Katie the Photographer

While eating dinner in the treehouse, Katie wanted to explore her photographic impulses.


Me.


Aunt Rhoda.


Nonna and Mary (Mary was struggling a little bit).


Mom.


Her new skeleton friend, coincidentally also named Katie.

The Treehouse - The Breaking In

We broke in the treehouse today with ribbon cutting ceremony and dinner. (Truth be told, the dinner was before the ribbon-cutting, but that's just a detail).

The Grand Opening.


They seem pleased with the results.



Dinner in the treehouse. With plenty of room for more guests.




Mary's looking at the leaves. Someday she'll be tall enough to see something else.


Rhoda prefers the slide, even when she's carrying stuff.

The Treehouse - The Final Product

Attached are pictures of the treehouse in its final stage. Except for shingles. And other things I've forgotten about.

The slide and the climbing wall.



The ladder - the main entrance.



Still can't see it all that well from the back porch.

Aviation and K-9 Unit

One of these babies costs 3 million dollars and there is a wait list of several years. It has a heat camera to see things at night and things (ie people) are white. It has a tank that holds 140 gallons of gas and uses 30 gallons of gas an hour.


That's me! :)


In the middle I thought about showing the guy over there that was waiting with the arm protection, but then I got scared I would miss the start, so I quickly went back to the dog.


This is Yukon. He was born in Germany (They don't have the problems with over breeding animals like we do here because not everybody wants a dog in an apartment.) and moved here when he was 8 months old. He is an all black German Shepard. His owner speaks to him in German so that the bad guys don't understand. The officer had to pay for him out of his own pocket and pay for all initial training. Once the dog was certified Novi PD (ie me, the tax payer) paid for food and vet bills.


They use play training to get the dog to find drugs. The trainer puts a towel in the drugs to absorb the smell and then puts his ball in the towel. When he finds drugs, he really thinks he's found his ball! That's what he's constantly looking for is that tennis ball!

Here are some pics.

Do I get bonus points for being in these pics?

Thanksgiving

Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport to Denver International
Saturday, November 17
Flight: 1225
Depart: Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport, November 17, 7:26 PM
Arrive: Denver International, November 17, 8:37 PM
Class: Economy
Seats: 29E
Denver International to Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport
Saturday, November 24
Flight: 1224
Depart: Denver International, November 24, 7:47 AM
Arrive: Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport, November 24, 12:37 PM
Class: Economy
Seats: Not Assigned

Making a comeback

Here are some pictures from Jay's birthday party last year. Well, this year, but it was in January. I am lacking pictures of Josh and Libby, so I will have to look harder so I can get some bonus points.

I think Alina should count in this picture.

LORFL
Woopsies, one too many.


Mom's shoes at my shower

I can't believe she was ever that tiny!!

I don't think I saw this one in the video, so I thought it deserved another chance.

Did John Elway Ever Give Up?

I don't think so...And in the true spirit of a Bronco, I am giving a motivational speech. Perhaps you recall when I announced the contest I said there would be a surprise on the actual blogoversary. While this was meant to be a surprise for the blogoversary, I see that desperate times call for desperate measures. See below.




As you can see, some people get more airtime than others. Some have so little airtime I can't even find a good picture of them for the title screen! Mary Kay, do you exist? I don't know...Josh?

I am now introducing the idea of...BONUS POINTS! Give me a shot of Josh or Mary Kay WORTHY of the title screen and you will be rewarded. Other subjects worthy of bonus points are Mom and Dad. I think I only have one picture of Mom from 3 years ago. Libby could also use a few pics.

You now understand why older pictures, pre-blog days are most welcome.

This is not the final version but a draft...

POST POST POST!!!

(I am trying posting this directly to the blog rather than you YouTube first. Let me know what you think.)

Re: I give up

Dear Bloggers,

Do not give up on the contest! As mentioned in the rules, quality AND quantity will be taken into consideration. This means that photos of people's backs (Dad style) and other various malarkey may or may not be counted. :)

This is not only my blog but OUR blog. As a result EVERYONE is asked to contribute.

I hope you continue to post and post often. And have fun.

Rhoda

I give up.

The Treehouse - The Food

We ate well this weekend.


One of the conditions for Enzo coming was that we had to have White Castle hamburgers.


Vittoria and Eleanor made prime rib. They showed off by not nearly burning down the house. You will notice that they moved the grill away from the house.


They let me cut it.

The Treehouse - The Side Projects

Franco didn't want the back of the house to get all the attention, so he put an outlet outside the front of the house.

The Treehouse - The Slide

The treehouse was a little too tall for the slide - about two feet. Fortunately, Enzo didn't have much to do while I was finishing up the flashing on the roof and put himself to work.



Digging and squaring up the support posts.


Putting in the steps.


The finished product.


Another happy customer.
Be warned - it's quick.

The Treehouse - The Roof

I think it is just a coincidence, but after Franco and Enzo saw my work with the joists, they remembered all kinds of things at Home Depot that I needed to go pick up while they were framing the roof.




They let me help a little bit.


I was on top of the roof nailing it in place. No, really, I helped. Honest.