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)

Cardinals Game

Ethan's 8th birthday usually falls around Memorial Day, so this year Jared, Becky & kids decided to come to our neck of the woods to celebrate him. They surprised him for his birthday with Cardinals tickets and a weekend in the city. They came down Sunday morning and went out to lunch and the zoo. Alex, Margo and I met them at their hotel, after the zoo, to swim with the kids. Margo was pretty hesitant in the water, but finally warmed up to the idea as we were about to leave. Don't worry though, she'll have plenty more opportunities to swim this summer. 

After swimming, we cleaned up and went to dinner at Pi for some pizza. Margo got to stay up way later than she ever has before and did great. She was only restless for a few minutes while we waiting (an eternity) for our pizzas. 

The next day (Monday) was the day of the game, so we left Margo with Grandma Sue for the day and met Jared, Becky, Ethan and my dad at the stadium. (Nora and Atley got to play with Libby's girls and had a far better time with them than they would've at the game.) 

The sun was high and hot, but we had a pretty steady breeze, so breaking my "no day game" rule wasn't too bad. The Cardinals didn't win, but it was a fun day and game. Ethan had a great birthday weekend and when I asked him what his favorite part of the weekend was, he replied, "opening my presents and getting the surprise of going to a baseball game!" 

I'm so thankful that the Collier's let us crash their birthday/Memorial Day weekend, we had a great time. But, I'm even more thankful for the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedom that we often take for granted.  I am humbled and thankful to come from a family with many servicemen and to know the sacrifices that they have made to protect our country. 

Happy 8th Birthday Ethan!