House Projects

 

It's no secret that I am not exactly the world's best handyman and although I can change some light fixtures out from time to time I have generally tried to avoid anything more major.  A couple of our sinks, though, have been leaking for quite some time so I finally tried to bite the bullet and get in on the action.  This is the old bathroom faucet we are trying to replace as it just runs constantly.

The real fun, however, is found back here.  We needed to replace out the old copper pipes and shutoff valves at the same time because they weren't working particularly well either.  Plumping might not be so bad if you didn't always have to contort your body into some ridiculous position in order to complete any of the work.  Getting a grip on these valves inside a cabinet, behind a sink, with some tools to break through the 20+ years of grime cementing them in place is not exactly my idea of fun.  Apparently, I had so much fun that I forgot to take a picture of the after...but in the end (i.e. a few hours later) everything was replaced and water returned to our sink.  This time it only flows when we turn the handle!

This is actually a picture from inside our pantry where, for some reason, Tara was getting tired of finding things in the dark with her phone light because the light stopped working a few weeks back.  I decided to rip the old thing off and see what I could figure out and it turns out...not much.  I bought a replacement and hooked it all up and nothing.  After another week or so we called in an actual handyman and he found the same thing...nothing.  This is where an expert is helpful as he was able to find that the actual switch had gone bad and it likely wasn't the light itself causing the short circuit.  He got us up and running quickly and we had light again!  Who says owning homes isn't fun!

Fireworks!

We often just camp out and watch the fireworks from our own street, but as these guys get a bit older they have enjoyed gathering with their friends more.  So, for this year we met up just south of the Broomfield Commons fields (where they light of the fireworks) with a big crew.  I actually really like this silhouette picture of the boys waiting for it to get dark enough to start the show.  Some early dusk football and running around kept them mostly busy and we avoided any serious injuries in the process.

Broomfield always does a great job with their fireworks and we were all enjoying the show as it went along.  However, about two thirds of the way through a firework exploded very near the ground or right on the ground and everything went dark.  After some time of wondering what was going on the grounds crew literally was walking around the whole area just informing people of the accidental discharge and that they were working to get it going again.

Those of us that stayed were rewarded with the finale after a 15-20 minute break in the action.  The kids had a great time and it was great to celebrate the 4th of July with friends.  Now, if we could only get our neighborhood to settle down with the private fireworks action sometime before midnight...

Grandma and Grandpa Mike Visit

In between all of their travels back and forth from Washington to New York, Grandma and Grandpa Mike took some time to visit us.  It was great to see them after quite a bit off from COVID.  With July adding some Colorado heat, we headed up to the mountains for a hike.  The hike part ended up being a bit short, but then we were able to retreat back to the river coming down Lefthand Canyon for some fun.  Our guys could easily spend hours in a place like this if you let them.  After everyone was fairly chilly from the ice cold water, we decided to head back to our house and Grandma and Grandpa Mike left for the mountains to go visit Aunt Jackie and Uncle Karl.  We all miss having these guys around more often, but I know they are having a great time pursuing different adventures in other parts of the country.