Robby and I played Angry Chicken, happily splashing and laughing for about two hours. All of a sudden he jumped off my back and out of the pool. Mr. Bill, along with his fully loaded pick up truck, was in our driveway. So much for our building hiatus!
I managed to stop Robby to put his shoes on him before he grabbed his hammer and hardhat to help. I went inside, dripping wet, threw on a sundress and broke the bad news to Scott. Apparently the 100 degree heat and high humidity thwarted Bill's roofing plans, so he decided to work on the tree house.
Before I knew it, the ladder was installed. The ladder attached to the tree house is metal with round rungs, and I instantly knew that climbing down was going to be dangerous with my prosthetic. Thankfully, I knew that we were installing a slide so I didn't have to worry!
Robby was shocked and delighted to have a yellow slide. (We kept this detail from him during the planning process so Mr. Bill could surprise him.) I was ecstatic when the slide was bolted into place knowing that I wasn't going to have to descend using the ladder again!
Robby was the first to go down the slide. He was initially hesitant, but I'm not sure if that was because it is steep or because his pants were wet from the pool. In either case, he slid fast and was nothing but giggles by the time he reached the bottom!
I accepted Robby's invitation and climbed into his tree house. He slid down the slide first and asked me to follow. I walked over to the slide and sat down, preparing to go down. That is the first time I took a good look at the slide.
Shoot! I took one look and realized that there was no way my ample bum was going to fit onto that narrow slide. So much for my easy, safe and comfortable tree house exit strategy.
I went through all of the geometry strategies I learned mastering Tetris trying to figure out how to make my bum fit onto the slide. Finally we (yes, by this time Mr. Bill was involved with the problem solving) decided it would be best to put one cheek fully onto the slide and go down on an angle.
Our strategy failed. I got stuck at every little wavy bump, forcing me to stop my descent so that I could physically dislodge my cheeks. The boys seemed to think that my becoming wedged into the slide was hilarious, but I failed to see the humor when I was five feet in the air and wedged tight in a plastic slide!
Not only did my ego take a blow because my bum is too big for the slide, but I am faced with a more pressing issue. I still don't have a safe strategy to get out of the tree house. Staying out of the tree house is not an option.
I'm going to Home Depot today to remedy the problem. I am not sure which I am going to purchase: a slide that can accommodate a bigger sized bum or a ladder that can accommodate a prosthetic foot. Wish me luck!
<---- note the small diameter ladder rungs
note the slide/bum ratio---->
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