Summer Vacation

We took a bike tour of Central Park. Our tour guide was very enthusiastic about taking pictures with our camera. I think we came away with probably close to 75 pictures of our tour.

Jason took this picture while we were on top of Rockefeller Center. This is a view of the west side of NYC.

We also took a harbor tour to see the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. In this picture, the Brooklyn Bridge is in the background.

We took the subway out to Coney Island one evening. The boardwalk was neat to see, but it was otherwise a very uneventful trip. Everything was closed up and waiting for warmer weather.

On our bike tour of Central Park, our guide took us to the famous "Friend's Fountain."

We celebrated our 8th anniversary while in New York. On our anniversary day, we drove out to BethPage State Park. This is a picture of us standing in front of the first hole of the famous BethPage Black golf course. The 2009 U.S. Open golf tournament was played at this course about a month after our visit.

Times Square at night.

Jason and I went to New York City for vacation this summer. We spent 10 days there in May and another week there in August. We saw almost everything the typical tourist sees and then some. Here are a few pictures of our travels.

Landscaping

It drives both Jason and I crazy to have a front yard that isn't landscaped and pretty. We loved our house in Georgetown because it was easy to sculpt and manicure. Our farm has taken some taming and work, but we're beginning to plant some shrubs and flowers to make it look nice.

Digging the Tank

Since it's been so dry this year, it was a perfect time to expand the tank on the front of our property. It will take quite a bit of rain to fill it up, so we're hoping for some more rainy weather this spring.

Springtime on the farm

We had 13 baby goats born this spring! Add those to our other goats and sheep and we've got over 40 animals on the farm.

Goats are known for their laziness, so it's not surprising that this baby found a comfortable place to take a nap.

Charlie is growing so big!

Thomas, Laura, and Charlie came for a visit a few weeks ago. Charlie is standing up really well and will be walking in no time.

New York Here We Come!

Jason and I are going to New York City for a week in May. I have a meeting for the first two days, and then the rest of our vacation will be exploring the city. We are excited to stay with Jason's sister, Angela, and to see some Broadway shows. We will also celebrate our 8th anniversary while we're there.

My Boys

This is one of my favorite pictures of when we were remodeling the house! What is everyone looking at?

Wish we were skiing!

Jason and I didn't go skiing this year over Christmas vacation, and we've been wishing for the chance to hit the slopes again soon. Here's a couple pictures from ski trips of years past.

Las Vegas

Instead of our annual ski trip, this year Jason and I decided to take a trip to Las Vegas. Jason had been to Vegas a couple of times, but we had never been together. I don't know if any two people have ever seen as much of Vegas as we did during our stay. We explored many of the casinos on the strip including the MGM (where we stayed), Planet Hollywood, Venitian, Mirage, Bellagio, Treasure Island, Bally's, Casino Royale, New York New York, Luxor, Plazio, and probably a couple I don't even remember! We saw Blue Man Group, Mystre (Cirque de Soleil), and Crazy Horse. We saw the famous fountains in front of the Bellagio, the pirate ship show in front of Treasure Island, and the volcano in front of The Mirage. We also went out to the Hoover Dam one afternoon. It was quite a vacation!

Reflecting on 2008

2008 was an eventful year for us. In January we started packing up the house to begin rennotaving the house. In February we bought a travel trailer and parked it beside the house. The second week in February we moved into the trailer and began working to gut the inside of the house. March marked the true beginning to our expansion project. We began the project by tearing off the small garage attached to the house. Then the foundation was built on both ends of the house. This process went to smoothly; I thought this whole project was going to be a breeze. Little did I know, the waiting game was about to begin. It took about a month for the framers to come and begin on the additions. Once here, they ran into some difficulties with attaching the new parts to the old house. The old part of the house was built in 1914 and moved to where it now sits in the early 70s. With the strong winds out here, apparently the old house began to lean, making every part of the house crooked. How do you attach a straight house to a crooked house? About 6 weeks after starting (it should have been about 3 weeks), the framers finally answered that question and finished their part of the project.
While the additions were slowly progressing, the inside of the house was totally changing. Two walls were taken down, changing the kitchen and two bedrooms into one large room. The old ugly paneling on the walls was taken down, and piece by piece, each board of the beadboard walls removed, scraped, sanded, and stored in the barn. The acoustical tiles stapled to the beadboard ceiling were removed. The staples holding the tiles were removed one by one, and then the ceiling was scraped, sanded, primed, and painted. Windows and doors were removed new windows and doors were created. Then we started reassemblying the walls with the beadboard salvaged from the old walls. At this time, the kitchen cabinets were installed, turning a big empty space into a recognizable room.
In early June, the additions were finally ready to be painted. To save money, we decided to paint; this is a mistake we will never make again. Thankfully we have a friend who used to paint for a living, so he helped guide us through the process of priming, sanding, caulking, taping, and painting. After the painting, installation started. Flooring, lighting, and appliances went in by mid July. The last weekend in July, we finally moved out of the travel trailer and into the newly remodeled house. A project which was supposed to take three months actually took about six, but we've already so enjoyed the new house. Remodeling is not something I would wish on anyone, but now we are reaping the benefits of the hard work of so many.