Remodelling

Here are the long-awaited pictures of our summer remodeling project. If you were familiar with our main level before, basically we: moved the washer and dryer upstairs, shrank (shrunk?) the existing laundry room off the kitchen and turned it into a bathroom, and eliminated the existing bathroom creating a wide open transition space between the kitchen and family room, which had previously been connected by a short, narrow hallway. The former bathroom had a tile floor, so we had new wood laid in that space and then the whole floor on the main level was refinished (which needed to be done anyway).

Hmmm...somehow that little paragraph doesn't quite express the total experience. But anyway it's done now (well mostly--still waiting for some cabinetry to enlarge the island and complete a pantry area). The new open area looks really nice and it's a great space for big parties, which we host fairly often. Plus having the laundry room upstairs is very convenient.

I'm standing in the kitchen door with the dining room behind me. You can see through the old bathroom into the old laundry room.

Facing the opposite direction; the kitchen door out to the deck is behind me. That plastic sheet is keeping all the dust out of the cooking/eating side of the kitchen. :)

Ahhh, nice and clean at last. Same view as the first picture. The new island will expand into part of this space on the left. To replace that little black table I hope to find a killer piece of furniture that will provide more storage and serve as a drink station for parties.

The week after the floors were done we had 50 people here for a choir party. It was Erik's dream come true--no bottleneck in the hallway, great flow, plenty of room for everyone.

I probably won't remember to take pictures after the island is expanded (and decluttered!). If you want to see it all put together you'll have to come over for a visit.

Swimming, Whirling, Fishing

Toward the end of the summer we went to visit my parents in B'ham (partly to escape the wood floor refinishing going on at our house--more on that later.) The most exciting feature of this trip was staying at their new house for the first time. Earlier this summer they sold their condo in S. FL (finally! thank you to everyone who prayed for that) and bought this lovely home in a neighborhood they've had their eye on since moving to Birmingham almost two years ago. I wish I could remember Kate's funny comment about how every house they live is different on the outside but the same on the inside--meaning their belongings appear in each place. Sure enough, all those familiar toys were out and ready for playing when we got there. I'm not sure where we spent more time: over at the pool, in the back yard, or down by the lake, but a great time was had by all.

Daddy and Nate Time

Erik took Nate on a 1-night camping and fishing trip to Stone Mountain. Here is Nate checking over their list and showing off his new watch. For a less-than-18-hour expedition they really packed it in: set up camp, roast hot dogs, roast marshmallows, fish, watch laser show, sleep, eat breakfast, fish, break camp.

Fish at last! Nate's first catch. He has been working and waiting ever since getting a rod for his birthday in March. The final tally was 5, all caught (much to Nate's amusement) with hot dog fragments.

Daddy and Nate.

Cave Springs

Ever since reading a magazine article about Cave Springs, Georgia, several years ago I've wanted to check it out. It is a little town near Rome with...you guessed it: a cave and a spring. When we found out a friend of ours grew up swimming there we decided to make a joint family outing of it. The mouth of the spring is protected by a stone platform and metal grate. Locals actually bring jugs to collect drinking water. A few feet away you can wade in the stream and throw food to the fish. The main attraction is a one-acre, concrete pool about one hundred yards downstream. Since the pure spring water continually flows through the pool, I anticipated splashing and playing in sparkling clear blue waters. The catch is that while the water is clean it is not treated (and I assume the pool is never drained and cleaned) so the bottom and sides are fairly slimy. It wasn't so much gross as it was hard to get around. We kept slipping and sliding and finally settled on sort of standing in one place. Cold and refreshing, but not as delightful as the Itchetucknee tubing trips of my youth.

I was pleasantly surprised by the cave. For the $1 entrance fee I expected it to be about the size of a small closet, but it turned out to be a real cave. We walked down a tall, narrow corridor to a lighted room about 15x40 with maybe a 30 foot ceiling. There were a few little tunnels off that room which you could crawl down if you didn't mind smacking your head on a rock in the pitch black (which I did). The kids enjoyed a brief exploration of the twists and turns. If I had remembered from college days how filthy cave mud is I would have dressed them all in their grubby swim suits.

Final verdict on Cave Springs: a fun day with friends, but now that we've checked it off our list probably not worth the drive to go back.

Industrious Playmates

One afternoon Nate and Kate bounded in to announce that they had built a fire pit and could they please light it and roast marshmallows. Sure enough, they had swiped the bricks that line my flower bed and constructed quite a nice fire pit in a patch of dead grass in the back yard (oops, left the kiddie pool in one place a little too long...) Thankfully it was pretty much all tinder so it got to the "embers" phase in about 10 minutes and they each enjoyed one toasty marshmallow (supervised by Erik.)

Lost in Thought

Hank and Maria's

In July we spent a lovely few days in Winston-Salem with my cousin Maria and her husband Hank. They have a beautiful home and were gracious (or courageous? or crazy?) enough to invite our crew to come for a visit. It was a real party with their younger son Harper, who came in for a day; my Aunt Mido, who lives there in the summer; and my parents, who joined us as well. We visited, ate large, delicious meals, relaxed on the porch, and swam in the pool.

I'm sorry I didn't get more pictures of the house. The kids stayed in the "French room." What girl wouldn't love sleeping on this fancy bed under a plume of snowy white feathers?

Water babies

One night we had an amazing catered dinner to celebrate our recent seminary grads: Erik from RTS Atlanta, and Harper from RTS Charlotte (on the same day this past May). Here the graduates toast each other while sporting their new bow ties in the official Reformed Theological Seminary Tartan. Our family and RTS have a great history together. My dad was in the second graduating class at RTS Jackson (the original campus), my (and Harper's) cousin Jay graduated from RTS Jackson a few years ago, and my late Uncle Norman (Aunt Mido's husband and Harper and Jay's grandfather) was a professor in the early days.

Superb Southern Hostesses

Wipe Out

A little too fast on the old big wheel... I can still see him spiraling head over heels onto the asphalt. There was surprisingly little blood, but 6 weeks later there is still a small pink spot on his top lip which may or may not be a life long scar. And he now has a "thpider man" helmet that makes his hot little head even sweatier than ever. You can see he made a quick emotional recovery as this photo was taken not 20 minutes after the wreck and he was ready to ham it up for the camera.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

This summer Erik did a little work for the Braves Organization and they gave him great tickets to Turner Field (4th row). It was a hot, hot day. Thankfully, a big cloud shaded us for much of the game. At the 2nd pitch Kate asked if it was almost over, but everyone ended up having a fun time. Since this is the only game they've been to (well, we went once when Nate was a baby) they couldn't fully appreciate how good the seats were. We'll see how they like it up in the nose-bleeds next time around. In the 6th inning we headed out for frozen lemonade and a run around the upper deck bases before heading home.

Big Boy Bed

Camp Westminster

This was Nate's first year at summer camp. He went to "first-timers" (3 days, 3 nights) and had a great time. None of his best pals were able to go, but a friend from his Sunday school class was in the room with him. He's ready to go back next summer for a whole week.

Meg had a fun week in her cabin with her good friends Nella, Anna, and Anneke. When we picked her up I was mortified to discover that I made a mistake on her registration form and she was not able to ride horses--the reason every little girl goes to camp! But she had a good time anyway and is looking forward to next summer.

Peter Island!

In June Erik and I had the getaway of a lifetime (an early 10th anniv. celebration) to Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands. It was SO great! I've always loved the beach, but Erik has historically been more of a skier. So while we were sunbathing one day he asked, "Why didn't we come here on our honeymoon?" We both agreed we'd never have appreciated the rejuvenating tranquility at that stage of the game. But 9+ years, 4 kids, 2 houses, and 1 seminary degree later it was exactly the vacation we both dreamed of. We pretty much ate great food, listened to the waves, and moved from hammock to beach chair to Hobie cat back to hammock every day for 5 days. Blessing upon our parents for coming in shifts to keep all the children!

Our first night they served a huge Caribbean buffet in the open air restaurant. After dinner we lay in a hammock enjoying the salty breeze and listening to the steel drum band.

The view from the balcony of our room. Peter Island Resort (virtually the sole occupant of the island) is fairly small and wasn't at full capacity while we were there. I'm sure there were never more than 30 people on this beach during our whole stay.

The tropical foliage was beautiful and exotic compared with Atlanta, but also nostalgically familiar to me from years living in Florida.

We snorkeled several times and saw interesting sea life: sting rays, small squid, urchins, sea turtles, and eel. I almost kept this conch shell as a souvenir, but decided the creature inside would be to smelly by the time I got home.

Even before we departed the island Erik was trying to figure out how we can take this once-in-a-lifetime vacation again next year. Fine by me.