Mid-Week Update

Wow, this week is going fast. Here it is Wednesday and the week has been busy busy busy, and it's not slowing down for the rest of the week! We'll start with Monday night and go from there. Why my husband picks the weirdest times to start projects I don't know, but Monday night was no different. We've been talking for months now about getting rid of our existing deck and putting in a patio. We had someone come out and give us an estimate and figured after we got back from vacation we'd probably get going on it. Then we started looking around at deck stuff at Menards, Home Depot, and Lowe's and started changing our minds. We got to thinking that maybe we'd do a deck again, but this time a lower deck that's only two feet off the ground. Back and forth, back and forth we went and finally on Sunday we decided we're going with a deck instead of the patio. Which brings me to Monday night after dinner at about 7pm my husband decides to start tearing down the old deck. I thought he was only going to do a little bit and a little while later I looked out and saw this!

Just an F.Y.I., we have no new deck purchased at this point and we don't know exactly what we want to do. The old deck was a kit we got about three years ago and now it's kind of falling apart, boards are warping, and it needs to be stained again. It looked decent when we first put it up, but over the last year it's really gotten kind of bad and we've had enough of it. I apologize neighbors for the eye sore. Greg got quite far Monday, night, but when starting at 7pm he didn't get finished. Tuesday evening after work he came home and went right to work removing more pieces. He got it all down except for a small part so we can let Molly in and out. He had to move the stairs and shift some pieces a little so there was something by the slider door.

We had been trying to figure out how to get rid of all this lumber since we can't burn it. A great idea popped into Greg's head and he went with it. He contacted the MMBA (Michigan Mountain Biking Association) to see if they'd be interested in it for the bike trails. I guess the guys are often building stuff from scratch for the trails for areas that go over a little water, etc. and Greg thought they might be able to use the wood. A guy came by last night and looked at it and said sure enough they could. He didn't have a way to haul it, but was going to get a hold of someone and get back with Greg. Another guy from the MMBA contacted Greg today and he's coming by tomorrow to haul away the decking. It will go to good use on the trails. Since the deck is in sections it will be nice for parts on the trails and the guys won't have to build piece by piece. Plus now we don't have to pay someone to haul away the old deck. Looks like we all win!

Tuesday brought about an unexpected surprise in a way. Remember the nice lady (Angie is her name) that came to buy all my girl clothes and car seat at the sale? Well, we were out for a walk and passed by her house and she was just getting home. She got out of the car with a little boy, and we started talking. Come to find out, she and her husband are renting the house down the street from us and her brother (Nick) lives with her and rents too. Nick is going through a divorce and has two kids, Ethan (5) and Avery (11 months). The kids live with him a couple days a week and yesterday happened to be Ethan's birthday. Evan and Ethan hit it off right away and began playing the minute he got out of the car. We were talking and next thing we know she's inviting us in for birthday cake and the kids were in the house playing. We chatted it up for awhile and the kids had a blast. It was hard to tear them apart, but we eventually had to leave. So it looks like we've made some new friends and Evan (Em too) has made a new friend in the neighborhood who is just about his age. They played wonderfully together and before we left made plans to play today.

So sure enough this morning the doorbell is ringing and Ethan is at the front door with his dad and sister. He was ready to play, but Evan had just gotten out of the shower and hadn't eaten breakfast yet so we weren't quite ready. They came back in about a half hour and we all played outside. It was hot out this morning! The kids played with just about every toy in the garage and then Nick was kind enough to go get popsicles from his house for the kids. We hung out in the backyard and visited while the kids ate their popsicles quickly before they melted! Evan was in his glory having a boy his age in the neighborhood to play with. They left a little before lunch time and had made plans again to play tonight. They came back around 7pm and we chatted with Nick while Evan showed Ethan around the house. He had to show Ethan his bedroom and the basement. Avery played with some of Em's toys and was such a happy little camper. She's really adorable and such a good baby. Then we headed back to Ethan's house for a little bit before calling it a night. It looks like we're going to have many more playdates with Ethan when he's at his dad's house. Evan is already talking about the next time they play.

That's a little wrap up of the past couple days. Tomorrow we're headed to the MSU Children's Gardens to meet my friend Marie. We haven't been to the gardens yet this summer so we're really looking forward to it!