Last weekend we hopped in the car and made the trek to Watkins Glen for some “kamping” with friends at the Watkins Glen KOA. First, let me say that K is the best letter of the alphabet, so the fact that everything at KOA starts with K (a not so-clever use of metaplasmus) makes it even better. In fact we stayed in Kamping Kottages which is about as luxurious as camping gets. I highly recommend them.

Of the many amenities right there in the KOA is a Jumping Pillow. Unfortunately I went on with little Anna first and 3 jumps into the fun she landed wrong on the pillow and twisted her knee. She was hobbled the rest of the weekend after that one, so we learned a lesson there. Anyway, Tricia, me and all of the kids on the trip had a grand old time getting high. Check it out:

Tricia goes airborne on the Jumping Pillow

Kris gets high on the Jumping Pillow

Crayfish are a Hit
There was a big gully behind our cabins with a creek running through it. The boys always wanted to go down into the creek to find crayfish. So, after spending lots of time getting muddy and collecting some of the mini-lobsters, Marc got the bright idea to throw them into the fishing pond as bait. Lo and behold that was the ticket. So the secret is now out. KOA fishing pond + crayfish = big bass.

Lucas Krolczyk puckering up to one of the big bass he and his dad, Marc caught

Not to be outdone, Anna and I hit the pond hard with the Barbie pole and some fresh night crawlers. We both practiced lots of patience and came up with a few nice sunfish for our efforts.

Anna and Daddy wait patiently for a fish to bite.

Lots of Exercise
Tricia wrote about how much exercise she got on the trip, so we weren’t just lazing around, for sure. We had a wonderful time with all of our friends this weekend. Thanks for the memories!

The Kamping Krew.
Back Row (From Left):Lucas Krolczyk, Kris Rzepkowski, Mason Rzepkowski, Anna Rzepkowski, Mike Gregoire, Bonnie Gregoire
Front Row (From Left):Janet Krolczyk, Mia Krolczyk, Tricia Rzepkowski, Marc Krolczyk, Oscar Gregoire

It has been over a week now since my grandfather’s funeral, and I’m getting back into the swing of things before this upcoming holiday weekend. I wanted to post a photo from the event because, as with many families, funerals are like family reunions. It’s also a really good excuse to get dressed up and take a nice picture. So here’s the family:

The Rzepkowski Family in front of the Dunkirk Kosciuszko Club
Back Row (from left): Neal Rzepkowski, Ian Vosper, Duane Mallaber, Kyle Rzepkowski, Michelle Rzepkowski, Terry Rzepkowski, Dick Rzepkowski, Marlene Rzepkowski
Middle Row (from left): Esther Rzepkowski, Taryn Rzepkowski, Wendy Vosper
Front Row (from left): Michael Short, Lindsey Short, Lilyan Short, Mason Rzepkowski, Anna Rzepkowski, Tricia Rzepkowski, Kris Rzepkowski

This same crew is getting together for the 4th of July at my parents’ lake house. It will be nice to see everyone again and continue to heal.

I’m just returning to the real life of home, work and responsibilities after 4 days spent mourning the loss of my grandfather. While I’ll remember him forever, I need to write down all that I’m feeling now while the pain is still fresh. I know that time heals, and time helps you forget the difficult emotions that come with losing a close family member. It’s just that right now, I don’t want to forget. Not yet.

Which memories are mine?
I listened all weekend to the fond memories of the generation before me. Grandpa’s boys, his daughter, his wife, his friends, his nieces and nephews. There were so many stories, so many one-liners, so many “lefty-isms” that encapsulated his life and influence. They are stories I’ve heard so many times though, it’s almost as if I were there. As if they were my memories. I had a hard time distilling what I had really been a part of and what was just a part of family lore. I struggled to put a finger on exactly what it was about grandpa that made me cry so hard when I saw his last sickly days 2 weeks ago when he didn’t recognize me. What was it that made it so difficult to see him in that casket?

His legend is great
These are the grandiose legends that you like to tell everyone about your predecessors. When we played volleyball together at family picnics and I thought I knew everything, he showed me the way he had done it as a young man - and he was good! When we fished together and I was having no luck, he could flick his wrist and have a fish. When we went hunting - my dad, my uncle and him, I was the one who could not steady myself for a shot and he would take one shot off hand and get it done. He was known for his creativity; having the patience to carve elaborate duck decoys and Christmas angels out of wood. I know exactly where I got my perseverance in my design career.

Kris graduating from UB in 1997, with Grandma and Grandpa Rzepkowski.

His wisdom was greater
It was not his skill that was the best thing about grandpa though. I realize today that his wisdom is what I will miss most. He would always ‘teach a man to fish’ before ever taking an ounce of credit for anything that he himself had done. He was humble - much moreso than I can ever try to be. He spoke more with with his eyes than with his mouth. A wink of his eye was all you needed to know that he loved you.

Grandpa, if you are reading this blog entry from your place in heaven (which I doubt because your computer was ‘a pencil and a pad of paper’) this wink is for you.

Kris nets nice walleye for Uncle Neal

From June 9-13, 2008 I spent a week making a trek up to Canada with my uncles, my cousin, and some family friends to Cabonga Reservoir, for some great walleye and pike fishing. More importantly though, it became a great way for us to unwind and connect in a positive way after spending the previous weekend doing something very hard for our family. I always provide the entertainment for the group with my knack for idiocy. This year was no exception.

Kris’s 2008 Cabonga Fish Story
It was prime time fishing in the evening, ’round about 7pm. I was in a boat with Phil and Duane. We had just found out the secret to the best fishing lure from the local Indian guides. We trolled Thin Fins so fast that the boat was putting up wake and we were nailing the fish. Alas, as is typical after buying a new lure, I got it well snagged on the bottom after only about 10 minutes using it. Duane offered to use a Snag-away to release my lure from the bottom. He monkeyed with the contraption for 5 minutes unsuccessfully.

Now, I was getting frustrated. I was wasting valuable fishing time with this snag. I told my boat mates I would snap the line. What was really going through my head was “I’ve got one more shot to save my lure if I yank REALLY hard on the rod”. So that’s what I did. Suddenly I heard a twayayayanggggg….noise, and then a sploosh! It took me too long to realize that the top part of my Ugly Stik rod, that was always loose to begin with had just flung 50 yards behind me. Since I was the driver of the boat, I quickly grabbed the tiller, flung it into reverse and went after the tip of my rod. Of course they don’t float, but I wasn’t bright enough to think this through. Instead I proceeded to gun the engine and take on water into the back of the boat. At this point Phil and Duane calmly suggested that I step away from the tiller until I cool down a bit. They also stayed pretty quiet for a while as I grumbled about losing half of a good rod to the fishing gods. All I can say to everyone in attendance is, “You’re Welcome! Tip me at the bar, I’ll be here all week.”

Uncle Neal’s Rock Split Incident
My fish story only barely beat out Uncle Neal for Best in Show. His entry was more ballet than my slapstick, but still high quality nonetheless. The boats had split up for the afternoon, and my boat was 100 yards from where we saw Uncle Neal’s boat approaching some large boulders. I knew that they were stopping by these large rocks to have a snack and rest. When I looked over my shoulder to see them dock at the rock, all I saw was a splash, and what I thought was Uncle Neal going into the water. I cried “Man down!” to my boat mates, and we quickly went over to see what happened. When we arrived, there was Neal with one soaked pant leg all the way up to his butt. Apparently he had tried to prevent the boat from making too hard of a landing at the rock. He put one foot on the boat bow, and put his other out to fend off the boat from the rock. When the boat lost its forward momentum it quickly left Neal with a “Split Decision”. The boat moved away from the rock and he had to make a quick call to jump back to the boat, onto the rock, or into the water. He chose the boat, but he lost his balance and dunked his leg in the water.

It’s always those great stories that makes the trip so fun. There was plenty of great walleye fishing too. In fact, the last night the fish were hitting from 5pm all the way through 8:30. It was one of those perfect nights. Warm, calm, quiet, and the fish were in a frenzy. Our stringers were full by 7:45 and we spent the rest of the night upgrading our tonnage to only the bigger walleye.

I enjoyed the trip immensely, and the time off is always good for a recharge. Here’s some more photos from the 2008 Cabonga Fishing Trip.

This weekend was a difficult one as Mason and I joined the entire Rzepkowski family cleaning out my grandparents house in Dunkirk. Grandpa is not doing well with Alzheimer’s and grandma is going to a St. Columban’s home - an assisted living facility. Please pray for them as they make a very difficult transition. Of the many thoughts swimming through my head this morning are the many Christmases spent at grandma’s and of the many bits of wisdom my grandpa imparted on me - especially when it comes to hunting and fishing. I’ll have much more to blog about in the future, but this morning I’m off to Cabonga Reservoir Canada to fish for a week with those same family members. We’ll probably use a lot of the grandpa-isms while we are there. We all need to clear our minds and share some laughs, and probably some tears. Here’s a couple of pictures of our weekend work:

Kris and Grandma in front of the house

We filled a large dumpster with stuff and our backs know it.

Saturday was Mason’s first day of Tee-ball for 2008. He’s playing in the 5/6 league that’s run by the Webster Athletic Association. Last year, his first season, Mason played for the White Sox. In Tee-ball you bring a pre-paid registration card to the park and you wander around until you find a team you like. So, the anticipation was killing him as we arrived at Kent Park.

Picking the Team
I wore my Cubs hat that day and wouldn’t you know it, the first team we ran into was the Cubs. We asked if they had room on the team and they said they had one spot left. Surprisingly, Mason passed it up. So we walked around a bit more as Mason passed up the Mets, Dodgers, and Athletics. Then we saw THE ONE. As soon as Mason saw the “tough looking” Tigers logo on the shirts of some player, he knew that was the team he needed to play for. I knew his reasoning as I had just spent the prior 2 weeks watching him critique the mascots of all the major league clubs. He got really annoyed with dopey mascots like the Blue Jays’ ‘Ace’, and the ‘Swinging Friar’ of the Padres.

Mason Chooses the Tigers for its ‘tough logo’

Opening Ceremony and Practice
The league is very smart. They tear through a potentially grueling opening ceremony, complete with national anthem and ceremonial first pitch in about 10 minutes. This allowed plenty of time for the boys to get right out there and start practicing together. Mason started right off in throwing drills where he showed a lot more strength than last year. He was able to get the ball in the air to the coach.

Mason participates in throwing drills

Batting practice was also held to get the kids familiar with swinging the bat, and running the bases. Mason had no problem remembering what to do.

Mason takes some batting practice

Pllllaaaayyyy Ballllll!
After a drink and a snack, which is the kids’ favorite part, they got down to the business of their first game. The Tigers first opponent was the Red Sox. We were first up and Mason was 4th or 5th in the order. When he got to the plate he hit the ball past the pitcher and it actually made it beyond the infield. This was a first for Mason so he was very excited. He ran with a full head of steam to first base and had a huge smile on his face. I knew after that he was happy to be a Tiger.

Mason runs to first base after a big hit

We saw the Red Sox take batting practice. A few of them could really hit. So I guess I wasn’t too surprised when their first batter hit line drive went right toward one of our Tigers and knocked him down. Luckily they play with soft balls in tee-ball so the boy was fine. After both teams batted around the game was over. One inning is definitely enough on the first day. Next week they’ll likely get in at least 2 of the 3 innings they are supposed to play. The best part of any team sport for the kids is learning sportsmanship. So I always enjoy them chanting “2-4-6-8-who do we appreciate” and shaking the little hands of their opponents. That topped off a great opening day of Tee-Ball.

The Tigers cheer for the Red Sox after opening day

We wonder why summer goes by so fast in Western New York. Well, it’s because we only get about 13 weeks of truly summer-like weather. Memorial Day weekend kicks it off, and before you know it we’re into Labor Day. It all becomes a blur. I try to spend more time outside and far less in front of the computer blogging. So, here we are in the weekend after Memorial Day and I haven’t even talked about what fun we had.

Wii Skied on Friday
Friday night we had our friends the Krolczyk’s over to our house for a nice little barbecue. Afterward we all huddled around the Wii Fit and had some laughs learning how to ski jump. Tricia has been honing her Wii Fit skillz for her training biz, so she was the expert teacher.

Tricia shows Mia how to Ski Jump in Wii Fit

Lake House Chillaxin’
On Saturday we headed down to my parents’ lake house and got our first taste of decent weather. While the adults had some fun drinking Dirty Water (Brandy, Sprite, lime), the kids met all of their lake buddies. Anna was particularly menacing as Batgirl with her friend Olivia.

Anna is a Batgirl Bada$$

Sunday morning we started the day with one of our favorite summer pastimes; a visit to the East Avon Flea Market. It’s held at the Vintage Drive-In Theater. We always walk away with at least one bargain, and usually at least one thing we didn’t need. That day I got a fishing rod holder for my garage and a ‘crowd-pleaser’ fishing lure for my upcoming trip to Canada.

Celebrating Uncle Adam’s Entry into the World
Sunday afternoon we headed over to Nana and Poppy’s house where they were throwing a party for Adam’s 25th birthday. Uncle Matt, Aunt Ali, and a deep fried turkey all showed up for the party.

Poppy deep-fries the bird

For dessert, Adam requested brownies not chocolate cake. The kids were very happy with his decision.

The way to the kids’ heart is through brownies

Monday Memorial Parade
Mason got to stay by himself with Nana and Poppy on Sunday night and into Monday. While Mason was fishing, playing mini-golf and having a jolly good time, Tricia, Anna and I went to the Webster Memorial Day parade. I haven’t been to a parade in a long time, so it was awesome on such a beautiful day to take in Webster’s offering. It was only 20 minutes long, but we got to see everything from Boy Scouts, to marching bands, to decorated veterans. It was a great way to cap off a very relaxing Memorial Day weekend.

Troops in the Webster Memorial Day Parade

For the few of you who might be wondering why the frequency of my posts is way down, I can blame a wide variety of things. My best explanation right now is that I’ve taken on a side project for my wife to get her personal training endeavors off the ground. Every night I pound out a little copywriting, web design, blog consulting, PHP programming, HTML wizardry, photography, Photoshopping, to get this honey-do item off the list. You are welcome to follow along as I build it and contribute any 2 cents you may have. Nope. I’m not doing this in private. This thing is getting built before your eyes with Google fully indexing every piece of greek text still in there, every bad copy idea, every unfinished page. Enjoy Training With Tricia - a work in progress.

This is on top of some extremely stressful family goings-on as I pray for my parents, aunts and uncles while they search for the right answer in putting my grandfather and grandmother into permanent care.

The year of the deck continued as we took advantage of more summer-like April weather to tackle the dreaded deck stain project. This came just a week after we completed our deck skirt to keep the critters out. We knew a year ago when we had our pressure treated deck built, that the time would come for sealing and staining it. After all, we saved 2/3rds of the cost of no maintenance Trex decking by having it built of wood. After a full year of aging, the wood has cured well enough to receive stain.

A friend of ours recommended our local Sherwin-Williams store for getting our supplies rather than Lowes or Home Depot. He said that the staff there could provide a lot more expertise about the right approach and products for a deck than the others. All I knew was that I wasn’t interested in sealing and staining the deck in 2 different steps. I wanted a product that would take care of business all at once.

Ask Sherwin-Williams
I had that commercial in my head as I went in to get a consultation. The professional behind the counter must have spent 35 minutes with me explaining all my options in deck stains. He explained that I actually did not need to clean my deck unlike most poor saps that are restoring some gray weather-worn disaster. I wanted to see the wood grain through the stain, so I knew I did not want a solid. The guy suggested an off-the shelf honey colored Deckscapes toner (I forget the exact color). There were many colors to choose from, but like regular paint, once a color is mixed you can’t return it. Then, he told me the best way to apply the stain - a 5 inch wide brush on an extension pole so I wouldn’t break my back. For the spindles and other hard to reach places, it was going to be good old-fashioned brush work and lots of it. Finally, he was able to estimate number of cans I would need to complete the deck and our playset - 5 gallons.

I brought the stain home and brushed it onto a test piece. We really didn’t like it. There was barely a discernable difference between the stained wood and that which was not. Tricia convinced me that if we were going to do all of this work that we had better notice the results. So, I wandered back to the store with a test piece in hand and a picture in my head of a much darker brown hue with a hint of red. I must have hemmed and hawed another 45 minutes about the color. I tested cedar which was way too orange. Finally I settled on DeckScapes Exterior Waterborne Semi-Transparent stain in a custom color - Riverwood. Once he mixed it, there was no turning back. I had almost $200 in stain on the table, and no place for it to go but on the deck, like it or not.

Railings are No Fun
We started first with the railings and spindles figuring that we would not want to be walking around on a drying deck surface trying to get at them. The stain had a knack for dripping, but we managed to get a good coat of it on without making too much of a mess.

Floorboards are Easier
Once we got to the floor, life got a little bit easier. My helpers applied stain with their smaller brushes, while I came in after them with the 5″ wide brush we affectionately called ‘The Beast’. Mason wielded the ‘mini-Beast’ (the 2.5″ brush) to help mommy and daddy for the first time with a big project. Anna stayed inside much of the day with her chicken pox.

Kris with ‘The Beast’ and Mason with the ‘Mini Beast’ staining the deck

We were putting the last touches on the first coat of stain in the darkness of day one. When we came out in the morning on day 2, we could see where the stain was uneven on the final few floorboards that we stained in twilight. I think it had as much to do with having painted ourselves into a corner (and switching techniques) as it did with the darkness. I made the call to put on a second coat on the floorboards only so that we had a nice even look to things. That only took about 3 extra hours to accomplish. We did not stain the deck skirt. We’ll likely wait until the fall so that the wood has time to cure. The deck looks awesome now. The stain will definitely give us a couple of good years of protection before we need to do it again.

Tricia staining the deck with the playset project looming in the background

After we completed the deck, we moved right into the playset. Because it was built of pressure treated 2 years ago, the wood was much more thirsty. This coupled with far more intricate surfaces to cover made the project last the rest of the day. When it was all over, we had a matching deck and playset that should last a lot longer now that they’ve been protected.

Winter has finally released its grip on Rochester, so we decided to attack an annoying outdoor project before we get to having any fun. Since building our deck last year, a variety of animals have found our deck to be the perfect place to hide out. We’ve provided refuge to a family of robins, a rabid possum, moles, mice, and bunnies. We decided to skirt the deck to take back our back yard from the wild kingdom. As a side benefit we thought a skirt would provide a more finished look. The rest of this entry will chronicle some of the decisions we made and steps we took to complete the project.

Our deck prior to building the skirt

Another angle shows the perfect haven for furry critters of all kinds

Day 1: The Shopping Trip
We took some measurements of the deck and made a quick napkin sketch to take to Lowes for some ideas. The maximum height of the deck from the top to the ground was around 32″. We headed first to the lumber department to check out lattice. We knew though that the holes would be big enough to allow mice, moles, and eager birds through it. This just wouldn’t do. When we costed out the number of board feet it would take to use deck boards instead we nearly had a heart attack.

Our epiphany came in the garden department where we found stacks of Dog-Ear Wood Fence Board. The wood is rough cut and intended for fences. The advantage of the material is how thin it is which would fit nicely under the overhang of the deck boards. At $1.69 for 6′ boards we figured we could get 2 slats per board. It would take about 70 boards to face the entire deck which would cost just under $120.

Fence boards and stones ready to be installed

Next we needed to figure out what to attach the slats to along the ground. I ended up with a very simple idea. We would stake 2×4’s horizontally into the ground. I purchased (6) 12′ 2×4’s for this purpose. To provide one more critter barrier I thought a bit of stone installed beneath the skirt might frustrate those trying to dig under the skirt. For this, we bought 20 bags of drainage rock.

I didn’t need to buy any screws because we had a ton of FastenMaster Deck screws from building the kids’ play set. These screws have square heads and will not corrode in the new kind of pressure treated wood.

Day 2: Figuring out the Technique
The first real day of construction took the longest because I needed to build the base plate into which we would fasten the bottom of the skirt. Using my chop saw, I first cut 18″ stakes to drive into the ground.

18″ stakes would hold the base plate

I used a plumb line to establish the face of the skirt and left 1.5″ of space behind the plumb line for the 2×4 to fit. After pounding the stakes in with a sledge hammer, I put stone underneath where the base plate would be attached. Then I attached the base plate to the stakes.

The base plate is installed along the ground.

With the base plate in place we were able to begin installing the skirting. We started under the stairs; working our way from the most complicated end to the least. Under the stairs we had to notch some boards to match the rise and run. The length of the skirt boards varied slightly as the distance between the top of the deck and the ground changed. We butt the boards against one another, knowing that as they dry they will shrink. At one point there looked to be a tilt to the boards left to right, so we began to use our level to ensure each board was true. By the end of the first night I had completed part of one side.

Days 3 and 4: Getting in a Rhythm to Finish the Job
The third day was a Saturday, so we could count on a full day of work. We set up our work site with an electric drill for pilot holes and a cordless drill to drive the screws. Tricia could bark the lengths of the boards to me for cutting while she was installing the boards. We made it through 2 sides of the project before we couldn’t bend over anymore.

Kris cutting deck skirt boards

Tricia installing deck skirt boards

Day 4 we rounded the last corner of the 20×25′ deck and installed the last board. To make absolutely sure that no animals would get through our fortress we plugged up any small holes between the skirt and the house with foaming insulation. Overall, we are very pleased with the project. It was straightforward, simple carpentry with very few challenges. The skirt makes the deck look clean and finished. We will give the wood a year to rest before we seal it.

The completed skirt provides a critter barrier and gives the deck a finished look