Almost Done

 The old-garage-makeover is so close to being done.  All the shelves have been painted, and they look fabulous.

I calculated that I will have something like 950 linear feet of book space; I am very excited to get the library up and running.  The outlets and switches are also complete, as are the lights.  The only thing left to finish is the mounting of the desk.  The desk is sitting in the room; we are just waiting on our friend, Tim, to install it (his brother got sick last week, so he's been helping with that--he's fine now, but it was scary for a little bit).

The AC unit was installed this week; I set it to 70 degrees; a couple hours later, I went out to the office and just about froze :-)

Ashley and Tim also built an amazing table that is eventually going to go in the carriage house.  Here is a shot of the table-top.

We have started pricing air-hockey tables, ping-pong tables, and shuffle-board tables.  We look forward to having a game night (hopefully this fall :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Funny Looking Cucumber

 Ashley told Bode I had a "funny looking cucumber growing in the garden."

Not sure if you can tell or not, but it is actually a watermelon :-)  

8th Grade

 Bode started 8th grade a couple weeks ago; I started back to school this week, and I guess with not being used to having to work, I forgot to post some pictures.  It is hard to believe how old Bode looks.

Bode has been very busy with swimming, band, orchestra, and studying (well, the last doesn't happen all that often, but he has been doing geometry homework every night).  We are amazed that just three years ago, Ashely towered over him :-)

The dogs are doing well (per the usual, I won't say much so as not to jinx anything :-)  Pleasant day to all.

The Rankin Visit

 David, Teddy, and Charlie flew in from Colorado on Thursday and stayed with us.  The three boys stayed in Bode's bedroom (scary), while Uncle Dave stayed out in the carriage house.   We had a very nice visit--probably ate too much, but I guess we can work it off this week.  We went to lunch, dinner, played Goofy-golf, and visited with Nana and Papa.  This marked the first time the four Rankin-blooded grandchildren were together; they even managed to take a nice picture.

I didn't bring my camera out for the first couple of days.  I did snap a few pictures when we were out to dinner Saturday night--nothing spectacular, but there are some good ones.  First is an action shot of Ashley drinking some water.

Next we have three photos from the parking lot.  I'm including these because I don't know how Bode managed to have the same look on his face in all three shots.

The boys have all gotten big--definitely not the cute little fellas we used to juggle on our knees.  I did try to get a good one of the three boys, but below is the best I could do.

We spent a lot of time in the water, and we even put the waverunners in.  Here's Uncle Dave and Charlie zooming by.

Next we have Bode and Charlie in our "private pool."

A boy and his dog...need I say more?

Even Ashley got in the water; Bode tried to pull her around the lagoon.

Teddy amazed us all with his flipping prowess.

And here's a cute one of Bode and his mother.  Note the clouds were starting to roll in, so we had to cut the water activities short.

We had a wonderful visit with Uncle Dave et. al.  Sadly, it ended too soon, but we did get one final picture before they headed to the airport.  Charlie was going to be in this picture, but he had to return to the house to get his toothbrush.

Nothing much going on here now.  No more Olympics, and it is still four weeks until football season.  I guess we could read? :-)  Bode starts school on Tuesday.  He's thrilled.

Pleasant week to everyone.