Vacation House Exterior Reveal

I do realize that while I showed you all the rooms of my vacation house, I didn't take any photos of the exterior. This is probably due to the fact that before the lawn went in (mid-May), it just looked like a Darth Vader-eque box in the forest:)

I'm loving the lawn, the red adirondack chairs (4 adult and 4 kid-sized), the hammock, a slack line (the red nylon rope that you balance on) and we even put in a zip line.

The patio table, benches and umbrella are all from Crate and Barrel. There is just something so "summer" about eating outside, even if the chipmunks and squirrels are pretty much just stalking you waiting for food to drop:)

This is the view of the house from the back (away from the street), so I'm ok with the fact that you can totally see inside. That is kind of the point of a "glass box in the woods".

Yes, it's totally normal for me to have a car seat, toys, and a bison head on the floor:) You can also see the hot tub set into the deck on the right. The cover snaps and locks in place, and we love that it doesn't block our view at all!

Jessica

My Seven Year Old

She is 7!

Which means we have been parents for 7 years. Also, that we have been changing diapers every day for 7 years... (4 kids, the 7 year old has been potty trained since age 2.75)

We threw her what I think was the easiest and cheapest birthday party ever. I thought of titling this post "cheap and easy" but realize that it could be misread;)





She made pottery pieces to be made into a mobile and we had milkshakes. These are her "summer friends". Another "school friends" birthday party (with pottery painting and cake) will take place after school starts.

Amazingly, our range was fixed that day (5.5 weeks with only a microwave and a BBQ for cooking), so her birthday waffles were made on the BBQ.

I'm very much looking forward to 7. Six was a *wee* bit sassy for my liking. So much so that at 6.5 I was downloading the book, "Your 6 year old" to make sure this was all normal:)





She loves her siblings, and really shines when she is with each one-on-one. She learned how to ride a two-wheeler this summer and is already wanting to go mountain biking on trails! She also mastered swimming freestyle, breaststroke, and backstroke this summer. We are reading Little House on the Prairie together at night, and she is reading Rainbow Fairy books on her own. She loves chess, and likes to play with my husband at night before bed (bedtime of 7:15), or on her bedazzled computer. Here she is sitting in her closet playing chess on the computer:)

Jessica