Some Time With The Family

Kevin and Peggy came to visit the family last weekend...and we had an enjoyable time throughout the day on Saturday. They arrived shortly after lunch and got an opportunity to play outside with Austin for a while...

They played at the pool...

...played with bubbles...

...and chalked the driveway, all before nap-time.

After Austin went down for his nap, Kevin helped Keith by climbing up to the 2nd floor of the house and cleaning out the master-bathroom exhaust fan's exterior vent. You see, we have these annoying birds in the neighborhood called starlings, who have (with their cunning wit and ingenuity) discovered how to lift the flap that opens when the fan turns on. This is troublesome during nesting season, as they nest and have babies in the vent. This causes problems in clogging the vent for practical purposes, but also presents a risk of possible infestation from bird-bearing parasites (e.g. bird mites).

So, this spring, Keith decided that he would purchase and install bird-proof covers for the exterior of the house. The job was pretty straight forward: simply climb up a ladder, use an old wire hangar to pull the nests out, vacuum out the tube, and install the cover (simply screwing 2-3 screws into vinyl)...no big deal. With ease, Keith managed to clean out the first vent (1st floor guest bath, approx 10-12 feet high).

When he cleaned the first vent, no one was home...so he waited until Christine came home to work on the 2nd floor vent (approx 20-22 feet up). When Austin went to sleep, she came out and held the ladder for him...but not for long. You see, your author has a serious fear of heights, and has had one since he was a wee child. So...he says he made it 14 feet, she says 10, but regardless, he couldn't climb the distance to do the job. Thus, Kevin (who was planning on coming over to visit anyway, saved Keith the humiliation of asking a neighbor (or worst yet, a handy-man) to climb the ladder to do the job.

After Austin woke up, we had a nice BBQ dinner and played indoors for the remainder of the evening, with Kevin getting his fair share of the "Austin Waldron Digging Experience".

A big thanks to Kevin for helping us out, and to both of them for coming over and having a nice day together.