Current Location: Washington State Fairgrounds, Puyallup, Washington

Since we last talked, a lot has gone on here. Malcolm is working full-time this week. To better coordinate with those back in Nashville, he has been working normal hours for there, which means 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM here. That worked out well. Nana got to visit with the grandchildren, then pick up Pa so he could visit the rest of the afternoon and evening. He plans on working full-time again next week, then part-time off and on the rest of our visit here (four more weeks after this past week).

Our birthday gift to both granddaughters was to pitch in on building a playhouse for them. Cole’s family pitched in some money towards the effort as are Cole and Elizabeth. On Tuesday evening, Cole and Malcolm went to Home Depot to pick up the first load of lumber and concrete footers. On Wednesday evening, they put together the entire floor.

The four sides leveled up

Floor joists going in

The deck going on (with help)

Finishing up

On Thursday, we took a break from construction and met at the park in downtown Puyallup for the last of their summer concerts. We spread out blankets, ate sandwiches for dinner and listened to music until it was getting too chilly (we work shorts and short-sleeved shirts). We had ridden our bikes to the park (about 3/4 mile) instead of trying to park the truck downtown (it was a crowded concert).

Concert crowd

Familiar looking concert goers

Speaking of riding bikes, we rode bikes to lunch a couple days this week. One day we all rode (Val, Malcolm, Elizabeth and the girls) to Don’s Drive-In just the other side of the fairgrounds (about 3 blocks away).

Don’s Drive-In

We also rode bikes up the street (about 4-5 blocks) another day to Spark’s Deli.

On Thursday evening, Malcolm, Cole and Elizabeth all came down with colds. Malcolm worked part of the day Friday after getting up late. The rest of the crew came down to the trailer for dinner (steaks on the grill). After dinner, the girls headed up to the house and the guys went to Home Depot to get framing lumber.

Today, Malcolm and Cole were very busy framing up the playhouse. Cole first painted the base with a couple coats of sealant paint. They took a break at lunchtime to meet the girls at Taco Del Mar, then stopped by Home Depot to pick up some more supplies on the way back to the house. By early afternoon, they had all four walls framed and installed on the base. Then it was on to making roof trusses, which was a slower process and overlapped dinner. They had two trusses in place and put in the porch supports after dinner and decided to call it a day.

Assembling walls

Walls assembled

Putting up the last wall

Obligatory structural testing

Putting on the first two roof trusses

There may be more construction on the playhouse tomorrow. Church is up in the air since the majority of the congregation went on the annual church weekend campout. They are having one service, but we’re going to see when it is and how all our cold sufferers are feeling in the morning.