We went with the chestnut colored brick pattern. The kids really were interested in the contractor's curb machine. Sweet Pea was hypnotized watching the machine slowly leave a concrete snake a few inches at a time. She kept saying, "That is so cool!".
Number One Son was listening to the R2D2 sized machine click and puff and noticed that the worker was shovelling the concrete into the machine in rhythm with the motor. He said it sounded like a song. We are similar in that way. I tend to notice subtle things like that. I also tend to miss the main action occurring due to my distraction.
Our contractor was really friendly and seemed to enjoy that the kids were admiring his livelihood. On an earlier visit, while the contractor was giving us an estimate, his partner played with the kids and their whistle balloons. On the day of the job, he told the kids that he still had his balloon. They thought that was cool. I thought it was pretty nice.
The contractor finished in a few hours and it looked great. We just had to wait five more hours for it to harden. The contractor warned me to keep our dog, Liberty, inside or on a leash when outside so she wouldn't try for puppy immortality and place a conspicuous paw print somewhere.
Once the contractor left, I went inside to explain the rules to Liberty. Fifteen minutes later, one of Sweet Pea's neighbor friends knocked on the door to see if SP could play. SP was gone with Lady Di at that moment, so I sent her friend home with a promise to reschedule. An hour later, I was outside checking on the drying process when I spied a faint kindergarten sized flip-flop print on a section of our brand new curb. The faint print was followed by an equally sized flip-flop gouge. Then three more smudges and another gouge. Apparently, fifteen minutes after the curb was done, some one's friend tested the balancing potential of our beam. Our edging only lasted fifteen minutes!
We immediately called the contractor to see if anything could be done. He suggested inviting SP's friend back for autographs and a picture for posterity. Actually, he will come back and patch it up.
I can't really blame SP's friend though. Any curb is a magnet with a powerful pull on kindergartners to balance on. When SP and I went to the zoo last week, walking on the curb was more fun for SP and her friend than watching animals sleep.
So by the end of this weekend we should have a solid decorative curb around our house for all of the neighbor kids to enjoy and admire. And if they are lucky, we will let them visit the flip-flop memorial for a small fee.
Still paw print free.
6 comments:
Great story! Your kids sound adorable. Thanks for your comment the other day!
That's pretty cool. We are going to be in need of something like that in our backyard - was it terribly expensive?
Is that your dog? Too cute.
I had no idea that was how they made those curbs. We just put in some the old fashioned way. It looks awesome.
Oh, and we watch Curb Your Enthusiasm. That show is awesome. I grin throughout the entire show. It is dark comedy and laughing is great therapy. You should Net Flix it.
I like the fact that someone else did the work! Looks good, too!
Yeah, if a dog doesn't get you, some kids will-- that's a general rule for life.
I loved the overall tone of this post. Brilliant writing as usual.
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