Family time

Bonnie and 'lil Neil made the trip up on Thursday night to get all settled in. I brought the girls up later on Friday when they got home from school. Anna brought her friend Gabby along for the weekend. After stopping at Burger King, Menards and gas station we made it on the 6:30 pm ferry.

The girls on the ferry

This was the first trip up this year for the kids (and Bonnie) so they were super excited. The weather Fri/Sat was chilly and rainy but we made the best of it. Sunday was beautiful and sunny.

Neil playing with rocks on the beach

Saturday morning, while Bonnie took all the kids on the extended island activity tour, I got cracking on the kitchen sink install. Since the countertop was 1 1/2 inch butcher block, the standard sink mounting clips were too short. So, early last week, I special ordered the "long clips". When I go to pick them up at Menards, they give me more of the standard short clips. Something got goofed with the special order and now I'm stuck. Anyway, I now had two sets of short sink clips and I was determined to make it work.

After playing around with these crappy clips, I was able to get the sink secured in place. Next was too hook-up the plumbing, which was particularly tricky because I had to install an Air Admittance Valve that acts as a vent for drains that do not have access to a standard wall vent. Then I hooked up the p-trap to the sink drain and installed the Moen fixture - this was a breeze. After crimping on the PEX connectors and hooking-up the supply lines, I tightened all plumbing connections. Time for a test run... Amazing, no leaks.

A working kitchen sink is a huge milestone. In my opinion, this is second in importance only behind having a working toilet.

Kitchen sink, done!

With all of the work done over the last 4 weeks, I really wanted to show Bonnie her new kitchen. Needless to say, she's a "happy girl".

Bonnie in her new kitchen

Here is the latest photo of the bar nook with the countertop, trim and cabinet hardware installed. This is cool little area for bar supplies, etc.

Bar nook - work in progress

Earlier in the week, Chris and Tim (big thanks!) hauled a load of gravel for us. We probably will still need 1-2 more loads, but the driveway should be done then.

Gravel for the driveway

Had a very nice weekend with the family and still got a lot of work done.

Next steps...

• Prime, prime and prime
• Start painting the great room?
• Install closet organizers and shelves for master closet and Anna's closet