Crusin' Into Summer

It's been a busy few weeks here at the lake.  For Memorial Day, Aria and I headed to my Grandma's to help my folks and aunt & uncle paint the exterior of her house.  It was a beautiful weekend and Gram's house got all freshened up on the outside!  Aria, of course was a huge  helper and would wait until I was on the ladder to lay down right behind it (tripping hazard!) but amazingly she only ended up with a small bit of paint on her.

Scraping the front peak

Aria "helping"

Aria and Brandy helping my mom

I also had an evening with a dear friend at a local brewery & hotspot.  What a delightful weekend trip!

Memorial Day Sunset

The following weekend we went camping with my folks and some friends.  Our weekend was filled with sunshine, dutch oven cooking, paddling, games, and laughter.  It doesn't get much better or more relaxing.  We paddled and explored the whole lake (it's about 5 miles long) and the dogs did surprisingly well staying in the boats while we paddled.  Here's some pictures from our trip.

Cassie was very cold the first night

Afternoon clouds

Heading back towards camp

Panoramic of the lake

Cassie and Aria

After camping it was home to work on our many projects around the house.  We got our weeding done, and have made progress on several of our other projects in the back yard.  Touched up the stain on the shed.

 Got the giant cement block that used to be under the steps we took off the deck moved to in front of the shed.  Just one more of these to move when we take out the other set of steps.  This was a project as the cement is really heavy!  It's so much nicer to step out onto the cement pad than the always trampled grass that was there previously.

Half way there, just one more giant cement block to move!

Aria loves it when we're outside with her and really loves any project that involves water.  The hose is her favorite game.

We got the new steps built, put on the deck, and painted thanks to help from my dad and mom.  They look amazing!  Wow, what a difference it makes to step down on a path to the dog run instead of through the middle of the yard.

Finished steps, what a difference!

Cassie approves

We've made lots of progress on the path down the side of the house as well.  I think it looks rather amazing.  Couldn't be happier with the way it's turning out.  Only a little further to go.  Hopefully we'll be done soon!

In progress

Almost there!

We have other projects in progress of course.  For instance, our freezer is full of books.  Books?  Really?  Yes, books.  We were lucky to get several old books from my grandparents (some were their school books) awhile back and after doing some research into how to get mildew to stop growing and ways to help get the mildew smell out we settled on freezing them in bags with baking soda.  So, round one in the freezer and we are starting to brush them out as we have time.  We are excited to get them done and on the shelves in their respective homes!

Freezer full of books

Brushing the books out

We're also busily preparing for exciting summer events including my brother's wedding and dear friends having babies.  Fun projects are in process here too, but details and pictures will have to wait until we're done ;)  Very thrilled here to be heading into beautiful summer weather on the lake!


Next up outside: finishing the walk along the house and fixing the fence in the dog run so Aria stops jumping out.