Great Memorial Day Weekend...and Finished Play Kitchen!

We had a great week and weekend here.  During the week, Samantha and I had some fun at a picnic, a concert at the lake, and going for some frozen yogurt.  I also got to spend a couple nights with my book club (I know Samantha always has fun with Daddy those nights!). 

Our weekend was incredibly productive.  The biggest accomplishments were staining/painting the deck and finishing Samantha's play kitchen. 

Chris was busy with beer - stringing up hops, brewing, and of course drinking some too.  He was wonderful and watched Samantha a lot during the weekend so I could get a lot done. 

I started out getting the deck ready for staining and painting.  I had to recess all the screws since the lumber shrunk since installation.  Once that was done there was some sanding on the railings and then a good thorough pressure washing.  Here are a couple "Before" pictures.

 

We chose a darker brown stain for the railing and floor boards.  The balusters and posts are (will be) painted white.  I finished the staining and about 75% of the painting.  I'll post the "After" pictures hopefully next week.

We selected some great furniture for the basement this weekend as well.  It is going to be delivered on Friday so we'll finally have somewhere to sit besides the floor. 

I spent quite a bit of time in the basement finishing Samantha's play kitchen.  I started this just after her birthday and now three and a half months later, I'm done.

I think I'm going to write a post just about the kitchen so here are just some pictures of the whole thing.  When Samantha saw it the first time, she played with it for over an hour before I was able to drag her away for lunch.  I consider it a success!

 And of course it wouldn't be Memorial Day weekend without some patriotic outfits and grilling.

Next week will I post some fully finished deck pictures?  I hope so!!