Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving might be skipping a few things since our last post so....Happy Gregory Palooza, first day of school, Labor Day, Pumpkin fest, Halloween and end of the Farmhouse season.

This is pretty much just going to be a photo dump since I haven't looked at my camera in awhile, and things really escalated quickly there.  On top of the aforementioned events, we had a guest photographer come in and take some photos for the site.  Elsa Gregory wanted to expand her portfolio a bit and was kind enough to shoot some pics for free.  If you are interested in more of her prints they are available by contacting our sales department.

We'd like to put a big Nice Job! out there for Nora at her recent dance competition as well.  Her team placed 2nd in their Jazz routine at the Milwaukee Arena a few weeks back.  And now that she has contacts she will no longer need to hold back on her dance moves for fear that she launches a pair of glasses into the crowd and injures some spectators.  

And finally, now that Nora also has contacts they decided to see how close they could look for George and Amy who stopped by this week....

vote on the sidebar (top right) to see if you can tell them apart.

Projects update

So....all we've done lately is work on the Brookfield home and a few things up north.  Unfortunately that's all we have to talk about around here.  We're boring, I get it.  But, the basement rec room is finished, the well for the egress window is dug, the pole barn is cleaned up and the landscaping outside is almost finished.  We were trying to bring neighborhood values down for awhile around here, but then I decided to move the three piles of dirt along the property.  We turned the dirt piles into a berm, re-graded our back/side yard, and filled in along the new parking pad.  Once the grass takes hold we'll look like non-dirtbags again.

Here's the basement finished up,

and the bookcase/ping pong storage.

The pole barn all cleaned up, well mostly...

The new parking pad backfilled,

 the berm along Fieldstone Ct,

the backyard without Hydrangea roots all over

and the kid who logged four hours in the skid steer.

Also it was determined that Big Ugly really does know how to get things done, despite having a bad clutch for a bit.  With that little fix behind us it was time to put it to work.

Down to the last day here

We've gotten almost everything checked off our list, and now it's time to just mill around like clueless tourists today.

Tuesday we visited the tenement museum and the 9/11 memorial. No pictures were allowed at the first, and no pictures were needed at the second.  Then we headed out to Citi Field for the Brewers - Mets game.  The game was fun...their stadium not as much. With no roof, and open air sides the wind really comes through there. It was 60° and misting out, so we only made it to the fifth inning. As a side note where Miller Park has all the kids activities, Citi Field has more things to eat. But in the end the girls had a dog and a good time.

Wednesday we spent the day at the history museum. Despite not being as big, our public museum in Milwaukee looks pretty good. We did see just about everything there including two movies. We walked through Central Park on the way back, and then went to the Empire state building after dinner. An awesome nighttime view.

That's just about it for the trip. The rest of it is just funny stories about New Yorkers and tourists taking selfies.

Catch up post

What's new with us since our last post you might ask, well not much.

Just the twins turning 12, Melissa ditching the minivan for a volvo, the girls getting a new bathroom and divided beds at the farmhouse, Nora dancing in the Peter Pan play, Jenna's spring piano recital, Jenna and Elsa performing in the gymnastics show, Elsa and Nora playing in the spring band concert, Jenna in the kindergarten musical, Elsa getting contacts, me buying a dirt bag truck, and the end of the school year already. But that's all in the past, and I've only got pictures from about half of those events.

We are trying to just focus on the present, New York city!

We got into town Sunday afternoon and spent 6 hours just walking around Times Square, 5th Ave, Grand Central and exploring a few shops.

Monday we got up early to walk the Statue of Liberty. It was nasty weather though, so the view wasn't the best. Everyone made it to the crown for a tired but nice photo (there's not a lot of room up there).

We also toured Ellis Island for a bit until everyone was pretty worn down.  Then we made it over to little Italy for some pasta and pizza.

We've got a few museums to see her and we might even get in a game at citi field for the Brewers Mets series (just good timing I guess).

That's it for now, we'll post again in about 5 more months...

Aruba

We just got back from our Aruba trip and while most people probably don't want to hear how great it was, we did get some nice pictures.  So, if you are looking for a way to stay mentally warm, here are some pictures of our trip.

Our trip to the North End

Hotel Lagoon in the evening

The island pier

The island

The private cabanas

Best meal on the island