Eagle Scout: Finishing Up and Ribbon Cutting

Even though our workday on Saturday was so productive,  there were still a few loose ends that needed to be finished on the playground. The Wiggle Walk pieces need to be bolted in placed.  Tuesday night was the night, the cement footings were ready, the weather was cool and Mr. C and P along with the professional installer got busy.  It was a long evening and Mr C still had homework to finish, but it's beginning to look like a playground.

Mr C commented that while he wishes we had been working on this during the summer rather than the first few weeks of school, we are all just grateful that it's finally getting done.  I think none more that P who had to return again Wednesday night for a long evening of tightening screws, cutting bolts, and gravel moving!  What a guy!

By Friday, we were all ready to celebrate.

The entire school, was invited outside to the playground for a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.  In preparation, Mr C had written a speech.  We'd strung Red Ribbon (from Hobby Lobby's Christmas collection) all along the perimeter of the playground and the whole family was there to cheer the accomplishment.  As promised, Miss A was going to get to christen the wiggle walk. Let's just say that her smile was huge.

What a blessing to see the young man stand before all of Miss A's schoolmates and telling them that he used to be a student at that same school, that as a Kindergartner he'd played on this same playground, and now he'd overseen the construction of a new playground that his youngest sister and her friends will enjoy for years.  It's amazing to think that time has flown so quickly by!

The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was the perfect capstone to this Eagle Scout project.  It was an excellent way to not only thank the school community for it's support of the project, but also a fabulous way to celebrate the new beginning. According to Mr C, the only thing missing was a pair of ceremonial scissors; the huge kind they use a ground breaking ceremonies.  Not something you normally can pick up at Target!

All in all, the Eagle Scout project process was an experience our family will never forget.  For years, we'll be able to look at the playground and recall the hours of work, sweat and prayers that went into the process.  Mr. C has grown through this process and gained skills that will serve him well in life.  So very much worth the effort.

Eagle Scout Project: Installation Day

We could not have asked for a better day for the playground installation.  It was sunny in the mid 80's and the ground was dry. Honestly, it was the best you could ask for in mid-August though we only wish it had been June so that Mr C (and us) would not have been balancing all of this with the start of school  God was good, however, to give us such a glorious day!  July was so hot in these parts.

P and Mr. C meet the certified installer at 7:00 to work on putting together the climbing wall and prep the holes for the concrete footings. The wiggle walks needed duraforms and meant another trip to Lowe's, but thankfully Dad took this run to the store as I've become a little to known by the Lowe's crew the past few weeks.  Let's just say I don't really know my way around a hardware store, but they were so nice to me.

By 8:30, a great crew of Dads and Boys had arrived to get this party started.  According to P, the timing could not have been better.  Literally, the moment the installer said "we are ready for the concrete now," the Cement Truck pulled into the school parking lot.  Thank you God for perfect timing!  The installer said that he'd never seen it work out so perfectly before.  Normally, you wait and wait for the cement truck.

Mr C and the guys got busy hauling wheelbarrows full of wet concrete to the playground, dumping them into the holes, and creating footings. Let's just say football practice and conditioning has really paid off for Mr C, he's got some muscles.

These guys really hustled and the concrete footings were in place in about an hour and way ahead of time.  That's when we called in Nana to give the guys a cookie break so that when the next crew arrived at 10:30, there would still be plenty to do.  Of course, there was still all that gravel to move back into place>  It was a little like Groundhog Day as it seemed like we'd already moved that gravel once!

Oh, that's right we did.

I was then on lunch duty.  Mr C's number one request for installation day was that he really wanted a "big sandwich" for lunch so I was off to Blimpies to pick up two 3 foot sandwiches.  Guess the way to get boys to work is to provide food!  The crew was big and hungry and in no time they polished off almost all six foot of food, chips, cookies and lemonade! 

Our original plan had us working until about 2:30, but after lunch they plowed through it all and by 1:30 we were already on clean up duty.  It was an exhausting, exhilarating, and productive day.  The progress we made was amazing.  Of course, the work was not quite complete, but welcome to the world of construction. 

We are so grateful to all those who came out to help us on Saturday.  Mr C's scout troop was fabulous, never have we seen so many dads and boys show up to help with an Eagle Scout project.  There were others who came to help Mr C who were not Boy Scouts, just great friends who wanted to be a part of this day; thank you.  To Nana and Papa were always ready to help with the girls, making cookies, or moving gravel. Aunt J ,Uncle S and A who came up to help and provided us with tools, shovels and all kind of gadgets.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the financial support of a lot of our friends and family who have supported Mr C's efforts. This was a huge undertaking on many levels and we couldn't have done it on our own.

Thank you.

Eagle Scout Work: Digging Holes

After waiting nearly two months for the playground equipment to arrive all the parts are now in place, we are finally making progress on the Eagle Scout project.  Of course, before you can install big pieces of metal and steal, you need a base of cement to put them in. At least that's what my husband and son have explained to me.  I, of course, thought it would be like Lego's and you'd just set them on the sand and snap together.

The thought of digging almost 15 holes of various sizes in clay type material was enough to put fear in our eyes, but thankfully through the generous help of a fantastic landscaping company, they are done!  On Thursday evening, a nice guy came with a Bobcat with an auger attachment and, under Mr. C and my husband's gentle guidance and careful measuring, he dug all the holes for us in under 2 hours time. 

I think that the small amount of money it cost to pay for the holes to be professionally dug saved us hundreds of dollars at the chiropractor. 

I told Mr C that this construction job has been a chance to live out his little boy dreams of being up close to trucks, tools, and machinery!  As a toddler, he would point out all the dump trucks, sideloaders, and cranes as we drove around town.  He loved to come across a construction site and quiz his mother with the names of the various trucks and he normally stumped me!

Mr C has gained a lot of knowledge working on this Eagle project that is invaluable; patience, persistance, strong work ethic and how to interact with Adults. Watching him with the landscaper, I was so proud of how confident he is and how mature he's becoming.  He's a long way from the little boy in the back seat of the car yelling out " dump truck", "semi truck", "combine."

Eagle Scout Project: Take Two

Saturday was gravel moving day on the Eagle Scout project.  We'd planned a morning of moving the gravel from the area of the playground that we are installing the new equipment to the other side in hopes of creating a level surface area.  Our hope is that we can now assess how much dirt we need to move into place and where to plan for the digging of the holes for the structures.

Let's just say that when both my husband and I woke up at 4 in the morning to the sound of pouring rain and thunder, we were less than optimistic that the day was going to go off as planned.  When it was still raining at 8 a.m, we started coming  up with plan B.  Thankfully, Boy Scouts have the motto of "be prepared" because most of C's fellow scouts were prepared to move the project back an hour and work in messy conditions.

A great group of boys and dads came up to help with the project and they made steady progress of getting the area cleared and wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow moved across the playground filled with gravel.  Let's just say I'm thinking there were some sore backs and muscles the next day.  Playground gravel is not light, and add a few inches of water to the ground and it's down right heavy!!

While Miss M and I thought we were just on snack duty, we even got our hands dirty and moved some gravel too.  Sweat equity. Of course our snacks of Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars and Pretzels seemed like a great idea when the event was scheduled for 8 to 11, but as the lunch hour approached we soon realized that hungry boys don't work as hard.  Little Caesars to the rescue with their Hot and Now Pizzas.  We got at least another hour off those full stomachs and the project is now ready for the next step; the digging of the holes and installation of the playground equipment.

I think the fact that by Saturday night we were all tired and ready for rest is evidence of the hard work we put into the project.

Eagle Scout Project: Phase One

It begins.  Mr C's Eagle Scout project is now underway. Thanks to some generous help from a local waterproofing business the Tires are no more. 

Mr. C and my husband had spent a couple of hours a few weeks ago trying with all their might to start removing the tires. Tires that we soon realized weighed about 300 pounds and were firmly planted in the sand and dirt.  Uncle S to the rescue, we contacted one of his clients who owns a big waterproofing business and as such has crew of guys with tools and equipment that could quickly do what our own muscles could not. 

Mr. C contacted the contractor, shared his power point presentation with the company, and expressed his need for help with the project.  Not only were they generous with their time, they complemented Mr. C on his professional plan for the playground.

Lets just say there is no way we could have done this part of the project without them.

On Friday, our "knights in shining armor" aka a Bobcat arrived and spent about an hour removing all six of the tires, and then as my husband explains a "God Thing" happened and they ran out of diesel fuel meaning the equipment was sitting there waiting.  This gave my husband and the principal time to brainstorm about the removal of the Zip Line while the crew went and got more diesel. 

We hadn't even figured out how we were going to remove the huge poles planted in concrete six feet down.  After a few minutes spent unscrewing the support beams, the bobcat knocked down the poles in just minutes.

What a huge blessing.  To top it all off, it was quickly determined that the school district would need to remove and dispose of the tires and poles, a job that we figured we would be left to handle.  Thank you God for going ahead of us in this project and working out details that we hadn't even thought to ask help with.

This is only Phase One of multiple levels and there is a lot of work ahead, but Mr C is moving along.

Eagle Scout Project Begins

Mr. C has started his Eagle Scout Project. After some behind the scenes work and meeting with the Principal and Playground Equipment Company, the final plans are now in place. Mr. C will be working to upgrade the primary playground at our Elementary School. Monday night, he received final approval from the PTA and a large percentage of the funding for the project.

Mr. C created an impressive Power Point presentation for the PTA and, with their support, he will be tearing out a set of rubber tires and a zip line and replacing them with a climbing wall and the wiggle walk play set. Miss A is so excited. This is her playground and she's pumped to think that next fall she'll be able to say that her brother put in the new playground.

Needless to say our summer has just gotten a little bit busier. Mr. C will be organizing this project for installation this summer so it is completed before he heads off to high school and the kids return for the fall. If you happen to have construction experience, expect a call from us!

It's hard to believe that it was just a few years ago that this young man was a Tiger Cub Scout wearing a bright orange t-shirt and earning belt loops. Today, he's already a Life Scout and has over 30 merit badges and is only one badge short of earning his Eagle. With this Eagle Scout project now in place, he should be able to complete all the requirements for this honor next year.

Mr C has already learned some life lessons in getting this project off the ground floor and I'm sure there will be lots of lessons learned along the way to final completion. He'll gain so much from this experience and I'm sure the man he will become will be forever molded by this project.

Now, we just need to figure out to move around TONS of pea gravel, remove a huge play structure, and dispose of decomposing rubber tires. In addition, he has to arrange for large construction/equipment pieces to make this job easier and the funds needed to accomplish all the destruction/assembly. Of key importance to C, we will also need to figure out how to feed the workers and a big sandwich from Blimpie's and Nana' Chocolate Chip cookies are already on his list of ideas.

I know this is just another step on the road to manhood, but looking back it's hard to believe that my cute little Cub Scout is just a distance memory and my new Eagle Scout is becoming a reality. Time Flies!