Construction - Week 8

Same old story as of late....almost nothing has been done on the house in 2-3 weeks. Our contractor always seems to have a "reason"but seriously, taking on too many jobs is the real reason and it's the only one he hasn't told me.

The one thing that did happen was that our washer was hooked up in our laundry room.

We've been without a washer and dryer for over 2 months now (Hannah and I take weekly trips to the laundromat) because first our dryer broke (so we got new ones) and then the plumber hasn't come to hook up the drain (we moved the washer and dryer from the second floor master bathroom to a laundry room in the basement). Now the washer is set and next week the guy will come to hook up our dryer (we're also switching from oil heating to gas heating at that time). So only 1 more week of the laundromat!!! Remodeling is so much fun!!!

Day at the "beach''

Hannah and I met our friends Diana and Madeline at Wayland Beach. Really, there's no ocean in Wayland...it's a lake, but fun nonetheless.

Hannah loves the water
and had so much fun playing with her new sand toys (and a few other people's toys too).

She intermittently would play along the sand and then want to go swimming. She has no fear whatsoever and is really hard to hang onto when we go swimming. With the temp. in the 90s this week (and no AC), we are happy to spend time in the water.

Hannah and Ella

A Kazakh reunion! We met Chris and Ella today in Cambridge for breakfast. Chris adopted Ella at the same time we adopted Hannah from Malutka and was our next door neighbor in Karaganda. Chris and I also shared an apartment in Almaty when we picked up the girls. Anyway, Chris was in town for a conference and we took advantage of it.

Hannah and Ella were pretty cute together! I know...I say that about everyone. I just think Hannah's cute...what can I say?

Their hotel is right on the Charles River so we ate outside on the patio and then took a walk along the Charles. The girls mostly played with their strollers, taking turns pushing each other in them.

Fun at the farms

First off, strawberry picking at Verrill Farms in Concord, MA! Hannah did a great job picking.....although all of the ones she picked made it to her mouth and not the basket. She loves, loves, loves strawberries and was in complete heaven.

Our next stop was Grandpa and Thelma's farm in Lunenburg, MA. These days, our Saturdays are spent visiting Thelma at the house and Grandpa at his (temporary) nursing home in Fitchburg. Last week, Thelma put Joe to work planting corn in the garden and this week was no different. After weeding the rows of corn (where we saw 1 or 2 stalks starting to come up), we moved onto planting tomatoes and bell peppers. Initially I was just taking pictures and watching Hannah, but then she put me to work too...I learned a lot about planting vegetables. She said she'd make a farmer out of me yet.

Hannah just loved playing in the dirt. She can't get enough of being outside. The messier the better (and after the strawberries and the garden, she was DIRTY)!!

After lunch at Thelma's, we were off to visit Grandpa. He's doing much better and will hopefully be home in time for our visit next Saturday. Considering the garden is now only 1/2 full, I'm sure we'll have more to plant next week!

Drumlin Farm

Yesterday, Hannah and I met some friends at Drumlin Farm, another Mass Audobon wildlife sanctuary. It is about 25 minutes from our house (it is always amazing to me how fast it goes from city to country here). We took the farm loop and got to see many different types of animals; Hannah's 1st time seeing many of them in person. She wasn't afraid of any of them and I had to keep reminding her not to touch them near their mouths (of course, when she hears "mouth" she wants to point to their mouths...hmmmm).
Hannah and Julia checking out the sheep! It was very cool for her to here them baaa! Quite different than both hers and mama's version. : ) It was cute, when she walked up to the goats (no pictures), she started barking like a dog. To her, a goat looks remarkably like a dog.
More sheep!
Hannah walking up slowly to a mule. My friend and I were calling it a horse until we were informed by a 4 yr. old nearby that it is a mule. Who knew?

It was such a beautiful day and so much fun to see all of the different animals.

Construction - Week 7

It's been a sad week for construction. Almost nothing has been done again. : ( The old framing came down and the new bathroom frame and pantry went up. From the outside it looks the same.
At least we got our new stove.
But Hannah doesn't care....she loves running around in all the open space.

Construction - Week 6

It's about the same as last week from this view except the roof is almost done (notice the copper edging).The old exterior wall and bathroom finally came down today! What a difference it makes!!! The toilet is where the old bathroom was (obviously) and the doorway to the right of it is where the new bathroom will be. A small change but it will open up the 2 rooms more!
This picture is taken from the mudroom into the kitchen. You can just start to see (where the stove is) the still functioning part of our kitchen which after today is completely covered with a fine layer of dust. The joys of remodeling!And last, here's our "patio" with our chairs and grill. Yes, it's in the driveway, next to the dumpster! Can you say "white trash"? Nice!!

Boston Children's Museum

Hannah and I met Cheryl, Addie, and Owen in Boston at the Children's Museum today. Hannah had so much fun discovering new things....and a few of her old favorites...driving and playing with water.

Driving her truck. Playing with water is serious business!
Addie and Hannah. Addie is so good helping out with Hannah!
Owen playing in the 3 and under section.
Do you think this means she's tired??
It was a long day for Hannah. After this we got a little more play out of her and then home for a nap.

Weekend in NH

Saturday was Cheryl and Frank's 3rd annual Father's Day picnic, our 1st time going. We went up the night before so that Joe could play golf with the other dads in the morning. Friday night was bath time for the kids. Addie was even kind enough to wash Hannah's hair. Saturday morning, while dads were out golfing and moms were getting ready for the picnic, Addie was washing things out in the bathroom sink. Hannah and Owen were more than ready to help! It was really cute to see them all lined up playing in the water.
Saturday was a bit chilly so the fire pit was out and what goes better with a fire pit than roasting marshmallows and smores?

Hannah loved the marshmallows so much that we think she actually might have eaten the bark of the stick trying to get it all off. Marshmallow close-up! What a sticky face!!!

Construction - Week 5

Not much different from last week. Note the dumpster in our driveway and a little more detailing on the roof. That's about it for the week! The electricians were here and cut out electricity to the play room and part of the kitchen (and our 1 functioning bathroom upstairs accidentally for a night). Hannah's bathroom has been out of commission for some time as Joe and I are remodeling that one ourselves (we had the bathtub refinished this week and I'm priming the walls).

This picture is taken from inside the addition. The openings are (from left to right) a sliding glass door from the kitchen, the mud room door, and a set of 3 windows in the family room.