Fun in Fairmont

So, two days in a row!! Wow, sometimes I surprise myself. This morning we took a hike all the way across the street to McDonalds for breakfast. Now a days, we start to look for McDonalds (or other restaurants) that have a kid friendly area or play land. This McDonalds here had a kiddy arcade. They had a hoop shoot and some video games and a couple of coloring computers that you could sit and color on. My favorite of course was the hoop shoot. I sank the day's high of 66 points in 45 seconds. I also had the "holding a baby high score" with 42 while holding my nephew Logan. He enjoyed having us playing ball while being held. And, as you can see in the below photo, Olivia had a great time watching, and would often stand off to the side and yell "dada!!" while I played as encouragement. It was a great time, and who said play lands are just for the kids?? Or, do I just falsely consider myself an adult.....

Time for the Smart Phone??

So, I've been poor on posting anything lately. No new videos, pictures, or here. The only reason a few tweets show up on this page is because I send them from my cell phone. Well, we have been out and about with some mini vacations before our big upcoming week long take Olivia on an airplane vacations. So, I'm in Fairmont, MN this weekend with Heather's family. Last weekend we were in the Black Hills with my family. We are here in Minnesota to celebrate Heather's dad's 50th birthday. Everyone is celebrating now with cake and ice cream and presents, and I've stayed behind in the air conditioned comfort of my chair in the hotel room to stay with our sleeping little girl. She's quite tuckered out from something today, probably just all the excitement of the people she hasn't seen much of. I believe Heather should be coming back in with my cake and ice cream any time now.

So, does this have anything to do with the post's title? Kind of. When we were in the Black Hills, Heather spent a day not feeling well. So, I took Olivia and went with mom and dad and Trent and Uncle Guy to Deadwood. I'd never seen it before, and it's a cool place. I want my 8 dollars back, but it is a fun place to be. While we were there, we stopped at Kevin Costner's restaurant. It was a neat experience, but Olivia wasn't too thrilled. So as we sat down to eat, Trent grabbed his iPhone and pulled up some of her favorite shows on uTube. So, lunch was saved and Olivia was happy as a clam the entire time. Fast forward to tonight when were at the restaurant for Todd's birthday, and once again Olivia was having none of it. So, we quickly got our hands on Uncle Joshua's iPhone and got her shows up to watch again. I've decided that it's no more of using uncle's iPhones to get this done, it's time to start using mine.....or to get our hands on that iPad, one of the two. Funny thing is, Heather has said I'm welcome to get BOTH. Not just one, both of them! I'm excited, but the issue is, I don't have the funding currently. I have already spent that on the bathroom.....

Ohh, that reminds me, our bathroom remodeling project. That just doesn't seem to want to end. I'm finally to the point though of painting, redoing the floor, and install the pieces that have been pulled out. Well, last night I was working on the floor, and found that beneath our bathroom floor lies flowing hardwood floors.....that have been damaged. Ahhhhhh! I love the hardwood floors our place has, but these aren't in too good of shape, plus there are a lot of holes for what look to be old radiator heating pipes. Well, it's probably going to turn into a bit of a project to get the old wood floor ripped up. It really goes against everything I believe in. But, I believe that I will have the bathroom completed around the 4th of July. And, if nothing else, I'll have a full day that day to do work on it!!

The Remodel

So, we've been having some problems with the second floor being pretty warm during the day here at our new place, so we did some work to try and correct it. Well, we found the runs were good, and were actually disconnected in some places. So, we dug into a wall to do some work on the ventilation. Unfortunately, the way a previous owner decided to decorate the bathroom, there was some plastic covering on the wall. So, in order to get to the plastic down, I had to tear it off the wall, and thus damaged it. So, I called Heather in, and the carnage began. We ripped out nearly the entire bathroom all the way back to the studs. There was some poor construction found behind it, and it complicated the procedures greatly. While I was at work, Heather spent the better part of one day pulling pretty close to 500 nails out of the walls of the bathroom one day. As of Thursday, I thought that I would get to sheetrock the bathroom again, but unfortunately, I found some terrible electrical work. And by terrible, I mean overloaded and some burned wire. It's probably a miracle the house is still standing with how bad it was. So, after spending 4 extra hours doing rewiring, today I finally finished, and after my friend Travis from church came over, we were able to get almost all of the sheetrock up. I have just a couple of hours left to put it on, and then I can mud and finish this project up! I'm looking forward to getting it done, and getting our main bathroom back. Probably not as ready as Heather is though to have the bathroom back!

Becoming Manager

Last night became a first in my softball career. I took over being the manager of our club. Well, it was just for one week, but I got to be the guy in charge. I now end my managerial streak with a win, although my overall record became 1-1 after a split night. I did make sure and tell our current manager he is no longer allowed to take vacations that begin on Wednesdays.

Well, things here at the new Wipf household are getting settled in. We are having more work though, and still trying to get the roofs replaced and the insurance companies satisfied, and lots of other projects that just seem to keep hanging around. Plus, I still have a garage half full of stuff here at the new house that needs to all be gone through. I'm thinking thats going to end up being a Saturday Morning endeavor this week. Saturday afternoon is totally booked up for us, and while the evening is free, I already know what I'm going to feel like doing Saturday evening, and that would be nothing. Doesn't help for getting all the work done, that's for sure, but with as busy as we are at work, I need some time to just relax.

Upcoming, our family here has two vacations planned. The annual Wipf Family Campout celebrates 20 years, and we have an extended weekend in the Black Hills in a couple weeks. It's going to mark my return to motorcycle riding as well! I have arranged for a nice 2012 Ultra Glide Harley to be waiting for me upon my arrival. Ok, my brother did it for me, but I may get to help him ride his bike out there too! Should be a fun event. Also, Heather and I have booked a trip to Nashville. Heather has some family there, so we will be heading to see them and some of the things the city of Nashville has to offer. Maybe, if we feel really ambitious I may venture down to Chattanooga for good old time's sake. Would be great to be back there, and we could actually be tourists there for the entire week. Someday, that may just happen. Anyhow, not sure if putting Olivia on a plane will be fun or not, but we're going to find out!