Family visits, part 2

A couple of weekends after my dad came to visit, Stephen's parents came for a long weekend. Holy cow. I can't even believe how much we accomplished while they were here!! Stephen took Friday and Monday off of work, and between his parents and him, so many of my little projects got finished. It was wonderful.

I'll start with my top 3 favorite things:

1) Grape arbor. I feel like I step into my own secret garden every time I walk through it. I love being able to say, "I have this plan in my head, can you build it for me?" And then having it turn out exactly like I envisioned it.

Also notice that the garden gate actually closes. It's a beautiful thing--and a clever fix to my "fixing" the gate. Ask me how that went...yeah, not so hot!

2) Laundry room shelving. After tossing around some different ideas, me never really thinking it would get done, and going with Stephen's idea instead of my own (see! I can bend!) I have a sweet set of shelves, which also turns out is exactly what I was hoping for. All the tin-canned goods are in the cabinet with doors, and all my home-canned goods are under the stairs where no babies can accidentally break the jars.

3) Washer drain pipe. This seems so silly and insignificant, but has really made a difference in my life! The washer used to drain into the utility sink (above picture, bottom right corner), which meant that every time it would drain, a very stinky smell would waft throughout the house. Just think of all the nastiness that gets on clothes (not to mention cloth diapers!), creating a beautiful smell that made being downstairs just plain miserable. It now drains straight into the sewer system. Truly beautiful.

Here's a list of all the other wonders performed over a long weekend, in no particular order...

Grandma and Elise planted a flower garden
Grandma planted a clematis and replanted some peonies and Lilies-of-the-Valley
Weeded the strawberries
Ate pizza and Jimmy Johns
Went to the park
Ate yummy food
I didn't do dishes!! Come back, kitchen fairy!
Stephen planned my dream cabinet (more on that in another post...)
Grandpa fixed Mason & Elise's drawers (and told those two that slamming and climbing on them wasn't good for them...hopefully it will sink in with someone else saying it!)

Elise turned 9!

Mason and Grandpa played Snap Circuits and Mason learned to solder!

Sammy and Grandma made a treasure hunt, had a picnic and read lots and lots of stories

Elise had her ballet recital

 Mason, Stephen and Grandpa replaced some faucets--both the kitchen faucet (planned) and the outside hose faucet (unplanned)

We relaxed outside

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things--we (being used very liberally) literally worked and worked and worked. It was a fantastic weekend! It's amazing the difference it makes to have little things taken care of. It's also amazing how exhausting doing all those little things can be!

Come back soon, Grandma & Grandpa!