In August Emily went to band camp and began learning to play the marimba. We got to visit her at camp during parent night and she seemed to be having fun. The kids played the Washington fight song for the parents, which is the first thing they learned to play. Then the week after camp she had band practice almost every evening at Wash and all day at Kingston on Saturday. She and Vanessa had some long days out in the sun practicing.
Reluctant photo op outside the band room at school:
Washington Athletic Club back-to-school night:
2022-23 cheer team:
First day of school! Rose and Emily will be in high school together for one year. Alice doesn't get to go to school:
Posing like rock stars with the car:
Sharon, Jeff, and Sue came down to watch the first football game. Emily is now playing the vibraphone. Emily and Vanessa playing during halftime at their first game:
Rose cheering during the first game. Wash beat Jefferson 47-6.
On August 1st we started our kitchen remodel by tearing up the linoleum and the hardwood underneath. Here's how it looked after we removed the fridge and stove:
Cabinets gone, the subfloor exposed, new HVAC opening on the left, and a surprise HVAC duct inside the pantry wall that we had no idea was there and had to be moved later:
Lots of holes in the walls as the electrician began running new wiring and installing new junction boxes:
Cynthia putting down mortar so we can fasten down the last section of cement board:
Laying new tiles next. It's easier to work in a room where you don't have to constantly cut tiles to go around stuff:
Look at all those straight grout lines! New drywall on the back wall, too:
No more pantry in the back hallway:
We painted the kitchen and then the carpenters installed the cabinets. They're pretty cool with their soft-close doors and whatnot. Alice approves:
We disassembled the old jankity-looking ceiling fan, cleaned and primed it, and painted the metal a dark grayish-brown and the blades a solid dark brown. With the new paint and new light covers it doesn't even look like the same ceiling fan:
New fridge fits into the pocket:
New countertops on both sides of the galley kitchen:
We're almost done!
In mid-August we took a break from the kitchen and visited the Iowa State Fair! On the road to DSM:
Rose and Fern went with us:
The state fair always has a lineup of weird/terrible foods for people to try. The winner this year was the OMG chicken sandwich, made up of fried chicken and bacon with maple syrup on a glazed donut bun. It probably took 6 months off my life, but it was worth it:
The following weekend we went to Independence to explore the underground downtown. Back in the day the town dealt with frequent flooding downtown due to it being built alongside the Wapsi, so they finally decided to raise the grade to keep the buildings from flooding. Massive amounts of dirt were brought in, burying the main floor level of all the buildings closest to the river. The second floor of each building then became the ground floor once the original entrances were buried. Today, much of the original ground levels have been restored and they are accessible enough to allow tours. It's a cool and creepy network of catacomb-like rooms and tunnels. There was even the remnant of an old bank with the original vault and under another building was an old timey bowling alley.
Here's the vault:
Underground doors and windows:
The foundations were painstakingly pieced together from stone when they were built in the 1800s:
The builders wrote their names on a wall in one of the buildings:
I think the tour guide said that the brick walls were added during a later era:
Another subterranean window:
Rose's senior pictures! She looks so grown up:
These were taken at the new arcade:
Emily's student ID photo. She's in high school now!
