Ta Da!

Before I start - thanks Mom & Dad for coming up, staying the night and working your tails off with us!

We've been talking and talking about a new floor...
We've been stalking and stalking the display at Home Depot...
We've been planning and planning the execution of the project...
This weekend was strike time...

Out with the old nasty carpet, in with the new pretty hard floor!! I think this post is better left to photos.


Living room before - Kitchen before - Let it begin, we're all working hard - Well - almost all of us - Progress! Chris and I were pleased to see that nasty laminate go (anyone who's seen our house can agree that stuff was in bad shape) - Yay! We like it! Kitchen ... done!Why is that funny Mom? (note the shirt) - The happiest day of my life - the day the carpet left the house on Baywood Drive (ok - maybe not the happiest, but right up there) - Why is the kitchen floor 3/4 " higher then the living room you ask? Because everything is juuust off from normal in this house... Dad and I haul in the new sub-floor. Please note dad's face.I screwed the new sub-floor down. I had a helper - True Book fashion - sign the subfloor!Teamwork! Bear did not approve. He did not like having everything we own in the kitchen - TA-DA!!! I know, the photo is bad....Kitchen!! Yay!!Nothing a weekend full of work and a few bucks can't buy ya! The house looks much, much better now that the stained carpet is gone. We clearly ARE NOT cream carpet people. Now I can spill my coffee all I want :)

I'm a bad blogger...

I've overdue for a blog, so this is a long one...

Let's go back to last weekend - Girl's Weekend!
Chelsea and I crawled through traffic Friday afternoon to spend the weekend with Jenna (& Kyle who fell victim to girl's weekend - poor guy!). I was excited to see Jenna & Kyle's new place. It is super cute and it definitely feels like home. We had a wonderful relaxing weekend. We enjoyed all the typical things such as eating out, shopping and chick flicks! (I confess - we watched Titantic on TV - talk about old memories!) Jenna braved the Portland traffic and drove us downtown for some shopping - fun was had by all! One of the weekend highlights would have to be the great dinner on Sat night. Kyle and Jenna made us breakfast for dinner! I think we all had full bellies after that one! I did leave Chris unattended last weekend (which can scare me). He did a great job cleaning out and organizing the garage. We're borrowing my parents teardrop trailer and it actually fits in the garage - it's a miracle!!

Sisters!

My driving buddy!
We had a normal week at work - I'm working the wonderful schedule of 5-1:30, so we turn in to bed pretty early these days. Chris spent three days on a business trip in Cocoa Beach, Florida (I know, poor guy) and I had my last ferry commute - yay for no more 1 1/2 commutes! (I will miss my designated nap time however!)

This weekend was one of our first weekends home and we took advantage of it! Friday (after a long nap) we hit the ferry and headed out to Seattle for some music and time with friends. (Like usual) the ferries were running late, so it made for a long night - but worth it! While Chris was gone - Bear was a little upset. And took it out on my shoes... I woke up at 4 AM to find shoe bits - all over the living room floor. So while we were getting ready to go out I declared I was still going to wear them , they were my only brown shoes. Chris was appalled at my announcement. But once he realized I was serious, he did some creative handiwork with the duct tape an we were off in style! (In my defense, my pants were long enough to cover the handiwork.)

Duct tape anyone?

Sat morning was a lazy housecleaning day - definitely well overdue. In the afternoon we took a ferry ride to Seattle to bottle our beer that we brewed about a month ago (see earlier post). We had the first taste of our beer and are very pleased with it. All sounds normal - except we are extremely cheap (as we know). These days it costs $28 to take a car across round-trip. So...we walked on - with our beer bottles strapped to a hand truck. Classy. We got plenty of dirty looks. But we also saved plenty of money.

The beer bottling process -

Transport bottles to brewing place:
Bottle beer:

Quality test every bottle (busted):
Cap the bottles:
Watch the Red Sox:
Load up:
Head home:
Sat evening was a going away girls night out for Kristen (she moves to Florida next week). We had a great dinner at an Italian restaurant and wandered around Poulsbo to enjoy the evening.

Before Kristen leaves for Florida :(
Sunday afternoon we tackled the door project... We've needed a new front door for oh - about a year. We just now decided to do it (before it gets cold!) Out with the old - in with the new! It was a slow process, neither of us have ever replaced an exterior door before (and we're too cheap to pay the labor to have people come do it - surprise). We did a fine job replacing the door and didn't make any (major) mistakes! Go us! We ripped the old door out and replaced it with a new one with a cute little window. Get this - the new one... it actually seals (that is a big improvement, you know).

Old door:
Demolition team:
No door:
Closer:
Yay! New door!

Nothing else too exciting on the agenda - I'm looking down the barrel of a 12 day working streak - yuck!

Walla Walla Wawesome

Call us crazy - but we like weekend road trips. Like a 5 1/2 hour drive to Walla Walla. No biggie, hop in the car and go! We've actually been so busy it was a great opportunity to spend some quality time trapped together.

Somewhere between Yakima and Walla Walla

We trooped 330 miles across the state to visit our friends Mike and Elaine. Chris and Mike are in he same National Guard unit (Mike makes that drive every month!) and moved last year from Tacoma to Walla. The area was beautiful, a very small town feel. Walla is a big up and coming wine area - there are vineyards everywhere. I think I heard there are 130 wineries in the Walla Walla region - welcome to the wine scene Washington! We took advantage of the area and went tasting at a few vineyards on Saturday.

A lot of the wineries had "winery dogs" This yellow lab was no stranger to belly rubs.
Our wonderful hosts and us tasting wine
Chris with a wine barrel plug (which technically has a inappropriate, yet very funny name that was the source of many jokes for the rest of the evening).

Thanks Mom & Dad for keeping the beast while we were gone :)

*****SPECIAL POST*****

Tonight we went out to dinner with the Casebolts.

Happy JoAnn ???

:)
:)
:)

We've waited and waited for SEAFAIR!

Saturday morning, Chris and I gathered our folding chairs and set out to Seattle. Destination: Seafair. I have gone to Seafair my entire life - but never IN TO Seafair because tickets are so ridiculously expensive. We scored super cheap tickets and have been waiting all summer to go. (For those out-of-towners: http://www.seafair.com/)

After a half hour drive to the Bainbridge ferry, 35 minute ferry ride, 6 block UPHILL hike to the train station, 15 minute train ride aaaaannnnndddd another 3/4 mile walk we arrive at the legendary Seafair (packing our chairs the entire way mind you...)

Once we got inside, we walked along the shores of Lake Washington until we found our perfect little spot. First event - Blue Angel air show. As usual, an amazing appearance. I could watch these guys fly every day and never get bored! As for Chris... each time he sees them it's like he's watching them for the first time. He turns into a 5 year old and his face lights up while watching them. Next event - hydroplane races. I've never seen the hydros up close - this is where I turned into a 5 year old! They are LOUD and FAST, what more can you want. I LOVE that rooster tail!! After that - airshow! A fascinating performance of C-17, C-130, 1970's Air Force training jet, an old WWII fighter, two Army helicopters and a Coast Guard rescue performance. The last event of the day was a tour of the hydro pits. Our tour guide was horrrrible - BUT being down there was a neat experience. We watched them load the hydros in and out of the water with the cranes, the maintenance crews busy analyzing and tweaking their engines, drivers strutting around in their suits. The coolest thing we saw was them lifting a 12 cylinder hydro engine out with a crane. The engine was just dangling in the air!!

After a day in the hot, hot sun we made it back to the ferry. We had to run the last few blocks to catch it and after a few tense moments we verified we were on the right boat - close call to a big mistake!

Sitting 3 feet away from the edge of the lake waiting for the Blue Angels:


The only picture from the air show - we were too busy watching! There's Fat Albert doing his thing over Lake Washington (click to see better):
Hydros racing! Check out the rooster tail!

Engine being lifted out of a hydro:Chris had drill on Sunday so I dropped him off on base and spent the afternoon with Kyanne! A great weekend all in all