Labor Day Weekend with the Parents

Happy Labor Day weekend! (Or the tail end of it). I hope everyone had a great weekend. J and I spent the weekend away visiting the parents (both his and mine). We stopped by J's folks on the way to my parents. My parents's house gets a guest feature during this post. That is because they have been quite industrious this summer. This is the same home I grew up in, so they have been in this house around 28 years. This summer, they painted all of the siding on the front and side of the house. It was a big job, especially because it involves painting on a ladder for most of it. I don't really have any great "before" photos, but it was getting to be a very light blue (as it faded from the sun).

They also hired contractors to re-do the roof.

This project actually took place last year, but they took down 3 of their trees that were encroaching too much on the house. My dad converted my old swingset into a firewood storage area. Apparently the squirrels have moved in.

Lots of firewood!

My dad also painted the garage doors this summer.

Going back quite a few years, my parents completely re-built their sunroom. It was a screened in porch that they tore down, insulated and re-built. We spent a good amount of time hanging out here this past weekend.

The skylights are pretty fun, especially when it rains. They had to have new ones installed when they re-did the roof.

Here is a view from the family room. In this room, they have painted all the paneling and the walls and installed hardwood floors. When I was growing up the floor was carpeted this awesome orange color. It made playing "lava" much more realistic. haha.

Besides admiring all their updates, we also went orienteering. Orienteering is a sport where you are finding your way through the woods in order to find specific locations, known as controls. You use a compass and map to determine the best course of action (trails, woods, clearings, etc). During an event, you are being timed. But there was no event this weekend, so we did one of the fixed courses that are close to my parents' place. It was a bit warm (considering it's September), but we had a good time. We actually came back on Sunday in order to catch the sermon at our church on Sunday evening.

We came back with a few gifts in tow. One was this piece of plywood that my dad finished. He had done so to create more workspace in his office at work. But apparently he got another desk and didn't need this piece. I thought it would be perfect for the puzzles I do every once in a while. It makes moving the puzzle easier if we have something going on. And, yes, I'm a nerd. I love puzzles. Let's move on.

My dad also gifted me his old tool chest that he didn't need.

He spray painted the inside and made it all nice for me.

I didn't have a tool chest, so this is rather nice. I love being able to see my tools and not have to root around through the plastic container I had been working with.

Besides organizing my tools, I also organized our gift wrap, tissue paper, boxes, bags, etc. It was cluttering up our front hall closet, so it's nice to have this out of the way.

I also decided (randomly) to paint the guest bathroom door. It was this weird peach color, which did not really go with the gray and yellow vibe we had going on.

So, I painted it the "Snowbound" (Sherwin Williams) trim color that I have used elsewhere. See the huge difference?

I am loving the clean and bright white in there. Now if only the vanity top looked that white!

I hope you all had a lovely labor day weekend!