Finn is taking refuge on the slide in the basement! We’re thankful we have a nice large play area downstairs – it is our escape these days, especially as it has been much warmer and the porch gets pretty toasty and our little man becomes a sweat-box.

Now that the fury of the busy spring season has wound down, I am able to take some time off work here and there.  Last week I was able to join a the play group at the Sprinkler Park in Dublin. One of my friends organizes a monthly outing of moms and kiddos to fun places all around town. It was a rather warm day, and as you can see the park was full of kids. Finn enjoyed playing in the water and was pretty tired by the end! Each day when I get home, I take Finn outside and we check on the plants in the garden and around the patio. Finn curiously walks around each of the patio planters and touches the plants (eggplant, celosia, and the veggies). I tried to choose plants, like the celosia, that he would like to touch. He babbles all kinds of things while walking around. This week I picked a green bean and a few strawberries which he ate while we were still outside! Every now and then he can be a bit rough with the watering wand, using it more like a sword, but overall he does pretty well without crushing too many things! With all of this rain the garden is getting pretty huge. The zucchini are getting tall (around the tall cedar spike) and several of the butternut squash, cucumbers, and melon are growing down to the ground outside the box. The tomatoes are flowering, as are the peppers, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and the watermelon are just throwing up some buds.  It’s getting exciting out there!  I found a cute “garden cart” for Finn that includes some tools and potted “flowers” that he enjoys playing with. He even bends down to smell them without being prompted.  On Friday, mom and dad came down to watch Finn while I was at work and Kevin was working on the flooring. They had a fun afternoon along with Amy and the kids going to the zoo where they rode the choo choo train and the carousel!  Then they spent the afternoon at Amy’s since our place is rather loud with construction noises.  It was mom and dad’s 44th wedding anniversary, so we ended the evening with a family dinner at the Pint Room in Dublin. Here is Finn on his way home from the zoo, he apparently crashed easily shortly thereafter!

Finn continues to love to eat, any time of day! If he sees you having a “snack” (snaa) he will ask for some too, usually by saying “bite”, followed by “peeee” (please!). It’s actually pretty darn cute.  Not sure where he packs all the food! Meat is still a favorite – sausage, burger, hot dogs, meatballs, and the like.  As you can see in the picture below, there is only one piece of sausage left! His latest move involves throwing his arms up (like a gymnast completing their competition) once he’s climbed onto something, or if he is being a bit daring.  Kind of like, “hey, watch me!”. He’s also getting pretty good at stacking blocks or toys. 

The rebuilding progress is moving along in the remodeling front. It’s nice to reach the point of putting things back together. As I look through these pictures I’m thankful for Kevin, his ability to do this project on his own, and the vision that he’s had for the first floor since we decided to make this house our home. He’s put a ridiculous number of hours of research into the flooring, the appliances, cabinets, subcontractors to use, and every small part of this project, which is really a huge undertaking. And it’s really exciting, actually, to see all of the conversations we’ve had over the last year or so become a reality!  It’s not really simple to live in a construction zone, and I’m not always very good at keeping my frustration concealed, but I’m super proud of my husband for putting his talents to such good use!

This week the drywall taping and mudding was completed, the kitchen area and the family room were painted (white for now – bye bye dark family room), and the carpet was removed from the family room. That only leaves carpet in the office (aka “kitchen”) for now. Lily was rather sad, as you can see, she was taking in any time she could on the remaining piece of carpet.  I think the dogs will enjoy the coolness of the wood floor, but they are definitely going to miss the carpet! We’re still in the process of figuring out what kinds of rugs and such we will have on the first floor. Brett will be installing the wood floor, along with Kevin and Jim, and they began on Thursday.  It is a tediously detailed task as the 5″ wide wood planks have slight variances in their width (which is standard we’ve learned) and makes the installation a slow and detailed process. But see for yourself, it is looking really nice! Kevin and I were also able to go look at options for counters and we have the design/layout of the cabinets for the kitchen pretty much finalized and are hoping to get them ordered this week.  Finn is a great “helper” as he often picks up a tool or tape, pieces of padding, a small piece of wood, etc., and offers it to me or Kevin as a way of helping.    We enjoyed some back yard water table time on Saturday and then played “fetch” with Lily. Which is actually more like trying to convince her to drop whatever she has.  She’s usually pretty good in giving it to Finn, me, not so much! And since last week, when Cameron had the growth on her back removed along with 7 teeth – she has much more pep in her step! Though she wasn’t outside with us here, she has been moving all around much better and going up and down the stairs without any coaxing these days.  It’s great to see her feeling a bit rejuvenated!