Disney, Thanksgiving, a Birthday and ....

Time to drop a load a of photos on you.

Since it's been awhile we've got to go all the way back to our Disney trip.  The surprise trip that wasn't really a surprise was great.  We spent a day at Magic Kingdom, a day at EPCOT and a very short day at the beach.  It turns out that jellyfish larvae like to sting, all over, as soon as they hit you, and it doesn't go away until you are completely dry.  But it was fun, and the girls are already asking if there is another trip in our future.

A few weeks after Disney we took a little time to head up to the real OC for Thanksgiving and a birthday.  Thanksgiving was only missing a few brothers, but otherwise every one of the Wisconsin residents made it for a good time and a good meal.  Then on to the cake and presents.   Jenna turned the big 5.  Big because next year she will be in full kindergarten, no more naps.  That's her big concern right now.  That is most of what's been keeping us busy.  Next up, Christmas programs.

Pumpkin Fest!

Thanks to everyone for making it up to Door County this weekend, we had a blast.  I hope everyone else did as well.  

I got a few pictures in this weekend and I added them to the slideshow.  I believe clicking on the photos will take you to the slideshow page again (it's fixed from what I can see).  If that doesn't work I added a link above the pictures that will take you there.  

Lastly, the 2016 Pumpkin Fest bingo game is currently in development, I'll probably post a link to it here next week and make it an editable document for everyone from Oregon to Wisconsin to add to.  Remember to reserve your campsite, couch, bed, garage etc. in advance for next year.  Spaces fill up quickly.

End of Phase II and an Adventure

Since the siding was technically finished a few weeks ago this is a little late, but it's true nonetheless.  Phase II is complete.  After stating this at work last week I was immediately asked "Just how many phases are there?"  I don't know, but phase II is complete. 

We actually bought this....

With the last pieces of soffit in place under the porch, a few bits of siding was all that was left of the project that began in June.  Now that the outside is all wrapped up it's time to get the second floor finished as nicely as the first floor.  On to the adventure...

This last weekend we insulated the upstairs of the front of the house.  While pulling down the temporary canvas wall art (with some original works by uncle Matt) out flew our resident bat.  He made a small appearance during the siding job, but hadn't been seen since.  We quickly opened all three windows while he circled, but he refused to leave.  We tried negotiating with him, but he only made threatening statements and barricaded himself in the northern end of the attic.  He was rumored to have a large cache of weapons and anti-remodeling views,  so we tool a step back and finished our lunch to regroup.
 

We requested tear gas, but were turned down.  Turns out that a Mammoth smoke bomb was just the tool for the job.  With a butterfly net in hand the canister was thrown in.  He was apprehended 30 seconds later and removed from the building. 

After that was all finished we took down the chimney in the attic and cleared the way for some re-framing of the upstairs.  Here's the view now:

Next up is running our electrical circuits, drywall and then tongue and groove pine for the ceilings.  

Phase...whatever.

Halfway there?

A big thanks goes out to Tyler and Roxanne, the Fleming's, the Gregory's and our neighbor George for a huge week of sore shoulders, aching backs and popping Advil like it's cool. We would be laboring at this project for so much longer if it weren't for all the help.

I'm really hoping we're at the halfway point with all the work everyone put in so far. The old siding has been torn off, the attached shed was tractor'd off, everything has pink insulation on it and about half of the house is sided. We also have a fire pit that might need stairs to get into it and a great area for landscaping the 500 rocks we found.

Again, thanks to everyone for the help, and here's the pictures as we take a much needed rain day to recharge:

The new Fire Pit

South and East sides finished

Lots of progress

We got a lot of good work finished up this week. First of all a big thanks to the dads for work help and thanks to Grandma Gregory for some much needed babysitting.

We took down a tree, got a block wall built, rebuilt the bathroom door jamb, finished trim in the kitchen and bathroom, installed the last window, and insulated the second floor. Not bad for a four day trip.

Next week is on to the siding. Things are looking good.

Picture unloading

After dusting off my camera recently, I realized that Elsa and Nora's birthday pictures were still on it.  That just won't stand.  So this post is rather picture heavy, but I'm sure I won't get any complaints.

All three girls had their first dance recital this past weekend and it was great.  Jenna got to do a dance for her Tippy Toes dance class on Saturday and Elsa and Nora had two dances on Sunday.  We weren't allowed to get any video so the best I've got is a few pictures.  Enjoy

Back to Work!

So we did have a few months off, but now it's time to get back at the farmhouse.  It was a good weekend with a full crew.  The bathroom floor was taken out, we leveled new joists and put a new sub-floor in.  In the kitchen we put some corner trim in to finish off the bead board.  In the living room all of the windows got trim, gaps caulked and then everything was painted again.  And we had a full tank of propane to heat the house this time; quite the improvement over the two previous weekends.  

Our focus will now be to finish the bathroom.  After that we will work on the attached patio and then it's siding.  

A big thanks to everyone for helping out.  We could not do it without you.

Bathroom (with no floor) looking into crawlspace

New subfloor down

Windows now have trim on them.

More baseboard and door trim

Elsa loafing around