the Daytona 500 tradition...

A few years ago, we declared Daytona 500 weekend a holiday with our friends Shelly and Jared. We vowed to always stop down and spend the weekend together, and also not to stress when we couldn't attend birthday parties, Christmas gatherings, or other celebrations throughout the year. It was the perfect solution for that annoying guilt when our families would be constantly double-booked, and Daytona (the apparent Superbowl of NASCAR) seemed the most fitting event in light of the boys' intense admiration of the 'sport'. We've shared many laughs, beers, stories, pictures, and dinners over the years, and of course, recall all of them every year we repeat the tradition.

This year began with the treehouse project-the treehouse without a tree as it has been pointed out to me. Once we mentioned a building project, Sona and Kevin jumped at the chance to help, and everyone was assembled Saturday morning by 8:30. I was shocked. The boys set to work, and the girls started cooking. We had many tasty treats and projects planned for the kids since it was also Valentine's Day.

We started with the bird feeder project Grady and I did earlier this week during the infamous injury-filled playgroup. Grady felt super special that he was the "leader" of this one, and he showed the other 4 how to smear the peanut butter "just right" on the pine cones before rolling them in birdseed. Now our trees our very nicely decorated with these homemade bird feeders.Meanwhile, the boys kept working away. Kevin, being the out-of-the-box-thinker, gave some much needed advice to Jared and Todd on some design elements, while Jared and Todd mostly bickered like little old ladies over every wood cut. It was a comedy routine in the making for sure.

To set the Valentine's Day mood, the kids made cards for EVERYONE with some superfun glitter puff paint and foam hearts. This project was golden. Not only did it keep them busy for over an hour-but I think I even heard some sounds of love and joy as they worked on them.

With two crafts under our belt, we took a much needed break for refreshment. Sona brought Little Black Dress (a merlot), and we ranked it a 3 on our little wine tasting scale.

During all the crafting and wine tasting, the boys made a lot of progress on the Fort. We attribute the productivity to Jared's 3pm beer curfew-meaning no drinking until after that time. What a concept!! :)

By this time the kids were getting excited about the finished product-they could see all the fun in the making!

To channel their excitement, we headed back inside to make heart shaped Valentine cookies-complete with frosting and tee tiny heart sprinkles.

The boys worked until dark, having accomplished over 11 hours of work! We treated them to an enchilada dinner, and game of Partini-which we give 2 thumbs up by the way. Shelly had us rolling with her humming abilities, and Todd kept us right on track with the rules. Both very important elements to the fun of the game.

Todd was up early this morning hoping to put the final touches on the Fort before the big race. He and Jared finished up the ladder, walls, and rope climb. They also made future plans for a slide, rock climbing wall, and swings...guess we'll be adding on to the Fort throughout the years.

The boys had barely hammered in the last nail before the kids scrambled to the top sharing in the first official play in the Fort. I'm looking forward to many weekends, summers, and holidays spent playing, camping, and relaxing in the Fort-not to mention just sending them out to play for hours and hours upon end.
The Daytona 500-or as it's being called now the Daytona 380-just ended, with Matt Kennseth as the winner. The race was cut short because of rain, so noone is giving much credit to Todd's favorite guy. I can hear the jokes for years to come-maybe the kids will even retell the story in the Fort one day. It gives me warm fuzzies to think of the fun memories. :)