My dad

My dad could have been a rich engineer.  After taking his granddaughter to her first dance class ever he couldn't stand it that she could only wear the tap shoes on her big foot.  Her little foot is so little that she needs high top shoes to secure them around her ankle.  Crocs in a teeny tiny size worked during the summer but taps shoes don't come in 6 month size for obvious reasons.  So being the caring mama that I am, I was just going to make her suck it up ... you know, one of the many "you can't have everything" moments in her life.  Not Grandpa, nope... his granddaughter wants or needs something, he'll do what he can to make it happen.

Exhibit A:  tap shoes from the 2nd hand store.  Add some creative thinking, some material from an old knee brace and some help from a cobbler and what do you get????

functional tap shoes that she can wear on BOTH feet!  She's been wearing these shoes nonstop this weekend.  Tap tap tap, sliiiiiiiddddeeeee ...

Grandpa's girl wants monkey bars in her back yard.  She loves practicing and building her strong muscles.  Mama  has no funds for such things.  Grandpa Larry has an old ladder in his garage and mama has old landscape timbers from a defunct raised flower bed.  What do you get???

 

monkey bars!  if you look in the back ground, you can see the trapeeze made from rope and a broken croquet club.

you gotta love grandpas (and dads)!