Have you ever found yourself wondering where did my holidays go and more importantly why haven't I finished any of the DIY projects that I planned to do over the holiday period? This summer just gone I had promised my family to plan and build a childs picnic table.

The good news is:

I had already brought a great set of childs picnic table plans so I could simply follow them.

The bad news is:

I am the opposite of a 'handyman' - Building a Lego castle is at the top of my DIY resume.

Spending time with my family is my number one favourite thing in the world. I knew that if I was able to build a picnic table for my 2 little girls that it would create a great place for us to spend some quality time. As an added bonus the table will get my girls outside and away from the television. The only thing left to do was put the kids picnic table plans into action. Ok I'll admit it, I was scared - I didn't want to mess this simple job up and show my lovely girls that their dad is no good at building.

Finally we entered the last few days of the holidays and I still hadn't even picked up the kids picnic table plans.

"Ok - lets bite the bullet, get out my dusty tool box and get started"

First step was to check the picnic table plans for all of the materials that I would need. Then off to the hardware store to pick them up. My first reaction was "could Ithis project really be this cheap?" It seemed like such a bargain that I almost thought something was wrong. Only one way to tell - Pass me my hammer it's time to get building.

After buying the materials and picking the girls up from basketball I was left with a day and a half of my holidays left to complete this project. To my surprise the whole process was pretty simple. The plans I had brought earlier basically told me exactly what to do, the one thing they forgot to mention was that when you miss the nail and hit your finger with your hammer it really hurts.

The picnic table was finished at 3pm on the Sunday afternoon. Just in time for an outside dinner. When the kids saw my handy work they couldn't believe their eyes. They even started calling me Bob (as in Bob the builder). Whilst that might have been going a little too far I was very proud of my accomplishment. If you want to get your kids outside and give them a great play area then you might want to think about building your own child's picnic table. If I can do it then you can too.