View from the Top

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Friday the Royals had a big game. We got the girls and had a snack and poked around the house a bit then at 6 we went to look for a place to watch the game, have some good food, good drinks and a crowd to cheer with. First we swung by Lew’s but it was packed already so next we tried out KC Smokehouse Pub at 85th and Wornal. We got there just in time to grab a table with good views of TVs for everyone. Also there was a little stage area with an old couch nearby and the girls claimed that as an ipad fun zone. We took our time ordering and the place filled up pretty quick.

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The employees brought out more chairs and the place filled with blue shirts. We ordered and shortly after the game got going we got a tablefull of great BBQ.

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The ribs and burnt ends were our favorites but the girls liked the ice cream.

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We hung out and watched the game and had some drinks.

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At 9 we had been there for 3 hours and everyone was doing great but we needed to get the kids to bed and us home before we ordered more drinks so we waited for a break in the game then made a run for it.

We got the girls in bed, the game on and some fresh drinks to finish the game. Briana came by to watch and post an article about the game to the website. We all chipped in on the article.

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It was close but the Royals won and the fireworks started up in the neighborhood. It was a late end and we called it a night shortly after.

I got up first and headed out for a run along the trail with Berry. Heath got up and decided to join us.

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We ran the other way a bit then headed home. I experimented with some Halloween pancakes for breakfast.

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They had some canned pumpkin in them and candy corn inside but they didn’t cook well and had an odd texture.

After breakfast I got a big pot of water heating up on the stove then Pops and I pulled out a bunch of junk to the curb.

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Pumpkin made us a Free sign and all weekend we watched the junk disappear. Then we came in got beer brewing.

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We started a kit for a Copper Ale.

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While it was cooking we worked on other projects around the house. We kegged an Irish Stout so it would be cold and carbonated for this weekends block party.

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We also put in 3 recessed lights in the great room.

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They are not wired up yet but look good and some of the wiring is already done for them. Heath was also working hard putting together a Christmas tree Halloween costume

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and installing a calendar board thing.

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Once the beer was done we helped my cousin load up a bunch of furniture from our garage and free pile then Heath headed to food truck and Pops headed to dinner with my sister.

The girls and I did a bit of cleanup and I downloaded some software on the computer and we headed out. I was really thirsty from breathing attic insulation so we hit up Sonic for half price drinks then ran to Home Depot for a a few things for projects and then went to the park. The girls practiced riding bikes and both had moments of glory. I think a few more practices and they will get it.  Once done we played at the park.

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Once home we made curry and rice for dinner and watched a movie. Then I worked on the computer and the girls went to bed. I installed and configured Kodi (XBMC) and NextPVR and used them to watch and record live TV. It’s all working but I probably need to go in and tweak a bunch of stuff. I’m not sure it will ever be as simple as Windows Media Center so I may just fix that instead. I was worn out and once Heath got home we headed to bed.

In the morning all of us headed outside to work on a project. I strapped a ladder to my truck, climbed up and cut the old tire swing down.

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Then I got busy installing the new one.

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Instead of tieing a rope around the branch I put a bolt through it. I actually installed 3 bolts and if the branch gets pulled on too much it should get some support from another branch higher up. Once all the bolts were in I tied on 3 long ropes and Heath got busy braiding.

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I worked right behind her unbraiding or reverse braiding the backside so she didn’t tangle and the girls worked farther back untangling behind me.

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Once we got all the rope braided we tied in a bunch of knots about every foot then we tested it out.

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We put a loop in the bottom and it is pretty fun to swing from and it’s tough but it’s pretty fun to climb. We took a break and ate lunch then Bean took a nap, Heath worked on costumes and Pumpkin and I went to get a hook and some carabiners. We used the carabiner so it’s easy to put the tireswing on or off.

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Also we want to get a bar we can hook on to swing from and maybe other attachments. I screwed the hook into the side of the tree and when you loop the roap on it you can hold the rope and walk up the tree or repel down.

Heath and Pumpkin went to run errands and Bean and I worked on projects after this. We made a big block party sign, folded all the laundry, cleaned up our messes and I worked a bit on the basement. With Pops on Saturday we had started breaking up the tile down there.

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It was coming up really easy. I moved as much furniture out as I could and then broke up all the tile I could easily get too.

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Then I got started cleaning it up. The tile is heavy and I had to use a lot of contractor garbage bags and eventually ran out before getting all the tile so I just swept the rest into a pile. Next I’ll clean the floor real good then we can put down some epoxy.

When Heath and Pumpkin got home we talked about going out for dinner but were pretty filthy so we took showers and then lost interest and made some quick pizza and soup and opened some wine. After dinner we put away some of the laundry and I decided to pack up my summer clothes and move them downstairs. I also unpacked my winter clothes and moved them into my room. Heath got the girls in bed and we were ready shortly after. We don’t really have a steady show right now but have been slowly working through the last season of Orange is the New Black so watched one before bed.

This morning I was able to sneakily heft 2 heavy bags of tile into a university dumpster even though my arms were beat from rope climbing.

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