Uh-oh! Re-renos!

Just over a year ago, we (mostly my hubby, of course!) finished {most} of our basement. (We still have a back bedroom to finish off, but right now that is just acting as junk storage.) We liked all the work that the people we had hired had done, and we liked all that my hubby had done. It was nice.

But as luck would have it, our hot water tank decided to kick it and RIP--but did not allow us the peace! It made a mess! As soon as my hubby walked downstairs and into a puddle of water, we made some phone calls! Here is our basement that day! Our vinyl pulled up and fans doing what they can!
In this photo you can see some of our "new" vinyl and the old lino under it. (Don't worry, its not as messy as it seems. The flooring people put a leveling compound down as we had "floating vinyl flooring" put in. That is why it looks so dirty and ugly, I think.)

And, as luck would have it, the insurance company had to test the original lino for asbestos (is that how you spell it?) because of the age of our home. Guess what they found?

We got "re-located" for two days as they had to pull everything out to remove it all.

That is where the fun part comes in, for the kids that is! That meant a local vacation at the Super-8, consisting of lots of swimming time, which of course was the highlight for the kiddos! Other highlights included the BIG beds, late bedtimes and continental breakfast (aka: "I can pick whatever I want for breakfast!!!!")

Our little bathing beauty!

Playtime!

What little a did best at the pool. . .

Bedtime. . .or story time or TV time. . .

More swimming. . .did we mention there was a water slide? The kids were kinda small for it (see above), but they went off the end of it and enjoyed making the water stop and start. They turned into quite the swimmers after the two days there!

Hot tub time. . .

Water slide time. . .

As much fun as being in a hotel and going out for meals sounds, it isn't all its cracked up to be when it is totally unplanned and raining like crazy outside. Makes going out on adventures a little more difficult! And cramming all of us (newborn baby and all!) in a hotel room--not fun! We spent some time at the mall and stores, at Opa and Oma's and going on walks when it was somewhat dry. We popped into our house every now and then to see the progress. We may have had to make a few not-so-nice phone calls so that we could get back into our house as I was getting tired of this living in limbo thing.

Finally, we are back in our house. The result. . .our own beds, our own toys, home cooked meals again, no laundry, limited basement space for now, and for me, the dreaded M-word. Yep, mastitis! As luck would have it. . .I'm not the lucky one these days! I like my quiet house. I like my little nursing spot in my house. I like routine to my days. I like having more than 3 hours of sleep at night because everyone is comfortable in their own spaces. I like home-cooked meals again (although, not having to cook was kinda nice!). I'm a boring, boring person--and very content with it!

So, the next step in this whole reno-process is NOT another mini-vacation (much to the dismay of our kiddos. They miss the pool. The first morning back in our house, E came upstairs with his swimming stuff because he wanted to go back. He prayed at night that we could go back--please!They just don't get how much energy this takes out of us!). Hopefully, the next step will be getting the floors in, the baseboards done, the painting finished, getting my laundry back, and getting better!

But as luck would have it. . .I think we have a better chance of having sunshine than for this re-reno to be done any time soon! :)