Building

How I spent last Saturday was not exactly what I thought I was signing myself up for.  You see Sister Pister participates in high school rodeo.  You see Sister Pister needed a place to practice without hauling her horses.  You see Sister Pister is the youngest in the family.  By a lot.  You see Sister Pister has Dad-o wrapped around her finger.  So, you see Saturday we built a riding arena. 

It was actually my idea to get it done on Saturday.  I wanted to do it when it was Tuesday and it was GORGEOUS outside and I thought, "Hey, it would be fun to spend Saturday outside doing something productive...we should get that arena done." 

Fast forward to Saturday.  Mock ten wind.  FREEZING.  Did I mention the wind?  Not a fun day to be outside. at. all.  But, we had all signed on and well, once we do that it is as good as done. 

The planned spot for the arena is west of the farm yard where there are no trees to protect it, so it was even more perfect to do on a windy day.  Also, up until a week ago, the spot was part of a field that hadn't been worked in a looooooong time because no-till is the way to go.  So, the spot had a ton of little rocks that showed up once it was worked.  Child labor was used for that part and we aren't afraid to admit it. 

Look at all the rocks Easy Rider was able to pick in just a few hours.  It's really quite amazing what a two year old can get done. 

The truth is he spent the majority of the day playing tractors inside.  The truth is also he had a great deal of help.  My parents' wonderful neighbors came over and they have five kids so it was perfect.  I'm sure they were super excited their mom signed them up for rock picking on a Saturday.  Altough, their mom picked rocks right along with them.   

Sister Pister picked rocks all day.  We didn't let her do anything else.  Here she is thinking, "This is worth it.  This is worth it.  This is worth it." 

Look, big crayons.  Or posts.  Whatever. 

That red thing is the best invention ever.  Even better than electricity.  It pounds the posts in without any digging by humans.  It's fabulous, but LOUD.  Look, nobody is working.  It was coffee break and I took pictures then so nobody would think I was a weirdo. 

Here's how my part of this whole thing went.  Hold the end of the tape measure.  Hand Dad the level because he is a perfectionist and every post was leveled in all directions at least five times during it's pounding in.  Hand Dad the tape measure so he could measure to make sure they were all the same height.  Lift the panel off the Bobcat with Brother.  Chain the panel to the post.  Rinse and repeat.  Over and over again.  It would have been a lovely day really, except for the wind whipping dirt into my eyes and teeth and the pounding...oh the pounding.  We wore ear plugs, but still.  I actually wiped my teeth off before Mom took this.  And, please, picture bright orange ear plugs under that hat.  And, that's not eyeshadow.  That's dirt.  And, that's not lip gloss making my lips extra red.  That's the effects of the wind.   

I'd take my part of the arena building any day over the rock picking though.  This is the third tractor bucket full and they still weren't done.  Remember we made Sister Pister do that all day.  It made my heart just a little happy watching her while I was holding the tape measure.  She was left alone picking after the child labor had to go home, until her boyfriend came to help.  Dang him.   

We did finish in one day. 

Now you see it.

Now you don't.  I guess Dad-o's obsessive use of the level and tape measure paid off. 

When Sister Pister and her boyfriend finished picking rock, we let them tighten all the chains that I had just hand tightened.  Lucky for them we let them do that when all they really wanted to do was collapse.   

 

She's still smiling though and super excited she has an arena.  I didn't let her wipe her teeth off.  I'm evil like that.   

When we pounded the last post and chained the last panel, the sun was setting and we all just wanted to go in, but it wouldn't have been done then, so we {correction, Brother and Dad-o} hung the gates too. 

Now it's d.o.n.e.

As I was driving out of the approach I saw these rows of trees.  One time, when I was about eleven, Dad-o told me, Brother, and our two friends that if we picked all the weeds out of those three rows of trees, he would take us to a movie.  The Flinstones Movie to be exact.  Back then, the trees were only knee high to a grasshopper.  We ranged in age from eleven to fifteen.  We picked weeds forever in the hot summer sun and our pay?  Our pay for that was one movie.  Really?  We were suckers.  Or we were deprived country kids and a movie was like gold.  I'm not sure which.  Either way, nicely played Dad-o.  Nicely played.  

So, last Saturday wasn't exactly what I planned for, but the job is done and I can't wait to see all the memories that are created in that arena as I'm sure there will be many, many kids using it.  I can't help but end with this.  Mom is finally starting to feel better and is able to move with more ease.  We let her stand around when she was out there and we let her spend most of the afternoon inside holding the baby.  She better milk it while she can.  =]