Camping we will go

One of the things Brad really wanted to do this summer was go camping. Seeing as how my experience in "camping" can only be described as 'Girl Scout Camp', I was a bit wary about agreeing to it. But, in the end I thought it would be fun for the kids (and I'm sure I can find some enjoyment in it...though i probably won't sleep at night for fear of bears and serial killers). Thinking we basically needed a tent, some sleeping bags and some sticks to roast our dinner on, I gave the thumbs up to Brad to start getting the camping gear. Boy was I mislead!

"Camping" these days includes, tents, sleeping bags (Brad bought us North Face...the mummy kind they sleep in on Everest - he does realize I won't camp below 60 degrees right??) lanterns (OK, I understand these), a mini cooktop for cooking (what? No pot hanging over the campfire?), a mini grill for an alternative cooking method, and the kicker....a coffee pot. Really? A coffee pot?! What kind of camping is this? (I noticed there wasn't a bread maker for campers, but oddly enough, in our campers cookbook they have a bread recipe...hmmm) We also have little inflatable mattresses that go under the sleeping bags, and a few other odds and ends. Apparently we're not "roughing it". (now that I think about it, Brad is probably trying to make sure I go more than one time)

Here are a few pictures from our dry run of setting up the tent. We thought it would be smart to avoid any fights at the camp site and set it up at home (in 50 mile an hour winds I might add).

Olivia was really excited to play in it, when Luke got up from his "nap" (aka, playing in his room for 20 minutes) he joined her for a party in the tent.

We go camping in a few weeks. It should be fun...

At the car wash

Olivia LOVES to wash my car. We've done it the last two weekends. While she is really good at scrubbing and getting all the "bug guts" off, what she really likes to do is "rinse" the car off. This is basically her getting the hose and shooting it at the car...and then me...and then the car. So, we end up with a 1/2 clean car and a 1/2 wet me. It's hard getting it away from her! (four year olds can be tough)

Hiking on a Saturday

Saturday we decided to head back up to the mountain we used to hike when we were younger...and in better shape... Sleeping Giant Park is right across from Quinipeac College (which is beautiful) and is apparently a mountain shaped like a sleeping giant. There is an indian legend about it, but I'll spare you.

We picked a trail that was marked "moderate with slight rises". Well, if that was a slight rise, I would like to see what "steep paths" look like! We were literally pulling on tree roots to get up the mountain.

I made the mistake of commenting it was "like we were climbing Mt. Everest", Olivia took that and kept saying we were climbing "Mt. Foreverst". (It did feel that way at points)

We finally made it to one of the peaks and stopped for a picture and a snack. We had to start heading down after we determined that the map (which was very poorly drawn I would like to add) said we had to go up more to get down. (I guess we should have taken a hint from the old guy who was whistling and said "wow, you guys are adventurous")

But, we had a great time. Olivia climbed the whole time. Luke asked for a ride a lot...he needs to grow longer legs.

I'm pretty sure we didn't scare them off hiking, which is a good thing!!

Just like new

Well, the house is FINALLY done!! Whoo hoo! It only took 3 weeks of prep and 3 days of painting (stretched out over a week...thank you rain). It looks so good. We are so happy with the results. (I can't imagine leaving it in the near future...whenever that is!)

The neighbors are all into painting their houses now (we're totally the Jones', everyone is always keeping up with us...ha ha).

The painter was so proud of the job he did that he took lots of pictures for his book. Hopefully some of our neighbors use him to paint...then we'll get a little $$ back!

House Painting Part 2

Today was the big day, the entire house was sealed up with plastic (we couldn't see anything outside. Luckily nothing exciting happened in our neighborhood today!) and the 2 coats of paint were applied. The color is called Link Gray, but it sort of looked like a brown/green/gray combo. We really like the color (Thanks Sherwin Williams color suggester!) and can't wait to see the trim painted on tomorrow!

It's such a difference. Every house in our neighborhood is really a light color...white, yellow, off white, off yellow. Blah and boring. We decided since we were the only blue house we should stick out again. And everyone knows our house (mostly from Brad's awesome lawn skills) so we needed to be noticeable. It will be nice to see the accents in a color other than the house color. All the trim is the color of the house, so none of it stands out.

Tomorrow we should see the final product. Yay! Now Brad can stop worrying/working on it!!

What a difference that new siding on the lower half gives the house. If we had the money and the time (and my dad for another 2 weeks) I would have done the whole house over, but the parts that we did are really great.

House Makeover Pt1

So it's been pretty busy around here the last 3 weeks. We've been prepping the house for a paint job it really needed. Between Wayne, my dad and Brad, they've pretty much scraped, spackled and sanded (and Caulked) the entire house. Brad and my dad put up all new siding on the lower 1/2 of the front and the kitchen area. It looked really crappy due to all the polka dotted primed spots, but we could see it coming together nicely!

Luckily the work was injury free (though Wayne's wrist needed some icing after all the sanding and scraping and spackling...and caulking...he sure used a lot of caulk!). But, the painter said we did a great job. It was worth it to fix all the problem areas if we're going to have to sell this house (sniff, sniff)...if Spaulding EVER gets us the paperwork to start!!

This is the house yesterday, all prepped for it's makeover!

Olivia's School Picture

Olivia's first school picture came in today. I am so impressed that it came out looking good! Not only was she smiling (big these days) and looking at the camera, but her hair was mostly in place and she was clean! The class picture sadly was not so successful. She didn't smile at all and she was the only one not smiling! She told me it was because the photographer wanted them all to say "stinky" and she didn't like that word. All the other kids must have really liked it because they looked really excited...she looked more confused.