Ducks Fly South for the Summer!

A long time ago (mid-Aug), in a faraway land (Mexico), we enjoyed ourselves with a small group of family on a big boat. Here are the highlights:

1. The boat. We never got to relax on the boat, there was too much to do. Nothing was mandatory, unless you're like us, trying to get your money's worth. We tried out a bunch of competitions and usually won something. We ran 24 combined miles, 20 of them on treadmills, all at once. We had lots of yummy food, especially the self-serve soft-serve ice cream. Mmmm! Mike talked with and introduced me to about everyone but the captain- the Iranians playing backgammon, the Canadians at the lifeboat drill, the Cubans at the Cafe', the Californian triathlete... maybe he's "missing the boat" working behind a computer all day in accounting. 2. Cabo San Lucas. Main events- geocaching, eating Boles, shopping for cowboy boots, trying to get a photo of our group of 7 to send in an e-mail on an Internet café webcam, snorkeling.
3. La Cruz. Main events- finding an Auriga in Mazatlan, riding the bus to La Cruz with a man who made up a song about us, shopping at the grocery store, playing at the park, walking around the neighborhood where the LDS church was, visiting one of the members, walking through the cemetery, eating a real mango and spotting Mike walking up an old dusty road, completely out of place-- 6'5" man with his new 1' Mexican cowboy hat and a big grin on his face. Even the vendors got a chuckle when they saw our gringo wearing one of their cowboy hats.
4. Puerto Vallarta. An awe-inspiring trip through the jungle. There was so much GREEN! We rappelled and zipped down some line, did a little hiking. I rode a Mule named Batman.

We enjoyed our trip so much! In real life, it would take 50 scrapbook pages to include everything I want to include, but I will leave the scrapbook as a personal matter, and post these pictures so you'll go on your own vacation!!

Adelyn's New School

Adelyn is very excited to go to school, hence this work of art "My New School"

I needed to excuse her from school for a family commitment last Friday so I put a note in her folder. Dear Mrs. ___, Adelyn will not be in class today. Thanks.

I found a note that afternoon written by Adelyn, also to her teacher. Dear Mrs.____ I am still coming to school.

Today I found a note to her teacher in her side backpack pocket that I had her translate. Dear Mrs. ___, How are you doing at home?

Apparently, the note writing thing really struck a chord with her.

PROJECT MAN!

Mike has been busy working on a billion projects recently. We are happy to have another summer coming to a close, if it means less projects :)

Check him out before he enters the attic in uniform, and after. It's like he got a new pair of pants or something.

Two bathrooms for the price of one, until I ordered the wrong tank

When Mike decided to add a bathroom to his office out back, the idea to transform the upstairs bathroom in our home at the same time was very logical. After all...
***it was the only room we hadn't paid much attention to during our initial remodel
***the vinyl peel-n-stick tiles were grossing me out
***the toilet was cracking in half (at the same time as yours ckwf, we were probably flushing golf balls synonymously with one another at our local Home Depots).

So the adventure begins. After Mike is finished painting, laying tile and installing a solid toilet, he moves our pedestal sink from the upstairs to the office. The kids were so excited to have a bathroom in dad's office. After some time of being without a sink, we eventually got around to ripping apart the upstairs bathroom, ordering some new bathroom furniture, and painting and installing all of the above. It turned out awesome! It was harder work than we anticipated because we ended up moving light fixtures and buying an extra tank after I ordered the wrong replacement bowl, but well worth it in the end!

After removing the icky sticky goo and vinyl tiles...After painting the place green...The final project!

Labor Day, again, means Labor!

This year, we hosted a family reunion over the Labor Day Weekend. People would be arriving on Sept. 3rd, and we had decided we would like to finish the loft for extra sleeping room. Here is what we started with on August 28th:

Looks nice enough, yes? Would you let your kids sleep here?

Trying to find time to work on the loft, plus tie up loose ends in accounting was no easy task for Mike, but by the next day, it looked like this:You mean you can't see the improvement yet? This is the makings of a lovely new storage room. Do you see the improvement now on the 1st of Sept. (Only two days to go!)?Then on the 2nd of Sept. (This may not look like much of an improvement, but believe it or not, there is actually carpet underneath there!):And by about 1:00 in the morning, when our "loft" guests arrived, we were finished! IN LESS THAN ONE WEEK! It was awesome: carpet, laminate flooring, and storage room COMPLETE! We've never done a quicker, more satisfying project! Here it is:

And She's Off!

Yesterday was Adelyn's first day of Kindergarten. Crazy to to think we have officially entered the ranks of "PTA eligable." We entered the classroom for the first time in true-to-family fashion... late! It was a true mistake, I felt horrible!
"Run, Adelyn, Run! And pull your pants up, they're falling down!"