Spring Break 2016!

We started our visit to the Hood Canal with family pictures.  I've been wanting to get some new ones taken, so Mike brought his camera along. First, we had to get the yearly pictures with the bunny!

 Then, some new pictures of Jackson. He looks so grown up in his jeans and button down.

 We took several family photos too. I need a new one for the walls that shows Jack a little closer to his current age.

 Oops...the bunny snuck back in!

 The scenery was just amazing and overall the weather was really nice. There was some rain and it was cold on Monday, but Saturday and Sunday were both beautiful.

 There were oysters growing right on the beach.

 They were offering free fresh oysters on the dock each afternoon. Opened right there and ready to eat. Mike loved it. I liked it okay. Even Jack tried one, although he did not like it.

 We had some of our meals in the restaurant, some in our room, and one at the little town nearby.

 More oysters for dinner!

 Of course, we had to go find the playground.

 We hiked up the nature trail and took this picture looking back down at the resort:

 Yes, that's a frisbee on is head. Otherwise, he's sitting very neat and proper :).

 Jack had to collect sea shells one morning.

 Jack took this picture:

And of course, we spent several afternoons at the pool. 

The pool was a glass enclosed building, so it had quite a view too.

This was actually in Poulsbo on the way out. 

 After we got home, we took a little morning trip to check out the tulip festival. A weekday morning is definitely the way to go; we were in and out just as the crowds were beginning to form. As always, the tulips were beautiful!

 Jack liked the mud, the running around, and pretending to be a bird more than the flowers perhaps...

 We had to spend the afternoon moving back into our upstairs, but the new carpet is in. It looks pretty good--some paint colors and curtains will eventually need to be updated to match, but this carpet should hide dirt much, much better than the old carpet. This is in my craft room:

Then, I've been getting ready for Jack's birthday party this weekend. I have class on Saturday, so we are doing his party on Sunday afternoon. We're going with a Lego themed party--Jack is very excited!  Tomorrow I have to work on the treats, but today I got most of the decorating done.

Happy Easter 2016

We started the morning with a yummy breakfast and and egg hunt at our house. I forgot to get pictures of this part.  Note to self: I had some chocolate bunnies in gold foil that I hid outside not in plastic eggs because I ran out. I thought they'd be fine. We hid the eggs and bunnies and went inside for breakfast. When we came back out 30 minutes later, all chocolate bunnies were gone. Apparently birds really like chocolate too!  So that didn't work. 

Waiting for the parade to start:

Then, we enjoyed watching the Snohomish easter parade! I'm not sure Patrick and Dylan were impressed, but the little boys liked it. And I liked it!  

Jack liked everything except the cannon the Seafair pirates were shooting off! He spent a lot of time with his ears covered!

After the parade, we had lunch, did a little shopping, and then went to Flower world, where I bought some strawberry starts and spring flowers, and Jack got to see the baby lambs (and chickens, goats, ducks, and peacocks). 

Then, we came home and Jack helped me dig holes to plant my flowers and strawberries and also transplant a couple blueberry bushes that I needed to move. It was a beautiful spring day with sun and 62 degree temps.   Of course today, there was a big hail storm that beat up all my spring flowers pretty badly! It looked like it snowed afterward.

Jack enjoyed his easter "basket" this morning. He especially liked the puzzle, which he's put together several times today.

We've spent most of the day doing laundry, packing upstairs, and I've done lots of homework. I did make a nice Easter dinner of ham, roast potatoes, and roasted carrots for dinner. Happy Easter everyone!

MAP Countertops are Done!

We used a product called Rustoleum Countertop Transformations. First, we painted on a base coat, and then you spring them with these plastic chips and then let it dry. The chips get everywhere!

 Then, you let it dry for 12-24 hours, and then you scrape it and then sand until smooth(ish).

 Finally, you paint a clear top coat on and let it dry. It's supposed to cure for a week, and then they can be used (and in this case reinstalled).

 I think they look pretty good. We did the counters and the table with this product.

Next weekend, we have to take a break from MAP remodeling to get things packed up upstairs so that our new carpet can be installed. The carpet guys will move the furniture around, but we have to get all the little stuff packed up and moved to the garage. They are installing the new carpet April 4. Then, the last big step is reinstalling the cabinets and countertops. After that, all we have left is cleaning the canvas and windows, I still have to make the curtains, and the setting up/getting our stuff in. We have our first small, weekend camping trip scheduled for Mother's day weekend in May!

We also dyed some Easter Eggs this evening!  We don't need very many, but Jack had fun with the few we did :). 

MAP updates and more

The boys had fun playing together today for Sam's birthday. We bought him this T-Rex headlamp and some books for his birthday. He wore it all afternoon. Not only does it light up, but it roars when you turn it on :). 

We made good progress on the MAP this weekend too. We cut out all the new counter tops and the table top and routed the edges so they are nice and round. We sanded and primed too, so they are ready to be finished next weekend. Mike did most of the work, but ironically, the only picture is of me. I cut out one sink hole before dropping the board and putting a dent in it and turning the job over to Mike to finish. 

I  have three of the four cushions done now too. I'm about half way done with number 4. Here's number 3. These are the seat back cushions.



In other news, took Jack bowling for the first time last weekend. He had a great time. He has very interesting technique, and thank heavens for bumpers.

New floors are in!

Last weekend, we put in the new floors...lots of cutting of tiles, so it took a long time, but it's done now!

This weekend, we plan to reinstall the cabinets and close up the camper so that next weekend we will have room in the garage to do the countertops.  And of course the sewing has to continue. I have two cushions done now!