The Pool: Day Eight

The boys were waiting for this day.  How fun for them to get to stand in their pool well before the water is added.  This morning I hosed down the gunite while Carter explored the pool.  This afternoon both boys decided to venture around the pool.  I told them to crawl out the deep end using the seat.  Carter insisted he needed water first before he could reach the seat.

We also had a visit by the sprinkler company.  We finally have our system working again minus the pool yard zones.  A broken pipe and broken valve were fixed as well.  Hopefully we'll have them back in a few weeks once the pool is finished to get everything up and running again.

Medieval Times

Stewart turned 30 today.  Hunter flew in this afternoon after 3 grueling days of taking the bar.  So it was time to celebrate.  Stew had the great idea for us to go to Medieval Times.  It's something we've wanted to take the boys to for a long time.  I got a sitter for Brenner and the rest of us went downtown in search of the castle.

We were given red crowns and spent the first hour hanging around the lobby area of Medieval Times.  There were bars, a museum, horse stalls, and vendors.  The boys got swords and did plenty of role playing while waiting to get seated.

Hunter and I tried on some beautiful headpieces.

The brothers were even cuter in their jester hats.

Here we are awaiting the tournament.  No utensils.  We drank tomato soup.  We had garlic bread, chicken, spare rib, and a pastry.  Thankfully they brought us wet wipes once we were done eating.

The boys were very into the show.  Before the jousting and sword fighting began, they had the horses come out prancing and showing off.  Carter kept asking, "When are they going to fight?"... reminds me of Titanic... just bring on the water already.

Here's our red night.  He did well in his first fight, but then lost his next battle.  I really started getting into it.  I found myself yelling, "Finish him off!"  The boys were mesmerized by the action.  Once we got in the car for the drive home they talked nonstop for the first 10 minutes; then the car was silent and my 2 guys were passed out.  Just a perfect night.  So glad Stew let us spend his birthday with him and Hunter.  It will certainly be an evening we won't forget.

The Pool: Day Seven

6:45am this morning... lots of noise out front.  Look who is here!  The gunite guys!

All of the photos are taken from Carter's room.  There was a tarp placed around the perimeter of the pool because of the gunite spray.  It's pretty much a concrete mix with less water- that's how they get it to stick to the sides without gravity pulling it down.  Then we have the job of adding water 2X a day for the next 7 days to help the gunite cure.

This man held this heavy hose for 5 hours straight while it shot gunite in the steel.  Can't imagine how tired he must be now.

These guys also built the stairs going down into the pool.  Then they smoothed it all out.

They created extra holes in the gunite so when we spray water on it the water wouldn't float the gunite up.  It apparently helps in the curing process.  When it's time to plaster and add quartz they will fill those holes in.  They also created a hole for an umbrella to sit in the shelf.  You can see it near the geyser pipe near the edge of the shelf.  It's also easier to see the edge of the pool- where the coping and stone will go.

Still Crawling...

Our whole life doesn't revolve around the pool build (although it appears that way in the blog).  Brenner is well into his 12th month and is still crawling everywhere.  Caleb crawled until 13 months, but Carter was up and walking at 10 months.  I thought surely this third kid would be toddling around well before a year.  Nope.  I was wrong.  Although he loves to walk while holding onto his walker, the couch, the chair, anything, and anybody, he has yet to just take off.  Sure, we've had a few steps here or there.  He just giggles and throws himself off balance because he's so amazed when he lets go and actual takes a step.  We cheer him on and encourage him, but he still prefers to slap his knees and hands on the ground and start moving.

Just as happy as can be to crawl.

I bought him this onesie.  It says "I'm faster than you... And I crawl!  Very true, Brenner.

The Pool: Day Six

No big pool news today.  We were scheduled for inspection and I'm not sure if it happened.  I was gone some this morning.  Our pool guys taped up our paperwork and it's still here, so I'm guessing the city was a no show.  I do know we are scheduled for gunite tomorrow so maybe the city is coming in the morning. 

But, we did have the sprinkler guy stop by.  We have yet to be able to run our sprinklers since the initial dig.  Now, late July and no sprinklers is not a good thing for yards.  We've resorted to the old fashioned sprinklers hooked to the hoses.  Just the same way my mom still does it at her house.  The problem with that is you leave it to me and I'll get caught up in a TV show or an activity and completely forget that I need to move the sprinkler to another location.  Not to mention the fact that it's quite a bit of juggling to figure out the perfect spot in the yard to maximize coverage while not watering the concrete.  Oh, and the weather has been teasing us quite a bit too.  The last few nights it looked like a small storm was rolling through, but we didn't get a drop.  So, back to the sprinkler.  Today, the sprinkler guy was able to locate a few problems with being able to run the system (minus the zones under construction).  We have some broken valve and a broken line from when we transplanted our shrubs.  He left before I got an update on what exactly he was going to do to fix the problem.  Maybe he'll reappear later.  Until then I'll be watering the old fashioned way.

The Pool: Day Five

This morning we had 3 men show up with lots of steel.  It took them about 5 hours and they had steel rods all around the pool.  This is the final step before the city comes to inspect and approve for the gunite.

Here's the view from Carter's room.  You can see all the steel in the pool.  It's so exciting to see more progress!

Here's the view of the shallow end.  You can see the pipe for the geyser in the shelf area.  Obviously they'll be cutting it back, but now I can see where it's going.  We call the shelf Brenner's play area.

And here's the view from the shallow end looking towards the deep end.  The excavation, plumbing, and steel are all finished.  Bring on the inspection!

While the guys were working on the steel, I went to the pool office to make my picks.  I had to choose tile, stone, and deck color.  It can be overwhelming, but I went in there with the mindset to just pick what stood out to me and not dwell on it too long.  Since my home is all earth tones I wanted to mix it up.  We want a pool that's more Caribbean blue and not like a lagoon.  So, the obvious choice for me would be to go with the greens and brown and muted blues.  BUT, I chose a 2 tone blue mosaic tile.  It's on the far left; second from the bottom.  It's 4 tiles put together as 1.  Then the decking will be a concrete mat stamp with 2 tones of beige.  The pool will also have Oklahoma stone around the back edge.  I think it will all come together nicely.  It was so fun to pick out the details of the pool!  Can't wait to see it come together.

The Pool: Day Four

Not much happened on day 4.  We opted not to count the weekend as part of the pool build time since no one works on the weekend.  I was hoping to see workers on Monday morning, but only one guy showed up mid-afternoon to put up the lovely orange fence.  You can see the pool equipment all put together.  (That was finished on Friday.) 

The Pool: Day Three

They finished the dig today.  All the dirt in the deep end was pushed together to make a ramp for the excavator to get out.  Then he drove himself out of the pit and on top.  Then he turned around and pulled up all the dirt he just drove over.  There was lots of rock to get through which made it tough for the diggers but that's much better for us in the long run.  Now we know we sit on solid ground!

Here's the final shape of the pool.  Water started forming at the bottom.  I was wondering if we hit a natural spring, but the excavators explained that when you move rock you find water.  No worries.  The dig went very smoothly.  Took longer than expected, but as long as they took their time to get it right I don't care.  It's really cool to see it all take shape.

The plumbing crew was waiting on the diggers to be done.  These guys weren't messing around.  As soon as the diggers were out of the way, they got to work on the plumbing and pool equipment.

But then a freak rain storm popped up and halted things.  The guys put down these massive tarps and called it a day.  Not sure if I'll see anyone over the weekend or not. 

The Pool: Day Two

Here's the end of Day 2.  The crew thought they would be finished today, but while working on the deep end they started hitting rock.  That dramatically slowed down the dig.

The shallow end is all finished.

Because the excavators are using small equipment, it's taking a long time to break through the rock.

I'm very curious when the dig is done how he will get himself out of the hole...

The Pool: Day One

 Steve and I have wanted a pool for several years.  It's always been on the list.  It was high on my list, but always bumped down on Steve's.  There was always something else that needed to be done.  Then late May hit and the temps were already reaching the upper 90s.  In early June Steve was umpiring summer ball in 100+ degree temps and decided that it was time we put in a pool.  No arguments here!  I had permission to proceed.  I'm the one who investigates, interviews, designs, and makes most decisions.  Steve likes to see the final plan and give the OK.  After talking with lots of builders and interrogating several friends and visiting their pools I knew that Premier Pools out of Lewisville would be the best fit.  They listened to what we wanted and have a reputation for creating beautiful pools.  So, on June 18th we signed a contract for a swimming pool! 

 

First step was to prepare our yard.  We had a trampoline (didn't take the photo before it was gone) that we relocated to Anna and David's house.  Rainbow came and moved our playsystem to the other side of the house.  In the meantime, all of the lines were marked in the front yard.  At that point we learned that our electric company, CoServ, ran their line UNDER our home and not along the easement.  This is a huge problem for them.  Everything was put on hold until CoServ had a plan to fix their electrical line.  After 3 weeks the electrical engineer made a plan so we could proceed with the permits.  They will be coming out in August to re-dig their line along the easement.  Luckily this won't affect the pool build.  But it will completely destroy our front where the transformer is located.  Once CoServ signed off then Premier sent the plans to the city.  I then submitted our plans to our ARC committee for the neighborhood.  2 weeks passed and then I got a call from Premier saying that the city gave permits.  I still hadn't heard from ARC so I had to have Premier hold off until I had their approval.  It was a bit of a stressful time trying to get all our ducks in a row, but yesterday morning the approval came through which put the excavators on the schedule for today.  Yeah!

Here's the Rainbow guys moving the main base of the playsystem.  I couldn't believe how fast they took apart the playsystem.  They literally lifted up the base and walked the back path to the other side. 

Since the pool is going in our side yard we decided to install a sliding glass door through our kitchen breakfast area.  We had a landscaper dig up some of bushes and relocate them to the other corner.  I ordered a Pella door and it's sitting on our back porch waiting to be installed.  We'll have the new patio go right up to the new door.  I can't wait to be able to finally see the yard!

Bright and early this morning the excavating equipment arrived along with a team of 4 guys. 

The yard was torn up in no time.  It's easier to see where the patio and pool are going now that the dirt is moved. 

Next they had to lay out the edge of the pool.  This was a really exciting part!

Here they are digging out the shallow end.

End of Day One.  I took this from Carter's room.  You can see the pool shelf on the upper right.  That's where Brenner will play.  Then they've dug out most of the shallow end.  The deep end will be dug tomorrow.  No turning back now.  Looks like we're getting a pool!

Wolfapalooza 2010

Each year the Wolf family gathers at the lake house for a weekend of fun and family time.  Shereda has a brother and a sister.  Her brother and his family were unable to come.  However, Aunt Karen and Uncle Mark came with their 4 children: Preston, wife Robin, daughter Emma; Kyle, wife Mo, daughter Zoe; Emmy; Mark.  It was a full house!  Actually just the James clan stayed in the house and then the Voosens stayed in 2 casitas near the lake house.

Here are the baby cousins.  Grant and Brenner will hopefully grow to be great buds.

Grammy is learning to fist pump Grant.

We had a Bananagrams tournament on Friday night.  We have some extremely intelligent people in the family, so the competition was fierce.

Shanan loved playing with the babies.  It was so nice of Grant to share his momma with Brenner.

It won't be long before the eldest grandson, Caleb, passes his Aunt Shanan in height!

Each year Stewart makes his famous Stew-Peach ice cream.  Homemade ice cream with Fredricksburg peaches!!  Yummo!

Cousin Marky gets a workout while playing with Mason.  Mark plays football for SMU so I'm sure he enjoyed the good stretches.

Grammy bought a new toy for the lake.  Who wouldn't want to teeter totter on water?

Preston takes out Emma on the SeaDoo.

Caleb tried out the "banana boat" with Emma and Uncle Stew.  Caleb later flew off and into the lake.  Stew was sweet enough to throw himself off and join his nephew in the water.  Caleb loved every minute of it!

Next, Emma, Cole, and Uncle Shannon tried out the banana boat.  I think it was a huge hit with the little ones.

We also made sure to have plenty of pool time.  Brenner loves his hot pink float!

Here's the 2 grandfathers getting pelted with water by the little ones.  Notice the bucket on Uncle Mark's head.  Not sure if he was trying to keep his head from burning or was enjoying the margaritas a little much!

Always time for a snow cone!  Cole and Carter will both be starting kindergarten this fall.

Here's the whole Voosen clan.  We had so much fun hanging out with them!

Mo and Zoe really enjoyed the Stew Peach ice cream.

Stevan and Caleb love tubing on Lake Travis. 

 Shannon is an awesome skier. 

 Stewart is able to get some air on the wake board.  He's really fun to watch!

 Shanan got up on the wake board.  She was so terrified that she hit the water within seconds.  She is such a sport!

 I enjoy my seat on the boat!

 The boys love watching the action on the back of the boat.  Left to rights: Carter, Cole, Mason

 Stew with 3 of his 6 nephews!

 Kyle brought this Frisbee/drinking game.  The players (adults only) had to keep a beer in one hand while catching a Frisbee with the other.  There were cups on top of the poles.  The players had to throw the Frisbee between the poles trying to knock a cup off the top.  The other players had to try to catch the falling cup and the Frisbee- while holding onto their drink.  It was fun to watch!

 Down to the boat dock once more for our fireworks show!

Here are the boys shooting Roman candles.  Mason aimed for the stars overhead.

 

 Here's "machismo" at it's best.  Boys will be boys.  Fire, danger, noise... the boys would have tank and chicken battles.  Then to finish it off they would stick a firecracker in the middle of them for a final explosion.

 Shanan and I had lots of fun watching all the guys put on the fireworks show.  It was a great, but tiring weekend.  Lots of memories!