Ceramic, St. Louis, and Keokuk!!

KTK checking out the sea lions above his head in the sea lion tunnel

So we had a BLAST of a weekend.  We picked up the kids from Kcare Friday afternoon and headed south to St. Louis to visit with Aunt Diane Uncle Brian and cousin Hannah. We had a fabulous trip.  I don't think the kids crabbed the ENTIRE trip down. They slept a bit and were entertained by the new videos I had picked up at the library and a burger stop at Wendy's!!  We decided this year we would stay at Aunt Diane and Uncle Brian's house rather than a hotel to save a little money AND most importantly to spend more time with Diane, cousin Hannah and Brian.  We sure did have a great time.... Thank you Gillaspie's for all the great hospitality.  Maddox slept on Hannah's floor without a peep through the night both Friday and Saturday.  Kennon slept in Eric and I's king size bed and also did really well!!  Saturday Am we loaded up and headed to the St. Louis zoo and got to see some fabulous animals...penguins, bears, tigers, pumas, jaguars, chimpanzees, crocodiles, SEA LIONS and HIPPOS ( my personal favorite). The Red Radio Flyer wagon made it more than possible to get around to all the exhibits we wanted!! The kids got to enjoy their first ever funnel cake....what a special treat! Saturday afternoon  ( after the kids took fabulous naps!!) we made homemade butter, played outside in the warm sunny 70 degree weather, colored and helped Aunt Diane make animal cookie icing sandwiches for dessert.  We had a great pasta dinner in preparation for Uncle Brian and Eric's half marathon the next morning. The boys did really well. The weather helped and both finished with excellent times. Way to go BOYS...I'll be joining ya next year!!  We packed up after the race and headed to Grandma Doris' house in Keokuk.  The kids were super excited to just play outside with all Grandma's great outdoor toys!!  Kennon could not keep his little paws out of the mud and Maddox toured around on the red trike. We had such a good time and both kids were very well behaved and slept well too. Thank you to Grandma Doris for the great hospitality. I"m sure the kids are going to remember the cellar door and the red trike and make a bee line for them the next time we are down.  They might be looking for those donuts next time too :)  A special Keokuk treat.  

Aunt Diane   Kennon   Cousin Hannah   and Maddox

Kennon was really more interested in pulling the Red Radio Flyer  wagon than he was in looking at the animals.  He even got to the point that he was saying 'sorry' very politely to the people we were pretty much running into after hearing me say it about 50 times. Too cute!!  

Sportin' his big sis's potty training reward sun glasses....we'll have to have some of his own boy glasses in the potty training reward basket in the months to come. 

Had to throw in one picture of this adorable baby elephant...never mind the BUTT shot of it's buddy in the middle :) 

mmmmmm......funnel cake....Maddox and Kennon's first ever funnel cake...you can see they hated it..... HAH!!

Aunt Diane and Maddox shaking butter...yep that's right. If you put whipping cream in a cold glass jar and shake it vigorously for...oh maybe 10 minutes it turns to butter after going through various stages. Add a little salt and whalla....yummy butter for our bread. 

Shake -a - shake - a -shake - a....

Uncle Brian's turn to shake.....

Kennon and Maddox gettin' in a little exercise time while 'watching' the runners go by.  These rocks served as great entertainment for the kids while we were waiting to see Uncle Brian and Eric. 

Faster Maddox faster. 

A flower for you Mom

C'mon Kennon....Maddox is winning. This long sidewalk served as a runway for the kids to race up and down. They surely went a mile....ok maybe not that far but they made several trips. Giggling the whole way. 

Watering the flowers with Grandma Doris. 

Watering Grandma Doris' flowers...oh wait...MUD!! No flowers yet...too cold. 

Grandma Doris had this great red trike in her cellar.  Kennon was a little too short to make it go but Maddox must had ridden up and down this sidewalk 20 times Sunday and Monday each. 

Happy girl....happy weather.  75 blue sky and sunny

The kids loved running up and down Grandma Doris' cellar door

Grandma Doris went to Hyvee and brought the kids back yummy donuts Monday morning.  What a special treat. 

A sprinkle one for KTK 

A strawberry cake donut with PINK frosting for Maddox. YUM. Thank you Grandma Doris. 

So we have had major progress on the basement since my post last week. All the drywall is up, the ceiling textured, and the walls primed with white paint. The workers came today to put the ceramic tile in at the bar and the bathroom and will be back on Thursday to grout it.  Eric and I are really happy with the tile.  It is kind of brownish beige with some dark grey slate sort of colors.   ( it kinda looks pinky in the pictures...but it isn't trust me!!) Tomorrow the cabinets for the bar and the built ins will be delivered and the first coat of colored paint will go on the walls I think. Eric and I picked out the colors last Thursday morning with the help of the interior designer that works for the company.  The electrician came back today and put in all the can lights and the correct bulbs. It is really coming together.  We/I made it through all the dry wall sanding and dust with little to no issues. I guess I was expecting this inch thick layer of dust over everything but instead we came home yesterday from Keokuk to just a very light dust over the surfaces on the first floor. I easily whisked it away with a wet rag. Stay tuned for more exciting work over the next week......

Standing in the middle of the game area looking towards the media room.  Check out the new can lights!  No shortage of lights down here AND the 4 farthest have a DIMMER for 'mood' lighting..oooo aaaah  :) 

The ceramic in front of the bar.  ( the green will be covered up by the cabinets)

The same ceramic is in the bathroom....there aren't any lights in there yet so it is a bit hard to see.  This ceramic was not the 'builder grade' as was in the original bid. Eric and I wanted a little bit of an upgraded look.  The tile has a lot of great color dimension to it...we are REALLY happy with it.  

Standing in the media room looking south towards the playroom. Bar to the right. 

The exercise room now has 4 nice bright can lights.  (Treadmill under the plastic)

Standing in the doorway of the 5th bedroom/playroom looking North towards the media room. 

5th bedroom/playroom. Closet to the right with a light outside the closet. 

The tile section to the far  North end of the bar is where the refrigerator will sit.  They put a full layer of ceramic  under the fridge to allow it to be set evenly under the counter.