Sneak peak

Just a little sneak peak... I want everything to  be put away before I give a full 360 degree view of all the fun things. It's already a mess. I keep pinching myself to see if it's real. We are learning about it. Making things fit and work. We LOVE it! 

Countertops!

We have countertops! Yahoo!! We originally thought we wanted concrete and got talked out of it. Then we thought quartz would be a cheaper option. Adam really doesn't like busy counter tops. He does not like the look or generic granite or fancy granite. I knew I liked the look of solid black, so we finally decided on Absolute Black Granite and it actually turned out to be one of the cheapest granite options! It looks great but might be tricky to keep clean! 

We were not supposed to be here when they installed it but Corbin got sick before our big friends family camping trip :-(.  So he and Adam where here when they came to install it. (The did get to join the camping fun later that day!).  

I guess Absolute Black is really heavy! 

It was so cool to come home to it today! Our trim is all finished, the crown moulding is up, and the stove hood got installed today too. Our tile was supposed to start today but was on back order and did not arrive till this afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow. 

Such a big open nice space! Cooking, homework, hanging out, food, eating breakfast and drinking coffee! 

We also got lights today. The lights over the counter tomorrow. 

Perfect place for snacks!

 And now for our one grumbly part... again, I am not sure how I could have prevented this or asked different questions... We ended up getting an instant hot water heater/cold water dispenser and our faucet has a soap dispenser. We thought we would put one on each side of the sink. Then when they came to take measurements for the sink, they said that there was very little room on the left side of the sink for the hot water, so we decided to put them all on the right side. We are pretty sure we told him to put the hot water on the corner and then the soap in the middle but giving them more space in between...instead it's like this.

And now the faucet handle is going to be really close to the soap dispenser. The hole on the right was supposed to be on the corner, not on the edge. Ugh! So we are not sure what to do now... we are going to call them tomorrow. 

This kitchen is going to be beautiful but I have never had granite (dark) and stainless steel before...so any advice on how to keep them clean and streak free is welcome :-)

Cabinets!

Our cabinets arrived on my birthday! The delivery truck was here before 8 am and it was like Christmas!  It feels like a real kitchen! I was nervous to have them put up, what if I didn't like them. As soon as I saw them, I loved them...but there was this little bit of feeling like I made the wrong decision on the drawers. We chose not to have the drawers have the shaker look but to have flat fronts. I was regretting that decision... not that it looks bad but that for my own personal taste, I was not sure it was what I wanted. But now with handles and less cleaning of those little ledges, I think we made the right choice! 

With trim and crown molding!

Crown molding going up. 

We also hit one of our first opps! The cabinet that goes over the fridge didn't fit. Our contractor thought our cabinet maker had messed up...but then our fridge also wouldn't fit. They realized that they measured only on the bottom and not at the top and the old wall leans! So they had to tear out the new sheet rocked wall between the pantry and the fridge, shave down the studs, and add a thinner sheet rock. Ugh! It didn't take quite as long as we thought but more painting for us and more money on labor. 

Pantry doors and space for fridge

 Then the dust barrier came down and we can see through the whole space! This was amazing to me! It felt really real!

see the handles too?

Don't mind our mess! So light!

Love this view...wishing for a new dining light fixture, this one just is not right any more... but it's not in the budget. We will see when it actually happens :-)

Trim on the windows! We have been painting trim for the last 3 days! 

The stove will go under this window. 

Trim and handles!

Wine rack and finally cabinet above the fridge...you might notice how uneven the ceiling is and how much the trim piece is bigger on one end.

The view as I walk into the house.

The counter top comes on Monday...it's really coming together!!!

Floors and more!

Our tile floors got installed this past week! It's all coming together. It must have been the floor vibes that were flowing through our house (not my nagging) but Adam finished the stairs and floors upstairs this week too! It only took 7 years ;-) Now if only we would finish the trim and our house would actually look finished...

He did a great job finishing the little step from the stair landing up to Eliza's space. 

Wood floors in Eliza's little space. And we painted the bookshelf! 

The top step has never had a finished edge on the last step. And now it has one!! Yay! We need to stain in but it's there! 

Tiles going in

 While Adam was working hard at the floors, I took a little getaway down to Portland to see my high school best friend, Sabe, who is in the States from New Zealand.  My mom came over for the day from Bend and we snacked and shopped our way through some northern Portland neighborhoods.  It was great to see them both! And a little visit with some college friends, Sam and Ali, who get married next weekend. 

The tree we planted when Eliza was born looked dead last summer. This spring it revived and even has 5 peaches on it! We picked 2 of them yesterday! Wow!!

Eliza's peaches!

 The floors are done! The cabinets come tomorrow! It will start to look like a REAL kitchen soon! Can't wait!

Camping and Backpacking Adventures

Since we are sticking around for our kitchen remodel this summer, we decided to just go on a close but new adventure for our camping trip this year; the Olympic Peninsula & WA coast.  Adam grew up going to Salt Creek just west of Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula.  It's right on the Straight of Juan de Fuca and looks directly across to Vancouver Island.  It has a great place to explore the tidal pools during low tide.  It was supposed to be in the mid-eighties in the sound around Bellingham and Seattle but out here, we got caught in a COLD fog bank for almost the whole time! Once I got over the fact that we were not going to see the sun and that I had barely packed enough warm clothes, we had a GREAT time. Susan and Mark joined us for most of the time too. 

Our view of the fog bank- we should have seen Vancouver Island the whole time. 

exploring the tunnels

Castle rock!

Hello?

Checking it out with Grammie Susan!

Corbin loved checking out all the tide pools. He was quite the expert by the time we left. Budding scientists! 

He also loved just watching the waves and water. 

Sometime we even get brother and sister snuggles. Here he was helping Eliza calm down after an epic melt down about being cold! 

Checking out the bunkers

Hot dogs on sticks!

So glad Susan could join us. 

Adam and his dad!

Another budding scientist! 

Climbing up to the big island during low tide. 

Hello from the foggy top!

You can just barely see them up amongst the trees!

Making friends and wearing mermaid costumes ( you wonder why she was cold??)!

Finally the day we left, it cleared up! 

Looking north to Vancouver Island!

Then the biggest part of our adventure! Taking our kids back packing for the first time! Out on the Olympic National Park coast, there is a trail that is only 3 miles out to the beach along mostly boardwalk and flat trail. We figured this would be a good place to start- flat, short, and easy with great rewards at the end! Adam and I had not been back packing since 2007! So it was good for us too. It took us longer to get ready changing from car camping into our back packing mode and packing But we finally arrived at the trail head. Corbin borrowed a pack that used to be Uncle Neal's. It was a bit big but we filled it with his sleeping bag, pad, clothes, and tent stakes! He said it was heavy but not as heavy as Adam's! Adam had our whole tent, his sleeping bag/pad and Eliza's AND 2 bear canisters with almost all the food! I have been battling a bad back and was very nervous about it hurting (which it had been the whole time car camping) and then carrying a big load. It was heavy but it was managable. 

Eliza took her school bag with her clothes. 

Here we go! 

first break!

 The kids did GREAT! We brought some lemon drop candy and used it when things were getting tough. We took our time but it was getting late...so we didn't have quite the unlimited time we had imagined.  Corbin started to get really tired near the end and said he wanted to stop but then we heard the waves and finished! He was pretty excited! 

Waiting for Adam and Eliza to find a site for us. It was dinner time....

"I am floating without my pack on!"

 Adam and Eliza found us a great spot with an ocean view, complete with a driftwood fort! Even though it was a bit foggy, it was so much warmer than Salt Creek!

Two growling raccoons!

Our ocean side view!

camp kitchen- complete with table made from drifting trash. 

Mac and Cheese for dinner please!

The site was perfect. The kids played the whole time, right in our site while we made dinner, read, or just hung out. 

After dinner, it was low tide and we checked out the tidal pools again. 

Why not explore the tidal pools in your mermaid dress? It is the ocean, of course!

Waiting for the sunset

Family Selfie on- top of the hill!

Sunset!

 The next day we went around the bend and checked out the big, flat, sandy beach. Perfect for sand castle building! 

While the built, I enjoyed the sun, the view, and my book!

Builders!

Being "mommy!"

Then they waited and watched the waves knock it down!

Tons of rolling in the sand!

Balancing!

 We had so much fun! I could have stayed one more day. The sun came out, it was warm, the kids played great, we read, watched the sunset and enjoyed the whole time!

Corbin's pack wasn't any lighter on the way back...unlike ours!

Ah, this was my pack from high school... almost 20 years old! 

Just before this mermaid had a melt down about having to tie up her dress so she wouldn't trip!

I am so proud of us! I love our little family!

Headed home

These two did amazing! I am so impressed! They did it! We did it! 

Yay! We made it to the parking lot! It took us longer but we did it!

Some kids were a little tired!

It was so much fun! We were tired, dirty, smelled, but proud, happy, content, and so glad we did it!