
This is a look inside the fab room. He has started to move some of his equipment in since this pic was taken but that will have to be for another day.
To the left of that is the hallway (duh!) and then further to the left is the 'dyno' room.
The dyno room that is filled full of JUNK, that is! While the electrician has been working this room has become the catch all for all of the stuff. If you look close you can see that the walls are made of peg board (there is also a second wall with sheetrock behind the peg board) and the hope is that it will help to muffle the sound while running a bike on the dyno. Let me tell you, Duke sure put a lot of thought into this shop...like 20 years of dreams that are finally coming true, that is!
The ever exciting hallway. The door on the right is an access door into the fab room, the first door on the left is the mechanical room and the second door on the left is the bathroom.
Inside the mechanical room, where some day there will be boiler to heat the infloor heat.
And the bathroom. It is hard to see from the pic but our friend Keith stained the concrete floor a reddish-brown and let me tell you, it looks pretty darn cool!
This is the back area aka 'cold storage'. It has the option to be heated but for now it is going to serve as a big (34' x40') garage with pallet racking and room for all of Duke's 'toys'.
Another angle of the cold storage.Looking from cold storage back into the shop.
Oohh, there is the front garage door and the front service door.
Another view of the front shop, which is also 34' x 40'.
And these last two pictures are a little more recent. Last Friday, Duke and his friend Doug began building a workbench and the desk area for the front shop.
We are going to have to wait another week or two before the counter tops are in to finish it though. Oh, and you can see there is now electricity and ceiling fans! I can hardly contain myself!!
I am also proud of myself because I have been watching the Menards ads and I managed to get a toilet for $39 after rebate! Woo Hoo for cheap toilets. I also picked up a faucet for the sink the other day and today I found some roller shades for the windows.
It will be nice when we can FINALLY clean out our garage and shed at our house. I just have to keep reminding myself that it is getting closer by the day!