Spring!

Spring is beautiful...

During Spring Break, Timothy, Jeremiah, and Rebekah came up to spend some time with us.  The kids went back and forth among our house, Jana's house and April's house.  We had some good times!  One of my favorite times was at Harlem park where we had a dinner picnic and a big game of kickball!  During dinner the wind was really blowing (because there was a big storm moving in) and Jeremiah had filled his plate with cheese puffs only to lose them in the wind.  It was pretty funny - probably more so had you seen it, but anyway - the look on his face and his funny little giggle while the cheetos blew away was definitely memorable!  :) 

That night, the storm came and this is what we found that next morning...

Needless to say it was time to work.  So Layne (because he couldn't get down the driveway to go to work) and Tyler (because he was off of school) got their chainsaws busy, and the boys cleared wood and hauled it to the burn pile.  They worked really hard and had gotten things pretty clear by lunchtime!  They did a great job!

Taking a break while watching Layne.

The gas blower was a little too heavy for Kavan!  :)

Just wondering.

Kavan came home from school today and while eating a snack asked, "Do you think Uncle Mike goes to sleep in Heaven?........... Is it always light?"



I love that he thinks about Uncle Mike!  :)
 

A hole... in my newly painted ceiling!

So the day we got home from our vacation, Kyler started a shower in the master bathroom and within about 5 minutes Karlee is yelling from the downstairs computer room, "Ummm, daaaad there's a hole in the ceiling." 

Really? 

After weighing the pros and cons, Layne cut the hole a little bigger to see what might be going on.  - So began the decision to use our "carpet money" to fix and upgrade our master bathroom... and our downstairs bathroom (which had an uneven floor that will hopefully explain the leaking of that toilet).

Through a "comedy of errors" this hole eventually became much bigger. 

Our shower used to be an insert.  They cut it out and we discovered there was no insulation - at all.  I guess that explains why it was sometimes sooo cold in the shower!  So we gave it some insulation!  :)

The floor destruction of our downstairs bathroom.

Starting the tile upstairs.

Tub almost ready for tile.

The shower - getting closer to being done.

The tile downstairs - almost done.

The tile around the tub.

Just needs some grout.

Our downstairs bathroom.  The toilet doesn't leak!  :)

The master bathroom - the shower doesn't leak!  :)

I like it!  :)

The hole in the ceiling finally got covered 2 days ago (Nearly 2 1/2 months later then the hole appeared).  All it needs now is a little sanding and some paint.  Hooray!   

I am very thankful how everything has turned out - and very thankful for my very patient husband!  Our downstairs sink has become Layne's nemesis and setting toilets (okay lets say plumbing in general) may perhaps be the one thing in life that he dislikes more then any other!  You just never know what could trigger the next error in a "comedy of errors."

I'm guessing that's why he started this project halfway through the bathroom project!  :)

Maybe we will have a new deck this summer!  :)



Islands of Adventure

This is the last adventure day, as I close our memories of a fun-filled family vacation!

First stop...

Marvel Super Hero Island.

The Hulk!  -And Kyler was finally tall enough to ride it!  He loved it - and it was awesome!

Storm Force Accelatron! -those silly kids with the twirling whirling rides!  They just love it!

Super Heroes (even though Kavan knows they are "just in costumes" he still gets excited to see them)!

Kavan was finally tall enough for the Spider-man ride.  He was so excited... and so nervous that he kept his eyes closed tight for most of the ride!  :)

Seuss Landing is always a favorite - with all kids - young and old!

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish!

I don't know the guy pointing, but check out the lady with the camera!  :)

Layne was trying to get their picture up high, as mom was taking ours!

The Caro-Seuss-el

Toon Lagoon

Time to eat and rest...notice Kyler's head in my lap.  Silly kids!

The Playground at Seuss Landing

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - was amazing to look at and it had super fun rides!

Layne's favorite - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

My favorite - Dragon Challenge

The younger kids - The Flight of the Hippogriff (they went like 6 times)

So a really great day!

Favorite part of the whole day (ok - maybe it was just my favorite part, well probably Karlee's too) - Butterbeer!!!

It's kind of hard to describe the taste, but I would compare it to a rootbeer float or an icy cream soda with just a hint of butterscotch!  So, so good - even Kyler who mainly drinks milk and water loved it!  So very yummy- really yummy! :)

Thanks mom and dad for such a funtastic week!  We all had such a great time!

- And thanks dad for the butterbeer!  You think we could ship some of that home?!?