Double Trouble in Walla Walla

Have you ever read this book?

The book has nothing to do with our weekend in Walla Walla, but I think of it every time we talk about Walla Walla. After all, it was “the place so nice, they named it twice!” And if you’ve never read it, it’s a pretty funny book!

These two cowboys had barrels of fun at this year’s fair and rodeo in Walla Walla.

Cowboy Emmett hams it up for the camera.Ready to watch some buckin’ broncos.

Corndog. The ultimate fair food.

The family.

A parade with LOTS of candy.

Dinner with family.

Roasting marshmallows, of course!

Touring our relative’s vineyard and getting to taste the grapes.

The boys have a blast in the dust.

Grandma Becky with her cousin, Mike.

After all that in a weekend, we had two tired cowboys!

The Lake

The Lake is one of my favorite places to be. I’ve been coming to this cabin for as long as I can remember, and now it is even more special because I can share it with my children. This year we were especially blessed to have a week full of great weather, family, and fun!

There are the traditions that we do every year, like hunting for pirate treasure on Pirate Island,

and roasting marshmallows.

A nice dinner out as a family,


playing in the sand, 

and swimming, of course!

This year brought many firsts, as well. The boys tubed this year on Big Mable.


And they each got special outings with Daddy.  Jack chose to go the Triple Play Game Park.



Emmett chose kayaking.

Not all the firsts were fun. Emmett had his first bee sting. And would you believe that I caught it on film?!


Then there was lots of time together with the family. Reading with Nana,

coloring with Zoe,

sidewalk chalk in the driveway,

and playing hide-n-seek!

Not much beats sitting on this deck and looking out at the water.


I am so thankful for this place, and for all of the joy that it has given me.  I can’t wait for next year and the adventures it will bring!

Painting the House

Here is what our house looked like when we bought it 2 1/2 years ago.  Great bones, but dated. Very dated.

The former owners had painted the house a beige, but the resulting color looked more pink than brown. Needless to say, we have never liked the color of the house and have wanted to paint it ever since we moved in. Well, we finally are.

The first step was to pick a color. You’d think this wouldn’t be difficult. We had a color in mind, so we thought finding the paint would be a cinch. It wasn’t.  In fact, I’ve lost count of the number of times I was at the Benjamin Moore paint store pulling paint chips. And each time I brought a sample home, I was sure it was the one.  As you can see from the above picture, we tried LOTS of different colors. Once up on the house, they looked too brown, or too green, or too much like the neighbors house.  After many weeks of trying, we finally landed on a color.

             

       Siding and stone: BM Chelsea Gray                            Trim and Windows: BM Tapestry Beige

We’re making some bold changes. First, we’ve decided to paint the stone. We know that it kind of a no no to paint stone, but we figure that only applies when you have attractive stone. And we don’t. Ours is very dated. And very pink. So we’re painting it the same color as the siding in hopes that it will give an overall more contemporary, clean look. Second, we’re painting the windows. We have old aluminum windows. We’d love to replace them, and maybe someday we will, but painting them is a much more reasonable alternative. 

The painters have been here all week prepping and painting. Today there will be some big changes as they begin priming. I’ll take some more pictures and post soon!