The Deck, Part 1

Just before Harrison was born, Michael decided his next project would be ripping out the aging deck with it's rotting boards. At the end of June, he enlisted our neighbor (and carpenter) Ed to help him frame the deck which the literally banged out in a day. The weekend before last, Steve/Zaidy helped Michael begin the layout process. As you can see below, we opted for composite decking as opposed to solid wood. With the composite, we won't have to refinish the deck every other year and it is more resistant to weather and wear and tear.

Michael hopes to have this completed in a couple of weeks so we can enjoy the weather. That said, we are currently in the midst of a heat wave, the likes of which I have never seen around here. Once a year we get a couple of hot days into the 90's but we have at least a week of it with some parts hitting triple digits. For years my dad has said if he ever moved up here he would have to get a place with AC and I keep telling him it's not necessary; usually we just open the windows, no problem. Since we saw the severity of the weather coming last week, I made Michael go to The Depot and buy an AC unit. The unit is in our bedroom, along with the dog kennel and a the play yard; the whole family is sleeping together and we eat picnic style on the bed. Mom and dad have been watching "tv" on the laptop via Hulu and Amazon because while it is a comfy 72* the rest of the house is 88*, stuffy and a bit humid. I actually wish it would get cloudy and rain! "Hottest Day Ever Expected"