I spent the weekend with Beach Grandpa building bunk beds for my stinkers. I am so grateful for the ability to build and fix things with my own hands. There is something holy about making or repairing things.
The bunk beds turned out very nice, in fact, they were nicer than I expected. The wood looks and smells good. They are sturdy enough for my wife and I to sleep on the top bunk. They are miles ahead of the crap-mart press board bunk beds which are selling for around 200 dollars.
Another advantage of building these beds was the low cost. We were able to build something in the $400-$500 range for around 130$.
The best part of the whole deal was the memories made & the memories revisited. When I was a boy, my Grandad built some bunk beds for my brothers. In fact, he built all sorts of things, including a small mill for making his own lumber. He was one of a kind and dabbled in some interesting mechanical contraptions. One of the coolest oddities I remember him tinkering with was a small tractor that ran off of steam. He was taken from us far too early by Alzheimers. I wish so much that I could have learned more from him before he passed on.
I felt that I communed with Granddad this weekend as I fashioned something for my children. And I hope that they will appreciate and feel the love of Fathers, Grandfathers, & Great-grandfathers as they dream of silly kid stuff.

By the way, I got the plans on the web. If you are interested they can be found here:

http://shoppingmatchmaker.com/freebedplans.htm