Kickin' the Kitchen's Butt

 Our kitchen wasn't bad to start with--as you can see above, it was pretty updated when we bought the house.  The glass tiles were nice (but only behind the range and sink), the black sinks weren't my first choice, the cream cabinets were new and had good features, like roll-out shelves and soft close drawers.  Tim and I wanted to update the counter tops from the laminate to granite, and unlike in our old house, we didn't want to do it and move 6 months later.  So this way, we can enjoy the countertops for years to come!  Tim went to visit the granite yard on a rare day off, and he picked out this beautiful steel gray.  We matched up some mosaic tile backsplash, which consisted of gray glass, frosted glass, marble, and quartz pieces.  No joke, that tile backsplash took almost 2 weeks to install, from start to grouting.  But it looks amazing!  We painted out the kitchen with the same gray from the foyer because the green really started to stand out in an odd way as we completed the backsplash.

New kitchen!

We got "new sinks included" with the granite installation, so we went bigger on both sinks.  Now the main sink is twice the size as the old one, and the smaller sink is a normal sink size.

close up of the new countertop

Frozen Dance Camp

 Our local dance studio was offering week long dance camps this summer (and the price wasn't outrageous), so we decided to try one out since (1) I'm a teacher with summers off and (2) this would give us a chance to see the studio in person before we committed to weekly dance lessons starting in the Fall.  We signed up for the "Frozen" dance camp which ran this past week for an hour and a half a day.  Emily LOVED it!  She learned some ballet and tap moves, got to do "Frozen" crafts, have a snack, and meet 11 new little friends.  The week ended with a small recital on Friday, so the parents could see all the hard work from the week.  Caroline came with me to watch and it was adorable, as you can imagine!

Lining up for the "big performance"

Wearing her "Elsa" crown, from one of the craft projects

Hugging Ms. Amy at the end of the show

Yay!  Lollipops from Ms. Amy!

Emily is showing off one of her crafts--an Olaf snow globe!

When you shake the jar, cotton balls, googly eyes, brown pipe cleaners, and glitter swirl around.  It's supposed to be a melted Olaf after he enjoyed his "Summer"!

Every big performance deserves a nice lunch!  Here we are celebrating at Vinnys.

PA or Bust

He became very good at doing the "finger swipe" during this car ride

 Carrie and I had discussed sending Caroline and Garrett up to PA for a visit sometime this summer, and between the "drive or fly?" discussions and the logistics, I decided, hey!  I'm a teacher!  And I'm off work....so why don't I just drive the whole family to PA for a visit?!  Well, almost the whole family.  Tim stayed behind to work, and my crazy butt drove all four kids up to Carrie's house for a four day visit.
It was a very busy trip, with tons of kids running around, falling into brick walls (Jason), skinning knees (also Jason), getting up all hours of the night (also Jason....see a pattern here?), swimming, swinging, going for walks, and general rambunctiousness.
Overall, it was nice to see Carrie and the family and see Barrett take a couple steps!  Enjoy the photos of our visit:

Good attitudes all around during the ride!  Emmy was hamming it up for Caroline

Our half way stop, McDonald's of Berkeley Springs.  

The happy meal box became entertainment for Emily for the next hour....I can't complain.

Caroline hijacked my camera and I ended up with 27 selfies that all look like versions of this.

I'll be honest...the box got downright scary.

Upon our arrival, the kids were a little shocked to be out of a car after the 6.5 hour drive.

Toys!  And they're new to me!

Britton and Barrett arrive home!

At the nearby pool

Caroline was less than thrilled to share her Slushpuppy

Jay ate it like a bird.

At Fun Fore All!

On a roller coaster, Fiesta Express, which seemed like a rickety carney ride, but Carrie promised that no one had died...recently.  The kids loved it!

Tea cups!

The girl cousins:  Caroline, Britton, and Emily

Bumper cars......Emily is still talking about how sissy "got all wet" on that ride.  And she says that she'll bring a change of clothes for the next time we go visit!

Pre-sneeze!

And more Slushpuppies......

And ice cream at The Meadows, a local creamery.

Posing in Britton's dress.  The girls had constant fashion shows while we were there.