James’ dad came to town for a week and they used the time to work on some home projects. There was also plenty of time for some fun.
James was very excited about using his new tools for this project and I was stoked to have a revamped laundry room. This was a project that I’ve had on my list for a while but only recently voiced to James. I forgot to take a before photo so this one is right before they removed the washer and dryer. There was one of those pitiful wire shelves above them that really didn’t afford much storage. It was a sad room.
Ready to paint!
I really wanted an enclosed cabinet but we were limited on choices because of the lowered ceiling. James actually found this one at Home Depot and it was a little more than I wanted to spend but was the best option for the most space. We saved money though by using leftover paint from our master bath. It’s a Benjamin Moore color, Ozark Shadows. I would have loved to choose a mint or coral color but in the end this is better….I have plans for a few fun prints and what not to dress it up a bit.
I took a quick iPhone photo of the finished room. I’ll do a better one once the cabinets are painted white to match the shelf and I add a few other things to make it pretty. The exposed shelf was a must for me because I didn’t want to open a cabinet every time I needed laundry soap. I also thought it worked better for the dispenser. The guys did a fantastic job and I am so happy with the space now, especially since I didn’t have to do any of the work. It’s a great upgrade!
The laundry room took them about a day and a half so on Father’s Day they spent their time in the garage building a work bench for James. It’s a pretty cool design that folds down when not in use which is perfect for our tight garage. Here you can see James’ new Jawhorse in action along with a few power tools. I’ll have to get a photo of their finished project which they did in one day! Impressive.
In between all the work, there was time for fun too. Saturday was my family’s annual reunion in San Antonio so we spent the day down there. William pretty much stayed in the pool the whole time with Maria, who he was very happy to see. It was a beautiful day and a great time catching up with family when I wasn’t on toddler duty. It’s awesome to see the cousins I grew up with having their own kids now and seeing all our kids play together. I am a little bummed I only took photos on my iPhone and didn’t get any other family photos but my cousin organized a big family photo so I can’t wait to see that.
William also experienced his first pinata. It was awesome. He loved that we gave him a stick and told him to hit something. We ran into a problem though when the pinata broke open. He didn’t like that too much. I think he was bummed he couldn’t hit it anymore. It was still too cute.
The day ended much too soon and we headed home with a very sleepy boy.
Today was a total fun day since it was Opa’s last day before heading home. We started the morning off with a visit to the Cat sales and service plant near our house. We drive by it all the time and William always has something to say about the big construction equipment on display. This time we actually stopped and did a little tour up close. I wonder what was going through William’s head. He seemed pretty impressed.
If you know William really well, you’ll know exactly what he is saying in this photo….”All dirty!”
After the construction equipment we made a quick stop for donuts before heading to Zilker to catch a ride on the Zephyr.
We had to wait a bit for the next train so William had a chance to check out the playground.
We didn’t spend a whole lot of time at Zilker growing up and I am sorry to say I hadn’t ridden the Zephyr before today. I’ve wanted to take William for a while now and was really excited to experience it with him today. He was such a tired boy by the time we boarded, he actually fell asleep for a few minutes on our way back to the depot. It was so cute and funny.
What a full but fun week. I know William loved spending time with Opa and I am pretty sure all the boys had fun using a lot of power tools.
Elizabeth Hafner 