Wisconsin Dells

As I mentioned in my previous post, my family went on our first full family (all 6 original Blair's + their families) vacation in over a decade...maybe almost two, I can't really remember when all 4 kids and my parents went somewhere together! It was so fun for all of us to be together and to see all 10 of my parent's grandchildren in the same place at the same time. It was just so, so good.

We headed up to the Wisconsin Dells for a long weekend of water slides, reconnecting and playing with cousins. Margo loved all the attention from her doting cousins and I loved having all three of my siblings in the same house. We spent most of our mornings at the water park and since Margo naps in the afternoon, Alex and I (and anyone else who was still at the house) lounged, munched and just talked and caught up. It was such a relaxing weekend away and I am so thankful that we could all be there, thank you Mom and Dad for organizing this wonderful trip!

here's an out take that is just too good not to share 

Madison, Wisconsin

This July has been a busy one but that won't slow us down! After we got home from Michigan City we had a few days at home before we were back on the road again, this time to Wisconsin. Alex and I decided to head up a day early to explore Madison and I'm so glad we did.

We mostly spent our time at the Children's Museum and then grabbed a delicious lunch at Dotty Dumpling's Dowry. We googled the best cheese curds in Madison and Dotty's is where we landed. Thankfully they did not disappoint, Margo even did a dance of approval. After lunch we headed to the Dells for our first full family vacation in over a decade!

family pictures

While we were at the lake we decided to take some impromptu family pictures and they turned out amazing! I cannot wait to get them printed and framed!

Michigan City

Almost every year for the past 6 years, my family heads north to Lake Michigan for the week of July 4th. We always end up having the best weather and the best time and this year was no exception. We played at the beach, pool, park and playground all week and Margo earned every nap.  It was so fun to watch all the cousins play together and see how they've grown from the previous year.

father's day

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's, grandpa's, dad-like-figures and soon-to-be-dad's!

Happy Father's Day to my dad who is such an amazing, kind, generous man. I cannot imagine life without him. He has always been such a great example in all aspects to me and my siblings and incidentally, I've inherited a lot of his quirks traits and I love him for it! You're the best, Dad. Enjoy your day!

Margo can't articulate it yet, so I will on her behalf- Happy Father's Day Alex!! We love you so much and are so thankful for you. You are an amazing dad and I love watching you with Margo. You are loving, kind, patient, sacrificial and so, so, so goofy! I can't imagine parenting without you. We hope you enjoy golfing today! 

bathroom renovation

When we moved in four and a half years ago, the bathroom was at the top of my list to update and since it's our only bathroom, it was important to me that we enjoy the space that we have.  Thankfully this summer was finally the summer to accomplish it! We initially went into it with plans to update the fixtures, paint, change the lighting and to tile the floor and shower. We got the quotes for tiling and it was in the ballpark that we were expecting so we moved forward with the project.

We planned the start of the project to coincide with our camping trip since our tiler is also a really close friend. While we were away we didn't have any cell signal so we were blissfully unaware of the state of our bathroom. However, when we got signal back we were greeted with a few texts about bumps in the road...

While they were demolishing the bathroom (removing the bathtub surround and removing the old floor and subfloor) they unearthed some plumbing issues. Eric (our tiler) had a plumber friend come to take a look and he didn't come back with good news. Our house was built in 1942 and the plumbing doesn't seem to have been updated in the mean time. So our quick, moderately easy bathroom update turned into a much larger scale project; along with updating our bathroom esthetically, we had our house entirely re-plumbed and had a new water heater installed.

We had one week without any use of the bathroom and about 4 days with only a working toilet, remember we only have ONE bathroom. Alex stayed at our house since he had to go to work and "roughed it", while Margo and I stayed at my very gracious parent's house. After the plumbing was taken care of, Eric came back in and finished the tile work and we were able to finally finish the renovation!

We are so happy with the outcome and even though the size of our 33 square foot bathroom didn't change, it feels much brighter, open and dare I say bigger?! Even though re-plumbing is about as exciting as getting a new roof (read: not exciting at all), I'm glad that it's done and that we don't have to worry about our pipes. So, with no further ado the before and after pictures of our bathroom!!

Before

 After

Sources:
Tiler: Eric at Sticks n Stones 
Plumbers: Tony & Josh at Crafton Plumbing 
Pedestal Sink- 1 // 2
Cabinet
Mirror
Paint- Valspar Dark Kettle Black
Light
Print
Shower Head
Hand towel, soap, basket, shower curtain- Homegoods
Subway tile- Rittenhouse Square Field Tile 3x6 (white glaze)
Floor tile- Carrera Hex mosaic (Bianco Gioia Nantes)