gage park.

On our way back from Missouri, we stopped to burn some energy at this fun park in Topeka.

Climbing on giant animals... riding a train... sweating a bit in the crazy hot weather... it was a perfect little stop from all our driving. 

hotel swimming.

Always the best part of staying in a hotel... (We were in Missouri for a family wedding a couple weekends ago.) 

The "carwash" to the outdoor pool was definitely a favorite feature...

Kind of looks like he's trying to eat her... =)

We realized toward the end of our swim time that this little miss could actually touch the bottom on her own...

While they all swam and splashed, Momma sat in a comfy chair and took pictures and read a book.
Everyone was happy. =)

farmhouse: stripes and paint.

Sheetrock is all done and it looks like a real house with real walls... 

Exterior siding is all done...

So. much. mud. I forget how many boxes of sheetrock mud we counted. So, so many.

But the "stripes" are all done. (That's what the kids called it. "They striped my room!")

Corey kind of likes his garage...

It's big. The same size as the one we built at our old house, but this one seems bigger without the stairs in the corner (no loft in this one.) Plenty of room for riding bikes and scooters. =) 

I can't wait to shower in here... (I'm sooo tired of shaving my legs in a tiny little corner shower stall.)

The view from our backdoor... 

Exterior paint... (Did you know Sherwin Williams has approximately 88 shades of gray?) And we narrowed it down to one!

Interior doors have arrived...

They're upside down right now...

And... interior paint! Walking in the garage door...

My favorite view... (love that pop of turquoise!)

If you were ever in my old house, you should be amazed that I only picked 5 different colors. Especially amazing since 3 of the colors were for the kids' rooms. The rest of our house... 2 different colors. Honeydew and Raindrop.

They were so excited to go see their rooms...

Happy colors.