The Big Beams!

Two weeks ago, David was operating the crane to set bridge beams at a jobsite in southern Oklahoma.  Isaac and I have visited David at a few jobsites in the past, but we've never had a chance to watch him set beams.  This was something on our Summer Bucket List, and since it wasn't too far of a drive, I decided to make a day of it!  Thankfully, my mom came along to keep Emma company while Isaac and I watched the action.

My Uncle Kym took this picture of Isaac and I as we watched them set the first beam--it's far away, but we were at the top of a hill where we could see everything happen below us.

We saw the beam truck drive in with the beam.  Then, the cranes lifted the beam off the truck and swung it up into position, and then the guys on top positioned in onto the caps.  Overall, it took about a half hour, and Isaac didn't move out of my arms the whole time.  It was definitely captivating for him!

David operating the crane

Isaac kept saying, "My daddy drive the big crane to set the big beams to build a big bridge." 

I know there were many other people involved, but to Isaac it was all about his daddy. :)

Can you see Papa (my dad) operating the other crane?

Exploring around the job...

Standing in the excavator bucket--Isaac kept saying, "It not scoop me up, Mommy"



Climbing rocks "like a mountain goat, Mommy"

I was wearing Emma in the Moby wrap while watching Isaac as he climbed the rocks and threw dirt clods.  :)  One of the truck drivers saw us and said to me, "Wow ma'am, you've just got a slew of kids." 

I laughed so hard!  For a mama that dreams of having a "slew" of kids, his comment warmed my heart and reminded me again how thankful I am for my slew of two.  :)

Then, the crew took a break and Daddy (& Papa--though I don't have any pictures of him) came to see us!

Isaac used to say that Daddy drove the "do-do" at work.  But, ever since we saw the beams set, Isaac talks on and on about how Daddy drives the big crane.  :)  This little guy loves his daddy!!

Visiting Dada and the "dodos"

We had lunch with Dave one last time at his jobsite yesterday...next week he's off to a different adventure. 

"Wow Dada, I love visiting you & all the machines!"

 I was trying to get some pictures of Isaac in a machine for his birthday party invitations. 

His eyes got so big when he crawled onto the excavator!

Watching "do-dos"

We have LOVED having Dave work so close to home this summer!  Isaac and I have tried to have lunch with him as much as possible.  

Right now, Isaac calls loaders/bull dozers/backhoes "do-dos"--it's so cute. 

Yesterday, we were trying to escape the heat and figure out something fun to do indoors...so, after a quick trip to the indoor playground at NorthEast Mall, we went to watch the machines at Dave's work. We sat in the Tahoe and watched machines for nearly an hour.  (Ok, Isaac watched the machines & I caught up on phone calls & texts.)  To say that he was enthralled with watching the machines at work is an understatement...during that entire time, the only words I heard were "do-do," "heavy" and "WOW!" 

EBI Christmas Party '08

We had another wonderful Earth Builders Christmas party last Saturday night. As always, the highlight was SPOONS! Here is a funny pic of Dave & Mom in a semi-final round...I love how intense Mom looks while Nate tries to distract her from behind!
In the 3 years that Dave has worked for Earth Builders, there has always been a Rinn in the championship round...and this year, it was me! Here we all are in our orange safety vests...where else, except at an EBI party, would you wear safety vests indoors? I ended up as the 2nd runner-up...not quite as good as Dave's showing last year, when he beat ME for first place! ;)

EBI Family Day!

We enjoyed another great Earth Builders Family Day on Saturday! We brought Noah and Caleb, our sweet friend Heather's 2 oldest boys, who had a blast! They loved launching water balloons, riding the horses, & driving the equipment. We also had delicious BBQ & bakery cake from Sweet Memories (our favorite cake place!). Here are a few pics of our fun day!

Dave taught Noah & Caleb how to drive the skidsteer. He also gave them "adventure rides" on it, which included a wheelie! (Who knew construction equipment could be so exciting?)

Daniel, one of the supervisors, brought his horses, and the boys loved riding them!

They also thought it was hilarious to take water balloons up in the manlift and then pelt them at the people standing below. :)

Con Expo

Every 3 years, the world's largest construction conference is in Las Vegas! 150,000 people, including myself, attended this year's Con Expo. And, as a first-time attendee, I must say that it was INCREDIBLE! There was 2.2 million square feet of exhibits (which is equivalent to nearly 50 football fields!), and, in the 2 days that I was there, I didn't even see it all.

On one of the lots, they had TONS (literally!) of cranes all set up from every vendor imaginable. This picture didn't even capture 1/5th of it! One crane in particular had a lifting capacity of 800 tons (1,600,000 lbs.!) The hook on the block (hanging from the hoist line) was thicker than my torso and 18 parts to the line (the line running from the top of the boom to the hook and back up is considered a 2 part line).

Here's a few of the guys that I went with. We were living large at the Luxor buffet... Kal even got some prime rib! Although Missy was there, he was still able to eat amazingly well- even though he may never be allowed to eat another meal if she has anything to say about it. Kal just claimed that she wasn't going to be invited next time. :) Well, at least with the miles and miles of walking to the different exhibits he earned a little treat.

Here I am in the bucket of the Caterpillar loader they had on display. You too can own one of these babies for 1.6 million dollars. It runs on one diesel V12 but can carry 16 cubic yards of material in its humongous bucket. Believe it or not, Caterpillar makes a loader that is TWICE the size of this one here used mostly for mining operations... I'm sure it would have had a little trouble making it inside the building!

After a long day walking for what seems like forever, we had the evening to ourselves. As I'm not exactly a "high roller" I spent the time checking out the minature cities that are the hotels on the strip. Here at the MGM Grand where we stayed, the trainer in the "Lion Habitat" had one of the lions licking his hand... how sweet... meat?

Eliasville...Ghost Town Bridge

It's been a while since our loyal viewers have had a construction update, and, unfortunately, even longer since we've posted a picture of a crane. Well, today is your lucky day as I take you to the bridge in Eliasville (close to Graham), Texas.


This scene unfolded back in Sept. when the job started. Most jobs start with clearing the project area so it's suitable for construction to begin. Our job is to construct small sections of road and a bridge next to the existing bridge and then tie the existing road to our new bridge.


Just about every road involves moving dirt, and here we are loading dirt into an off-road dump truck so we can build up the grade of the new road. Driving these trucks is always an adventure, and as there is little to no suspension, you're in for a bumpy ride if the haul road isn't maintained... I've considered selling tickets for rides on the weekends!


Here we are pouring the columns for the bridge. I call this one "Billy IN the Can." Other than appearing to have fallen in, he's actually smoothing the concrete where the top of the column is going to be.


Right before Christmas, we set beams on the caps. This is always a big production because of the incredible weight of the beams and the very real possiblity of dropping one if something goes wrong. The next picture is a great shot of both cranes taking a beam off of the truck and preparing to set it. The tall crane has 130 ft. of boom on it!