She's 15!

On Wednesday our funny, thoughtful, and hardworking girl turned 15! Emily is mature beyond her years and continues to amaze us with her initiative, empathy, and kindness. It's been a joy watching her grow and we look forward to witnessing the big events ahead as she approaches adulthood.

Art gift made by Jessi ♥

Emily is a true homebody who for her birthday chose to hang out at home with her family, read, watch Survivor, go for a walk, publish her 5th Escape Room on Scratch, and eat all her favourite foods. Our only outing was to Starbucks so she could get her Birthday Reward (a free chocolate-chunk cookie for this girl).

Birthday call from her grandparents

Mature reading for our 15 year old

Escape Room! - In The Computer published August 28, 2024

Measuring 5' 7"

2018 vs. 2024

A growth of 13" in 6 years

Happy birthday, Emily!

We love you so much xo.

Both Birthday Bashes

Emily is turning 15 tomorrow! She had a party with her friends today that included an Escape Room, swimming, hanging out, McDonald's for dinner and cupcakes for dessert. Great fun for our 15 year old!

Last Friday Jessi also had a very belated birthday party. She was so busy with Science Fair around her birthday in May that we never got around to organizing a friends party. End of summer seemed like a great time to reunite with her friends and celebrate. Her party plan was a sleepover that included pizza for dinner, chocolate fondue for dessert, lots of giggling and games, pancakes for breakfast, and a trip to the Mall to top it off.

The teenage years are here!

Building a Sauna:: Step 11: Building Benches

Back in the planning stages I looked at a lot of sauna pictures for inspiration on bench designs. I also did some reading and the main points were: 2x4 clear lumber is best, adequate spacing between boards is needed for air flow, and screws should not be visible/touchable. 

In the end I found a bench design that I really liked on Etsy. For just $5 I got the PDF file for the pattern and instructions. I edited the dimensions to suit our space and then figured out exactly how much wood we'd need. In total we would have two 45"-long seating benches and two smaller (22" and 27"-long) foot benches. Fortunately on our trip to Chisolm Lumber we found enough relatively-knot-free boards to make all four benches!

From Etsy seller PlansDIYs

Bench sketch with last-minute edits

Testing out the height of the tall bench

In order to make the screws not visible with this design, the pattern recommends using a Kreg jig to make pocket holes. Luckily I had bought a Kreg jig for my dad in 2014 when we built the girls' bookcases! With all the right tools and materials, it took us just one day to build and install the four benches.

Making a tester version

Starting on the first foot bench!

Two small ones down, two big ones to go

Labelling what each piece is for

Bench leg design

My lower bench at 21" high

Fastening Steve's bench to the wall at 40" high

Trimming off the angled piece I don't like

We did it!

Christening the benches with the first sauna sweat

After our full day of work, I got my parents to come back to make a couple of small adjustments. Mainly equalizing the space between all the boards (we had initially made the two end spaces slightly larger). It wasn't too big of a fix and I'm much happier with the way it looks with equal spacing.

Need to fix this

Spacers

Benches complete!

We now had a fully-functional sauna and made use of it right away. The only thing left was to add a few finishing touches (next post!).

Step 1: Planning & Pricing

Step 2: Designing a Floor Plan

Step 3: Replacing the Ductwork

Step 4: Purchasing a Heater

Step 5: Purchasing a Door, Light Fixture & Vents

Step 6: Framing

Step 7: Wiring by an Electrician

Step 8: Installing Insulation & Foil Vapor Barrier

Step 9: Wood Strapping, Paneling & Door

Step 10: Final Connections by an Electrician

Step 11: Building Benches

Step 12: Finishing Touches

Recap & Thoughts