Sometime in December 2005:
Well Christmas was coming and my mother wanted to know what I thought about her buying a backyard rink kit for the kids as a Christmas present.  I thought about where I would put in and thought the yard was pretty level and would have enough room for it, so I said go for it.  She bought the Ice-n-Go 19'x32' kit and the adventure began.

December 20, 2005
The kit arrived the week before Christmas and my mother decided to wait until Christmas to give it to the kids.  The temps were below freezing all week.  Christmas day arrives and the kids are very excited about the thought of a skating rink in "their own yard".

December 26, 2005
The day after Christmas i was out asembling the kit.  I quickly learned that my yard is NO WHERE near level.  As a matter of fact there is a 10" difference in it.  Well the kit came with a template for supports in the event your yard was not perfectly level.  Off to Home Depot I go to get stryofoam to make the supports.  I make the needed supports and lay the tubes in the channels, place the liner over the tubes and place the retaining tubes over the liner/tubes.  I stand back and marvel at my accomplishment.  I get out the hose and start to fill the rink with a smile on my face.   Four hours later I go out and check on the progress.  As i stand near the deep end looking at my rink taking shape the liner slips from under the retaining tube and all the water is now surrounding ME.  I tried desperately to get the liner back in place, but eventually come to the conclusion that the kit just is NOT made for my yard.  Now what do I do?  The kids Christmas present is not gonna work.  Off to Home Depot in the morning I guess.

December 27, 2005
I get an assortment of 2x4, 2x6, 2x8 and 2x12s.  I also get some steel ties to hold the boards together and the corners also.  I start building the NEW frame.  I cut the boards so that the top on the frame sits level (or at least close to it).  I set the liner in the frame and use the retaining tubes to hold it to the new woden frame.  Again I turn on the hose, step back and marvel at my accomplishment.

January 2006
Mother nature is a cruel woman sometimes.  The next 3 weeks were up and down with the temps and the rink was not even close to being usable.  We started to get ice it would warm up and so on...

February 2006
School vacation the kids were on the rink every day.  Unfortunately it is not thick enough to support an adult, but the kids certainly enjoyed the rink.

Late February 2006
The big meltdown has started.

Late March 2006
Folded up the liner, took down the boards and stacked it all away for the summer.  Looking forward to next year...maybe I'll go bigger!