And if you care to see this, these are the groundhogs that live in the woods in our yard. There's a mom and two babies that have kept me entertained all summer. Ben highly dislikes them. We think the babies have since been evicted.
Ohio Visit: Early in July, we traveled to Ohio for Grandpa's funeral, which was July 3rd. We already had plans to be in Ohio the following weekend for Angie and Nate's baby shower, so the girls and I ended up having an extended stay. We celebrated their birthday with the Riley side, went shopping, saw Inside Out, went out to eat, went swimming, and hung out with their grandparents. I also got to see two of my best friends' new houses for the first time! It was a bittersweet trip. Got to spend so much time with family and friends, but really missing Grandpa. Everything in Ohio reminds me of him, so it was actually easier coming back home to PA.
What better time to have a birthday party than immediately following a funeral? It fit best with everyone's schedule so we made it work! Nice to have a happy occasion to look forward to this day. My aunts were so kind to get A&B their birthday cakes!!
4th of July morning: Ben helping Debbie & Cleon with crown molding for the guest room!
4th of July continued at my parents' house!
Many games of ping pong in the shaded garage
Two of her favorite things: milk and a blank piece of paper.
B thought this outside lounger at the outlets was the best thing in the world (aside form the pretend fruit and ice)
We got to meet Deacon!!
Lifelong friends with our own children now :)
Love that Cincy skyline
Stopped for yogurt after meeting Grant and Brigitte for lunch.
So sleepy after walking downtown.
Riley family photo
All the Riley ladies at Angie's shower!
Brynn and Adrienne:
Showing off blueberries from our bushes in the backyard!
We weren't expecting any berries yet this summer, and were pleasantly surprised when these showed up! They were so good! ... and yes, this is the entire year's harvest.
They took a summer painting class!
The inspiration picture!
They only had adult-sized aprons.
Making faces at each other in between steps.
Their final paintings!
The girls went to dance camp each day last week! There was a different theme for each day: Princess, Pirate, Pajama, Animal, and Beach. This picture was from their last day!
Grandma and Grandpa came for our "4th of July Redo Weekend." Ben and I worked on a project, we made homemade ice cream, and most importantly, relaxed!!
Brynn:
4th of July, 2010: She did NOT want Grandpa helping her with the salt...
...so now we take an ice cream photo anytime they are here for the 4th! I think we have five of these photos now.
Adrienne:
It's tough getting Kindergarten shots.
House Updates:
My parents gave us this antique desk this past January and it's been sitting in our basement since then.
We finally got around to refinishing it! What a lengthy process: sanded with 3 different sandpapers, applied a pre-stain wood conditioner, 2-3 coats of stain, then finished with 3 coats of polyurethane.
The final product!
I ended up just spray painting the divider insert.
New drawer knobs that go well with the original antique brass keyholes and hardware.
We are finally able to use the sitting room in our bedroom! The antique chairs are hand-me-downs, as well as the mirror above the desk. I mixed in the modern side table and metal stool. Ben can now pull up the stool to the desk (to play computer games, of course).
I found these glass shades at the outlet in OH and spray painted the bases to match. I now have the lamps hooked up to a remote, so they both turn on/off at the push of a button.
Ben and I got married in the summer of 2005 when we moved from Ohio and started our life together in South Carolina. We have since moved on to the Pittsburgh area. Brynn joined us in June 2008 and we added Adrienne to our family in June 2010. I am living my dream as a stay-at-home mom and Ben is an engineer.
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