Scattered Thoughts . . .

F or the week or so that we were in Dayton back at the very beginning of this past summer, we visited a lot of different and historical places but we stayed on the campus of the University of Dayton during our entire time there.  I definitely wanted Kenzie and Lukey to visit a campus like this one and I'd like them to continue visiting as many campuses as possible.  Before we even made plans for this trip, I knew that if we were going to spend some time in Dayton, a UD campus tour would be something to do especially if we had the two of them in tow. I wrote above that I definitely wanted Kenzie and Lukey to visit this particular campus because it is a stunningly beautiful campus, it is an outstanding school and the people are unbelievably friendly both on the campus and off the campus.  This school is truly special.  There is a vibe, a feeling, like it has a life of its own.  You don't find that in a lot of places. I have very positive memories of UD and a fair...

T his year, it seemed like all the grandchildren were really excited to be watching the garden railroad which was nice.  It definitely held their attention for quite a long time!   Lukey enjoys running the trains so he definitely enjoyed himself with this little garden railroad.  Then again, that should come as no surprise since he has always been interested in trains.  I ran one of the trains for a bit but Lukey spent quite a bit of time running both trains. These trains run on battery packs rather than power through the rails.  I made sure both trains were fully charged the night before the barbeque and we had no problem running the trains all day long without a hiccup.  They still had power when I brought them back indoors at the end of the night.  Lukey and I control the locomotive and trolley using apps on two of my tablets so it is all wireless which makes things very easy. This year, the grandchildren got to see a few new structures around ...

B ack two or three years ago, I built a custom Giant Jenga game.  That required some planning, a lot of cutting, a really lot of sanding, and then quite a bit of waxing.  This unique game (because of its size) gets a lot of use whenever we have a barbeque in the yard though! My only complaint about this game is it is heavy.  All the pieces are buttery smooth and slick because of all the sanding and waxing I did which is really nice for this game in particular.  I designed all the pieces to fit inside the overturned base so it is relatively compact when stored but it is quite heavy requiring two people to safely carry it.  The base, when turned upside-down, is its case as well as a platform that can be leveled for play.  It is a great design...  just a bit too bulky and heavy to be considered "ideal".   In this first photo, below, the base is perfectly leveled even though it looks like the stack of Jenga pieces are leaning.  Well, the b...