My First Catamaran

This last weekend, the boys and I went the Home Depot Kids' workshop. For those of you who don't know, these workshops are free and the first Saturday of every month at EVERY Home Depot. FREE and you build stuff. The kids love it. Each Saturday has a certain project. One month is was pirate ships, another month race cars, another time an art caddy, and so on.

This month's project was a catamaran! (Which looks like a fancy sailboat to me)

Usually my mom takes the boys. She's the one who discovered these labor camps kids workshops but this week she was busy, so I took them.

ME: "So, I can just drop you guys off in the parking lot right? At the front door?"
The boys: "Mama!! No! You have to stay."
ME: "Are you sure? I can't just leave you and come back later?"
The boys: "Noooo!!! You HAVE to stay. You have to check us in."
ME: "Oh, ok, I'll check you in...then I can leave?"
The boys: "Mama!!"

Ok, I get the point.

Usually this is held outside to the little heathens adorable children can make as much noise as they want, but today it was inside due to the threat of rain. We followed the extremely ear-bursting joyful noise of children at work to a workshop space where tons of little kids were hammering away with all their might. It was LOUD and echoing.

I checked the boys in and received the kits. We sat on our extremely uncomfortable cute Home Depot themed buckets (see pictures in a sec) and opened the kits to find our instructions.

ME: "So, I'll just drink my Starbucks Chai Tea and take pictures and watch you guys, right?"
The boys: "Mama! No!"
Donny: "I can do my own."
Remy: "I need your help. You have to help me."
Me : dagnabit. (inner thoughts)

Here was our instruction sheet:

All we needed was a hammer and woodglue, which were provided on the tables and we set to work on the mast (the wood pole thingy with the sail).

Then Remy got to pick up long nails and get ready to hammer them. I'm thinkin', "My six year old with a hammer? Oh, boy." To mitigate the possible damage, I offer to hold the parts in place while he hammers.

See my nice manicure? I went to this salon to have it done, and they had men working there! MEN! Have you ever seen this before? A man did my mani and pedi. I don't find anything wrong with that, I'd like to think I'm not sexist, but I was just surprised. It was a first for me. He did a good job too. Anyway, notice the beautiful manicure (my first in, like, a year!) and then move on to our next step. Focus people! :

Me nervously holding the wood and hoping I don't lose a finger...or a hand...or a pretty painted nail (by a MANicurist!).

Ta Da! Remy and I finished in record time. Then I drank my Starbucks while Donny finished up his sans my help.
Did ya notice Donny's shirt? Sing in a deep voice: "There's something strange in your neighborhood, Who ya gonna call?"

When they're done, they both have to hammer every nail again...and again and again and again...you know, just to make sure they're in there well...because we don't want the catamaran to fall apart in the bathtub on the high seas.

Aha, here's a better picture of the buckets cut off circulation in our thighs we sat on.

Then the boys started comparing hammers; whose was the biggest or the better one. BOYS! Everything turns into a peepee war, I swear.

This is the resulting mess that I did NOT have to clean up! Did I mention this workshop was FREE?
Before we made it out of the store, I saw the tractor section, and I forced sweetly asked my boys to sit on them so I could take pictures. They loved it.

And, thus ends our exciting Home Depot workshop. Did you enjoy? Don't you want to take your kids next month? I think we get to make a birdhouse in July. hehe