Bathroom Beautiful

 So we've been on a little remodeling streak lately, starting with the kitchen.  It has since moved into the downstairs bathroom, the only bath in our house that wasn't remodeled when we moved in.  The previous owners did wonderful things upstairs but left behind this hideous "harvest gold" nightmare for us to deal with.  Willow helped us get a head start on things when, as a puppy, she chewed up an entire corner of the laminate flooring.  We decided to go with tile for the replacement--a very nice silvery gray rectangle tile with wood grain.  The wall tile stretches all the way to the ceiling for the backsplash, and it was a nice $4.97 a foot on clearance at Home Depot.  Timmy added a new medicine cabinet that didn't look like the wooden frame was hand carved by colonists, and we scored that one with beveled edge for $45, half off in a clearance section.  

 But what to do with a harvest gold cast iron tub?  We already bought a new white toilet, and honestly, this thing is going to stick out like a sore thumb.  We didn't want to bust out the old tub because (1) it's cast iron (2) it would be expensive to replace and (3) it would mean we had to destroy all the nice new white tile behind the tub which is a big waste of money and time.  So I looked into getting it reglazed white, and the guys came out yesterday to do it.  It looks like a whole new tub!  And the finish is guaranteed for years as long as don't clean it with abrasive cleaners.

We're almost done with this bathroom and then it will be break time around the Drinks' household!  New toilet is going in tomorrow and the sink will be reconnected after that.  School starts Tuesday, so we seem to have finished just in time.

The Newest Nephew

 Tim's sister Mary decided to wait until delivery to find out what they would be having.  Everyone told her it would be a boy.  I told her it would be a boy and proceeded to make her 2 baby boy outfits for pics and did not even include a knit flower to add to the hats "just in case".  I was just that sure that the giant baby in her belly was a boy.  And we were all correct!  John Dale Waldrop III made his appearance on August 4, 2014.  We gave them a week or so to recoup before descending upon their house with our own crazy kids.  Here are some highlights from our visit:

Brooklyn has this dog toy that makes a stuffed dog "walk" on a leash while La Bamba plays....over....and over....and over again.

Proud cousin Emily

We brought presents for the baby and Brooklyn.  Brooklyn wanted to immediately put together her Frozen puzzle, which came in an awesome metal lunch box.

Stamp and sticker fun!

This little guy was very alert!  And just so chill.....I think we will get along fabulously.

Jason "petting" the baby.

Proud Uncle Timmy.  Don't get any ideas Timmy!  This factory is closed!

CMoR in the Burg

 Summer is winding down around here, and I'm down to slim pickins when it comes to "things to do with the little ones".  I knew that Children's Museum of Richmond had opened a branch in Fredericksburg, but I hadn't made it out there yet and I wasn't sure how much the older two would like it.  So I took just the younger ones on Tuesday and I'm glad I did.  It's not a big enough space to be enjoyed by anyone over age 7.  And if you bring your child older than 7, many moms (like me) will glare smile at you while we watch your child shove make his way to the top of the climbing equipment while stepping over precariously positioned children, like my own wobbly 3 year old.  
There is a 2 and under section that Jay found lacking in excitement--see face above.  So we headed out to the rest of it.  It's set up like a little town, with a book store, bank, dentist, pizza restaurant, and grocery store.  There's an art area and tower of tires to climb.  The theatre looked like a garage door with a box of dress up stuff, and I gotta admit, I was looking for a jazzier setup for my $8 a person entrance fee.

 Best part, according to toddlers?  The giant tire with rubber sand pit.  They were like pigs in a puddle over there for at least a half hour.

When you make it to the top, you ring the bell in victory!  And then we get to hear the bell for the next hour and a half until I can hear that damn bell in my sleep.

So proud of herself!

 The grocery store was hands down the "place to be".  Two cashier lanes and 4 grocery carts--you do the math.  This place was a bloodbath.  Siblings biting each other over who got to put the mac and cheese box in the cart.  A boy refusing to let anyone touch the plastic carrots.  Emily was a pleasant cashier until Jason wanted to scan items too, then she turned into a standard Walmart cashier.

"Welcome to the store!  Are you the payer?"  (her word for the paying customer)

This orange is on sale!

Gimme all your money!  Gimme all your money!  See that wooden card scanner in the bottom of the pic?  That's the world we live in!  A world where kids make believe with a debit card scanner!  

 The bookstore

 Bring on the thespians!  A make believe wonderment that allowed for all types of characters, including Emily's "gangsta/ballerina/cape woman" and Jason's more subdued "Caped Cowboy".  As Emily proved at every "Store" in this place, shoes were optional. 

I roam these streets alone, looking for trouble....and I always find her....

 The restaurant, where Jay insisted on serving everyone a glass with fake chocolate milk, whether you wanted it or not.  

 Yay, art that doesn't have to be cleaned up by me at home!  Paint all you want kids!

We tended to blend areas, such as bringing the pizza pans and pot holders from the restaurant to the theatre area.

"You'll take this chocolate milk, and you will like it, sir.....Sir!  Sir!  Take the glass now!"

National Night Out

 Every year, the police departments in VA sponsor a "National Night Out", a free event where they showcase just what your tax dollars are paying for.  Camm was visiting and Timmy was at the dentist, so I volunteered us to take the kids.  Above, Emily is "petting" the turkey that the game warden was using to entice local youth to find out what you can and what you can't kill in King George.  

 Hanging out in the fire truck

 They staged a "hostage" situation to show how the SWAT team responds.

 While waiting for the Child ID part, I noticed this map in the YMCA.  Supposedly, in the next few years, we should be expanding to include a water park, tennis courts, and soccer fields!

 All four kids got photographed and fingerprinted for the ID program.  God forbid one of the kids goes missing, we have their data.  I got 4 CDs to take home and stash in the safe.

 Who doesn't love Bullet, the K-9?

The NSWC credit union had a neat booth where any kid under 18 could pick up a piggy bank and take it with them.  Inside the piggy bank was a raffle ticket.  If they called your number at the end of the night, you won a prize.  We got the first raffle ticket prize--a $50 Visa gift card!  The bank people kept stressing that the money was supposed to be spent on school supplies, but we used it on back to school clothes....still supplies, right?!