We went and saw The Lion King last night. It was AMAZING! Totally worth it. If we did it again I would totally buy the more expensive tickets to sit up closer. At one point this giant elephant and other animals walk down the aisle and up to the stage....the costumes are all amazing. We were sitting in the balcony and still could see everything, but totally worth the price to sit up closer for this one. At the end they did have birds flying over our heads which was pretty cool too. Definitely go see this if it's in your area.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
The Lion King
We went and saw The Lion King last night. It was AMAZING! Totally worth it. If we did it again I would totally buy the more expensive tickets to sit up closer. At one point this giant elephant and other animals walk down the aisle and up to the stage....the costumes are all amazing. We were sitting in the balcony and still could see everything, but totally worth the price to sit up closer for this one. At the end they did have birds flying over our heads which was pretty cool too. Definitely go see this if it's in your area.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Oktoberfest
A few weekends ago we went to The German American Oktoberfest. We went with our friends Greg, Ellen, Ethan, Leina, Derek and Cora. We also met up with Peter's parents, Laurel, Chris and his kids and another little girl that was Camille's age. Chris had four little girls to watch over, so we found them at one point and went out on the dance floor. Camille and her friend twirled in circles. Claire danced with David and Ellie was tired so she stayed in her daddy's arms. Laurel and Diana checked out the little booths that were filled with all sorts of stuff. Cora got a flowery head band from one of the booths. She was adorable wearing it.
This is where Claire kept trying to take David's hat, so he put it on her head and she decided to give it right back. They were playing the famous hat game.
At one point the musicians left the stage so we thought they were switching people or taking a break and then all of a sudden the trumpet player stands on the table next to us and starts playing. Shortly there after the tuba guy comes over and plays with him. It was pretty cool. It's not every day you see a grown man standing on top of a table where people are eating.
Here's Greg, Ellen and Ethan having a great time at the Oktoberfest.
Right before we left we picked up these yummy treats to share. We all stood around snacking from the load we picked out. My favorite was the fruit tart. Peter liked the chocolate cake with cherry filling. They were all very good.
After ward we went to Peter's parents' house and looked at photo albums. They had pictures of Derek wearing a Polish dance costume and makeup. We had to show him the black mail we have on him. :)Then we went to Greg and Ellen's for more treats and to watch Monsters vs. Aliens...it was a really cute movie. We had a great time with our friends and family.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Bay Area Fun!
We just got back from a really fun trip to the Bay Area! Friday morning at 4:30 our alarm went off. We got up, packed, got ready and were in the road by 5:30am. We drove straight to Monterey and arrived around 1:30pm. We then enjoyed the Monterey Aquarium which has the only Great White Shark in captivity. We took a ton of pictures, though the shark didn't like to hold still so most of our pictures are a bit blurry. Here's the best one we took though.
We thought this sign was just a bit too funny to not take a picture of...There was the same thing over the octopus tank. Apparently visitors are more likely to be obscene in front of a shark and an octopus :)
We watched the sea otters during feeding time. We also watched critters in a big tank being fed, it was pretty cool.
This little critter is called a Sea Dragon. It's a sea horse that looks like a bunch of swimming leaves. He was clearly one of our favorites.
We stayed at the aquarium for a couple of hours and then visited a few of the little shops along the same street. We picked up a ton of salt water taffy, which we enjoyed in the car.
Then we got back in the car and drove another two hours to my sister and brother-in-law's house. We slept on a L shaped couch so Peter and I were head to head. At some point in the night Slippers (one of the cats) jumped on me and scared me half to death and then continued to walk up to my chest and lay down. His purring woke Peter up who then got extremely jealous that I (not a cat person) had a cat on my chest and he (the totally cat person) didn't have one. Slippers stayed with me for awhile and then left. In the morning Peter found Slippers and carried him over to the couch so that he too could have a sleeping cat on him. Abbie and Rafe have also have Wiggles (another cat). He's much more shy than Slippers is and he is quite a bit fatter too. Our pictures didn't turn out well, so Abbie said she would send a couple good pictures of her cats so we can post them and show you her two cats that enjoyed playing with us while we were there.
On Saturday morning Peter and I drove to Fairfield to the Jelly Belly Factory. We went on the factory tour again and then bought a case of Belly Flops as well as a few other specific flavored beans. We went there for the first time a little over two years ago. It was totally worth the drive to go back again. Here's a bean mosaic that of course I really liked.
Outside in the parking lot
Where we parked there was this fun little dog run. I thought it just was too cute.
After that we drove to Muir Woods which is a Redwoods Park. We really enjoyed our time there. Here are a few funny pictures that Peter took.
Then we headed back to Abbie and Rafe's house where my dad, Scott, Norla and the kids had arrived. We enjoyed the evening and then Sunday morning we got ready for the whole reason for our trip up to the Bay Area. Abbie and Rafe were having an open house party. They bought their house recently and were having a big family gathering on Sunday, so we had to go (we took extra time off of work so we could make a mini vacation out of it too). At noon people arrived and we had a great time. Aunts, Uncles and cousins came...it was so much fun to see everyone. Here's Peter and me and my aunt Patty.
And here's the whole gang that attended the party.
Abbie and Rafe have this amazing view out their front windows. Peter and I went to sleep each night looking at the San Francisco and Bay skyline. On a clear day you can see everything. You could easily see the Oakland Bay Bridge and the San Mateo Bridge. This particular day was not very clear. Though on the left side you can see a rainbow.
This is a picture of part of their backyard. The focus is on the Japanese Maple and it's beautiful changing colors. Now something totally unique about their yard is that when you go up to the top of the fence you could see deer passing by. They came out early in the morning and again around 5 or 6 in the evening. We saw 4 different ones. We saw two Bucks and two Does.
Here's a picture from this morning. It's a little Doe.
We had an amazing time!
We thought this sign was just a bit too funny to not take a picture of...There was the same thing over the octopus tank. Apparently visitors are more likely to be obscene in front of a shark and an octopus :)
We watched the sea otters during feeding time. We also watched critters in a big tank being fed, it was pretty cool.
This little critter is called a Sea Dragon. It's a sea horse that looks like a bunch of swimming leaves. He was clearly one of our favorites.
We stayed at the aquarium for a couple of hours and then visited a few of the little shops along the same street. We picked up a ton of salt water taffy, which we enjoyed in the car.Then we got back in the car and drove another two hours to my sister and brother-in-law's house. We slept on a L shaped couch so Peter and I were head to head. At some point in the night Slippers (one of the cats) jumped on me and scared me half to death and then continued to walk up to my chest and lay down. His purring woke Peter up who then got extremely jealous that I (not a cat person) had a cat on my chest and he (the totally cat person) didn't have one. Slippers stayed with me for awhile and then left. In the morning Peter found Slippers and carried him over to the couch so that he too could have a sleeping cat on him. Abbie and Rafe have also have Wiggles (another cat). He's much more shy than Slippers is and he is quite a bit fatter too. Our pictures didn't turn out well, so Abbie said she would send a couple good pictures of her cats so we can post them and show you her two cats that enjoyed playing with us while we were there.
On Saturday morning Peter and I drove to Fairfield to the Jelly Belly Factory. We went on the factory tour again and then bought a case of Belly Flops as well as a few other specific flavored beans. We went there for the first time a little over two years ago. It was totally worth the drive to go back again. Here's a bean mosaic that of course I really liked.
Outside in the parking lot
Where we parked there was this fun little dog run. I thought it just was too cute.
After that we drove to Muir Woods which is a Redwoods Park. We really enjoyed our time there. Here are a few funny pictures that Peter took.
Then we headed back to Abbie and Rafe's house where my dad, Scott, Norla and the kids had arrived. We enjoyed the evening and then Sunday morning we got ready for the whole reason for our trip up to the Bay Area. Abbie and Rafe were having an open house party. They bought their house recently and were having a big family gathering on Sunday, so we had to go (we took extra time off of work so we could make a mini vacation out of it too). At noon people arrived and we had a great time. Aunts, Uncles and cousins came...it was so much fun to see everyone. Here's Peter and me and my aunt Patty.
And here's the whole gang that attended the party.
Abbie and Rafe have this amazing view out their front windows. Peter and I went to sleep each night looking at the San Francisco and Bay skyline. On a clear day you can see everything. You could easily see the Oakland Bay Bridge and the San Mateo Bridge. This particular day was not very clear. Though on the left side you can see a rainbow.
This is a picture of part of their backyard. The focus is on the Japanese Maple and it's beautiful changing colors. Now something totally unique about their yard is that when you go up to the top of the fence you could see deer passing by. They came out early in the morning and again around 5 or 6 in the evening. We saw 4 different ones. We saw two Bucks and two Does.
Here's a picture from this morning. It's a little Doe.
We had an amazing time!On the drive home a couple funny things happened. At 4:30 Peter announces that he needs to go to the bathroom. I suggest we pull off the freeway and find the next fast food place. He says he's fine. Not long later he says it again. I suggest the same thing. He refuses. Then we get stuck in stop and go traffic (more stop than go), he complains again. You can all guess what I suggest, but alas the answer is no. The traffic finally lets up and we're moving again. He makes the comment again and again and I sit there biting my lip. Then he complains that his back hurts from driving so much. I make the same comment again adding that while we are stopped we can switch places and I'll drive the rest of the way home. He says no. An hour and 45 minutes goes by and he finally takes an exit. We switched places and I drove the last hour and 15 minutes home.
At an early part in our driving home adventure I looked out the window and pulled a partial blonde moment. "What kind of car has a ja... oh wait never mind I figured it out." Peter-"figured what out." Me-"Oh just figured out the type of the car that's all." Peter-"So what were you going to say?" Me-"What kind of car has a jaguar on the side of it? Was what I was going to say but as soon as I thought of the animal I realized what it was." Just a partial blonde moment.
At an early part in our driving home adventure I looked out the window and pulled a partial blonde moment. "What kind of car has a ja... oh wait never mind I figured it out." Peter-"figured what out." Me-"Oh just figured out the type of the car that's all." Peter-"So what were you going to say?" Me-"What kind of car has a jaguar on the side of it? Was what I was going to say but as soon as I thought of the animal I realized what it was." Just a partial blonde moment.
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Results Are In
Alright I know you've all been anxiously awaiting the results....and well the bathroom was finally put back together tonight and then pictures were taken. Followed by a few more touch ups.
TADA! The bathroom is complete! 
So you want to know if we would recommend venetian plaster to anyone??? Well Peter did all the work and though he has a few blisters...he said, "If you just want a new color, don't bother, but if you want the look, it's worth it." He plans on doing a venetian plaster in our guest bathroom (the one we were originally going to do) next month. He said he learned from this experience a few things he would do differently next time.
Here is the Before picture-all the walls in our house are the same color.
We bought the primer and had it tinted to nearly the same color. The wall on the left has the primer on it. The wall on the right has one coat of plaster on top of the primer.
Wall on left has one coat of plaster, wall on the right has two coats of plaster.
Wall on left has one coat of plaster, wall on the right has two coats of plaster.
TADA! The bathroom is complete! 
So you want to know if we would recommend venetian plaster to anyone??? Well Peter did all the work and though he has a few blisters...he said, "If you just want a new color, don't bother, but if you want the look, it's worth it." He plans on doing a venetian plaster in our guest bathroom (the one we were originally going to do) next month. He said he learned from this experience a few things he would do differently next time.1-When applying the first coat of plaster, make sure you completely cover the whole wall (don't leave spaces as the instructions suggest).
2- When taping-cover everything and leave some slack in the tarps-so you don't have to paint the baseboards too :)
3-Make sure you really love the room that you are painting...at a minimum there's four coats to apply with a trowel, not a brush.
4-Keep the plaster thin or else it cracks as it dries, thus creating more touch up work.
5-Remember this is supposed to be a relatively smooth surface when you're done...though ours didn't turn out that way...but we like it anyway.
2- When taping-cover everything and leave some slack in the tarps-so you don't have to paint the baseboards too :)
3-Make sure you really love the room that you are painting...at a minimum there's four coats to apply with a trowel, not a brush.
4-Keep the plaster thin or else it cracks as it dries, thus creating more touch up work.
5-Remember this is supposed to be a relatively smooth surface when you're done...though ours didn't turn out that way...but we like it anyway.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The Painting Has Begun!
Woohooo the painting has begun and it looks so cool! We ended up deciding to start with our upstairs master bathroom in our bedroom (we have two small master bedrooms upstairs). We decided to start with our bathroom so if we didn't like the outcome, we would be the only ones to really see it. If we started with the downstairs bathroom then everyone who comes to visit would see it.
Through the week we gathered items that we would need. We decided to go with a Venetian Plaster-it's light blue, called Roman Bath. In order to do the plaster we needed a rounded trowel, sand the walls down, and put on some primer. We got the primer tinted to nearly the same color as the plaster. We also picked up the topcoat for the plaster as well (since it's a bathroom, we use a topcoat instead of some other steps on the instruction manual-the topcoat is supposed to give the same effect as a couple of other steps while keeping the moisture out.)
On Thursday night we dismantled all the hardware in the bathroom, and Peter took the tank off of the toilet. (Peter hates touching toilets, but he figured it would be easier to plaster behind if the tank wasn't there....so he grinned and bore the burden of touching a toilet...he washed thoroughly afterward.)
On Friday Peter had the day off of work, so he prepped the room-taped and hung plastic, sanded the walls and put the primer on. He also made another trip to Home Depot for drywall patch (we keep finding really crummy craftmanship in the way this place was built...so he fixed a gigantic hole behind our light fixture.) Friday night he put the first coat of plaster on. It looked pretty cool.
Saturday he put a second coat of plaster on and then a touch-up in a few areas. Then we had to wait. The top coat can't be put on until the plaster has dried for 24 hours...so the painting adventure will conclude Monday after work. In the meantime we keep going and staring at the bathroom....it looks great!
Before, during and after pictures will be posted as soon as the bathroom is complete!
Through the week we gathered items that we would need. We decided to go with a Venetian Plaster-it's light blue, called Roman Bath. In order to do the plaster we needed a rounded trowel, sand the walls down, and put on some primer. We got the primer tinted to nearly the same color as the plaster. We also picked up the topcoat for the plaster as well (since it's a bathroom, we use a topcoat instead of some other steps on the instruction manual-the topcoat is supposed to give the same effect as a couple of other steps while keeping the moisture out.)
On Thursday night we dismantled all the hardware in the bathroom, and Peter took the tank off of the toilet. (Peter hates touching toilets, but he figured it would be easier to plaster behind if the tank wasn't there....so he grinned and bore the burden of touching a toilet...he washed thoroughly afterward.)
On Friday Peter had the day off of work, so he prepped the room-taped and hung plastic, sanded the walls and put the primer on. He also made another trip to Home Depot for drywall patch (we keep finding really crummy craftmanship in the way this place was built...so he fixed a gigantic hole behind our light fixture.) Friday night he put the first coat of plaster on. It looked pretty cool.
Saturday he put a second coat of plaster on and then a touch-up in a few areas. Then we had to wait. The top coat can't be put on until the plaster has dried for 24 hours...so the painting adventure will conclude Monday after work. In the meantime we keep going and staring at the bathroom....it looks great!
Before, during and after pictures will be posted as soon as the bathroom is complete!
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