Some parents aren't that bright...

The boys were using cardboard to slide down the stairs this weekend. After watching them a few times Mike got an ingenious idea (or dumb). I thought it was going to be a Christmas present and told my mom we were going to try and keep it a secret but Mike had other plans. It is a great idea, though dangerous for the time being but if you read Mike's post (because he wrote the rest of the post) then you will see what the problems are and what we need to change for it to really work. In any case, no friends are allowed on this until we've found the perfect solution.

I used to have a tool for this, but sold it with all my other tools. My solution--wrap some duct tape around a little roller to smear the glue. We had the tape, roller, and this glue, so they cost me nothing.

These hinges and hooks were about $2.50 each.

The 3/4 inch ply-wood was $24 (it was on sale) and the hard board was around $8.

The guy at home depot cut them both in half for me.

I glued the hardboard to the plywood--flipping one set on top of the other and loaded it up with

some heavy junk. Most of the junk came from the basement. Ugh...

Then I cut both pieces at 45 degrees where they would meet.

Here's Will showing Eli where we'll cut the smaller piece.

We put the hinges on the boards, then attached them to the stair case.

This is Will going down the slide.

This is Isaac helping put the slide "away". The little eye-hooks hold the slide out of the way.

Adrianne couldn't wait for me to start the video before going down. We have another video, but it won't load.

So, a lame post, but the slide is cool. The only problem is the stop at the bottom. I need to find a way to slow the kids down while they're sliding (perhaps the hardboard was too slick) or a good way to cushion the landing--I'm concerned that even 7 inches of upholstery foam will be insufficient (plus, it would cost me more than double what the rest of the slide cost). I'll let you know what we do. I'd appreciate any recommendations you have.