Weekend Visitors.

We had a riot this weekend with Ted's sister, brother-in-law, and two nieces Amanda and Brooke. They were on their way back home from Myrtle Beach and stopped by to see the house and stay the night on Friday. We spent the night catching up, playing video games, and watching movies. Brooke and Jim took a quick liking to Ted's favorite game "Guitar Hero," and Brooke was an old pro before we knew it. Amanda and I got crazy with Super Mario Brothers 3, and the whole crew cracked up over Will Ferrell in "Talladega Nights."
I love spending time with the girls because they are so easy to have fun with. I pulled out our "old school" video game consoles and was showing the girls the Sega Genesis and the first Nintendo. They looked at me like I was ancient and said "We've never even heard of those before." I think that's the first time in my entire life that I felt OLD. It was nice to know that I could still keep up with Amanda in Super Mario Brothers though.
It was fun to have family in town again and great to hear the house filled with giggles and laughter. I hope they can visit again soon.


Brooke concentrates on being a rock star.

Amanda plays some SMB3 on the NES

Giggling at Will Ferrell in "Elf"

Brooke and Amanda

The HOA has their eye on us...

The party was an absolute riot on Saturday. We had great weather and a nice turnout. Probably about 25-30 people all together. A lot of people came and went throughout the evening, but there was a group of about 10 of us that were around for the duration. Some kids came, so Ted and I moved the cars out of the driveway and broke out the sidewalk chalk, which was a big hit. Ted moved up even higher on the appreciation ladder when he broke out his stash of fireworks! We all ooohed and aahhhed as he lit one after the other in the driveway. So much fun!

We got some wonderful gifts from people including a lot of flowers, gift cards, and a chia pet! We spent Sunday recapping the event as we lounged around--until we saw an unknown vehicle pull up in front of the house. Turned out to be two members of the home owner's association! They disguised their visit as a "welcome to the neighborhood" visit, but Ted and I had to giggle as they eyeballed the pile of spent fireworks in our driveway covered in chalk drawings...

Weekend Extravaganza

An abbreviated portion of "the fam" are on their way south as I type. They should arrive around 7 or 8 tonight. "They" consist of my mother and father, sister, brother-in-law, and 3 year old niece Bella. They'll stay through the weekend, head off to their vacation spots, and then return next weekend on their way back home. We'll certainly be maxing out our extra space with 5 house guests, but it's looking like we've got plenty of room to accommodate. Mom, Dad, and Bella will sleep in my office/guest bedroom while Dria and John will sleep in the loft. We still have Ted's office and the entire downstairs! We're missing Teague and Mindy, but had they decided to come to town as well, there would be plenty of room for another air mattress. Looking forward to their arrival.

Got another floor estimate this morning. The woman tested the moisture in the floors and said that, though there was some moisture, it wasn't really enough to prove that there has been damage to the wood. She said that we must have cleaned up the water quick enough to prevent it from getting into the wood. She said that it's common for those floors to warp like that and then regain their shape as they dry out. We have residual ridges in the wood that you can see at the correct angle and feel if you run your hand over them. The first company said that it wasn't too bad either, but that those ridges could wear down faster than the rest of the floor causing a problem in the future. The woman this morning told us to give it another month or two and she thinks they will be back to normal. She also is the second person to say that they would have to rip up the majority of the floor to fix that one spot. So now we are stuck with the dilemma of "to fix or not to fix." I hate to give up on my Frigidaire quest (though it would be some welcomed peace) in case they don't go back to normal and we want them fixed down the road. But I also don't want to rip apart half of the kitchen and worry what the floors will look like when all of that is done. Will they match the rest of the floors? I'll be so angry with myself if we go through all of this and the floors look worse in the end. Any suggestions or thoughts?

A couple of pictures to post. I don't think I've posted any pictures of our bedroom now that we have some art up and the bed is actually made (thanks Ted!). Also, a shot of the loft transformed into a guest room.