The Beach

Pardon my absence here on the ol' blog...it has been over 2 weeks since I've posted anything!

We've just returned from a week at the beach...now I feel like summer is officially over. The week before we left for the beach our upstairs A/C unit kicked the bucket. This has been a long time coming. It was 23 years old, and they typically only last about 15 years. The good news is that we only had to endure the heat upstairs, and it was only for 2 days. It conveniently decided to quit working just before our beach trip, which meant that the new one could be installed while we were gone.

The kitchen is still coming along...we are finishing up some details and hopefully I can pull together a "completed" post for the blog in the next few weeks!

Enough rambling...the reason I'm here is to share pictures of our beach trip! We were with my parents, and Rob, Kelli & Robert joined us mid-week.

Most of my beach pictures don't include Mason...as long as we were at the beach he was in the water, either riding his boogie board or jumping waves or deep shallow sea diving. Roper, our more cautious child, spent most of his time playing in the sand or just in the edge of the water, making him an easier target for photographs.





















I'm pretty sure Mason & my mom rode this wave together...






You can see Mason & my daddy in the background...




Mason took a break from boogie boarding to get buried in the sand...


We rented a pontoon boat in Murrells Inlet one morning...it was so peaceful in the inlet!











One night we rode up to Calabash for dinner...mmmmm!




Another night out for dinner...




Followed up with a visit to Bass Pro Shops...I think Mason got on every 4-wheeler and climbed in every boat that was on display. He was particularly fond of a green metal john boat with a trolling motor. He told me, "This is so much better than our boat!"



Who needs the aquarium when you can get into Bass Pro Shops for free?


What a great, relaxing week! Our beach trips were bookends to the summer this year...we went with Graem's family the week before school got out and we went with my family the week that school started back up!

Finally!

Our countertops are in!! Oh how I wish I could say our kitchen is 100% done...but now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This week has been frustrating because of some delays with our granite. I guess I learned my lesson...just last weekend I was bragging to my cousin Alice about how quickly and smoothly everything was coming along. Oops!!

So I mentioned last week that they broke one of the pieces of granite when installing it Monday. They finally - finally (!) got it right yesterday (Saturday). It just happened to be the granite on the counter where our sink is, meaning we have been without a sink and dishwasher all week. We have been doing our best by washing dishes in the bathroom sink!

The good news is that the plumber is coming tomorrow to install the faucet, and he can turn the water on to our dishwasher. Also the electrician will be here to put in the disposal. Lastly, our backsplash will go in tomorrow.

The painters will be back at some point this week to do some touch-up painting. Our cabinet hardware will come in on Tuesday so the knobs/pulls will be up this week (after searching high & low I found the exact knobs I have been looking for at Lowe's for $3.12 each, compared to $13.17 each at myknobs.com). I need to find fabric for a cushion for the benchseat. I have been kind of halfway looking for a pedastal table for our breakfast area and at some point would like to replace the light fixture...but our kitchen will be livable again before I cross all of those things off my list!

So here are some shots of our new counters...I am immensely pleased with how they turned out!!







I have gotten some compliments on the light fixture above our sink. I picked this up 2 or 3 years ago at the Pottery Barn outlet in Gaffney. It has been hanging out in my attic for a while! It was a steal -- I got it during one of their 1/2 price lighting sales. It had some scuffs on the metal, but nothing a gray sharpie couldn't take care of!

This is what happens when you go without a sink and dishwasher for a week...


I feel like I have mostly been posting about our kitchen lately, so here are some pictures of the boys from our trip to the Saluda Shoals Splash Park last week...my camera battery ran out of juice after snapping just a couple of shots!

Coming Along...

I had to spend part of last week in Washington, DC for work. Not only was I thrilled to come home to my sweet family, but I also came home to a kitchen where much progress had been made in my absence!

The cabinet doors are up.
The new light fixtures are up.
The cabinets, island and benchseat have been painted.
The walls & ceiling have been painted.
The double oven and microwave are in.







I used the oven over the weekend to make...drumroll...cheese toast. :) Keep in mind we still don't have countertops or a stove.





In the beginning I spent so much time obsessing over the color of the cabinets that the color of the walls was an afterthought. I went with Wade's recommendation and didn't think twice about it. When I got home from DC, the color of the walls made my stomach sink. It is darker than I expected. But after looking at it all weekend I have decided that I really really like it. It is such a drastic change...from dark cabinets and light walls to light cabinets and dark walls.

The countertops & sink are being installed today...I got a call earlier that one of the slabs of granite cracked during the installation, but they will fix it.

The oven and disposal will go in tomorrow.

For the backsplash I've decided on classic white subway tile. I love the look, and I think it will complement our white trim and contrast with the walls and cabinets. The backsplash will go up on Thursday.

That just leaves the hardware (knobs & pulls) for the cabinets & drawers. I have searched high and low for what I'm looking for...an oversized plain round knob in a dark finish with cup pulls in the same finish. I have scoured catalogs and yesterday I thought I finally found exactly what I wanted. Wade checked the price today. The knobs are $9.60 each and the pulls are $15.60 each. I need 30 knobs and 9 pulls. Do the math...that is too much! So I will keep searching. If anyone has suggestions, send them my way!

I can't wait to see how the granite turned out!

Happy Birthday to...

...a father that knows how to have a good time...




...a man that after 10 years together I enjoy spending time with more than ever...


...the "captain" of our family...


Thank you, Graem, for being the best husband a girl could ask for and for being our boys' hero!

I love you.

Big Boy

I took Roper to the doctor on Friday for his 2-year check-up. Before I share his stats, I must say that I was a little surprised. He has really thinned out over the past year...don't you agree?

From this...


To this...


So I was thinking that he probably dropped some in the charts. Nope...still 93rd percentile for height (same as at his 1-year check-up) and 78th percentile for weight (down from the 82nd percentile last year). I remember our pediatrician telling me at Mason's 2-year check-up that at this point you can project how tall they will be as an adult. Only time will tell!

Just for comparison's sake, at Mason's last check-up in September, he was in the 81st percentile for height and 65th percentile for weight.

Progress

Our kitchen renovation is coming right along...I think we are about halfway through with everything, or at least a third of the way. Hopefully at the latest they will be done by the end of next week.

It has been really hard to live without a stove or an oven. It is also hard to live with only a tiny bit of counter space. But the hardest so far has been living without a kitchen table. Our dining room table is not an option either because all of the stuff from our empty cabinets is currently being stored on the dining room table. It is really difficult to eat out with a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old...but without a table we can't really do take-out either! Over the weekend we set up a little kid's table for the boys which has helped.

I'm told that by the end of this week all the cabinetry and painting will be done, so at that point we can move our table back in. Next week the new countertops will be installed.

Here are some pictures from the end of last week. The cabinets have all been primed...



This is the little bit of counter space that we have to work with, which is mostly taken up by the coffee pot, sink and microwave. You can also see our new can lights in this picture {even though one bulb is not working}. Oh what a difference the new lighting makes! I love it! This week they will put in a pendant light over the sink.



The island has been wrapped in beaded board, the legs of the island have been tapered and they added a bookshelf {love}. You can see Ro in the background coming through a freshly painted white door {used to be stained}. All of the formerly stained doors are now white, this has really brightened up the rest of the house.



This cabinet is where our double oven will live...it has already been painted Benjamin Moore "Sundial," which is what all of the cabinets will be in the end, except for the island and the bench seat, which will be BM's "Chelsea Gray." The walls will be BM's "Boardwalk." Note the white doors in the background.



Sundial...it looks lighter in person...


Chelsea Gray...


Boardwalk...


They have built our bench seat and wrapped it in beaded board and primed it. It has two flip-top lids and Mason keeps calling it the "new toy box."



Less than two weeks and hopefully it will all be complete!