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Thursday, August 22, 2013

'Member Memorial Day?

I do. 
It was a while back.
Lets pretend it was yesterday.

We had such a good time.  It started out with just a few of us going to the farm.  Then those few invited a few.  Then those invited some friends.  It turned out to be a Hughes family reunion/ paaarty. 
It also marked the very first time we really used our RV.  I have been practically living in it since we got it - doing all the redecorating n' such.  But, this time we actually cranked up the A/C and slept all up in that mug. 

Here is the living room:
I painted the walls in a concrete color, recovered the window box things in a gray/white houndstooth, replaced the table with one that has storage, swapped 2 chairs for a bench with storage (the other two chairs weren't in the RV when I took these pics on my phone's crappy camera), covered the couch/fouton thingy in black (which has storage underneath), made (yes - MADE) pillows, and painted the lighting fixtures stainless steel (bye bye flashy brass!)
 
 Behold, the kitchen:
I painted the walls in a concrete color (see the paint cans up there where the TV is supposed to go?), recovered the window box things in a gray/white houndstooth, and added really ugly Ryan-DIY'd shelves in the cabinets so that we'd have more storage (seriously - they're hideous and dangerous).  Behind me is the pantry and a few storage drawers.  This RV has tons of storage.

The kids' bunk room:
I painted the walls in a concrete color, recovered the window box things in a gray/white houndstooth, made (again there's that word "made"!!), made pillows (CK's has polar bears on it and Tay's has elephants. The kids stuffed them.  You can actually see bits of stuffing all over the carpet if you go up to the pic of the living room), painted the shades black to block out light = get more quiet time for me while the kids sleep longer, made each bunk a black curtain that hangs in front using a tension rod so that they'll have more privacy = again, more quiet time for me while the kids sleep longer, added an extra closet rod to the closet (see those hinges on the wood wall in the pic?  That is the bathroom - which actually has a tub/shower!  Next to that is the kids' closet, where there is now an extra closet rod hanging.)

I painted the walls in a concrete color, recovered the window box things in a gray/white houndstooth, made pillows (not the "M" pillow, though), painted the shades black to block light and heat, added an extra closet rod to both closets (there's a closet on either side of the bed).  The bed lifts up and has storage underneath.

Cool, huh?!

Me thinks it shall be our home after we sell our house, and while we are waiting on the next one to be built.  I know that is asking a lot of my sanity, but I think I can justify it knowing how plump our savings will could potentially be after living mortgage free for a while.  Yay!
I had to get a new hoopty to pull this 30 foot beast.  "What'd I get?", you ask.  A white Sequoia.  "But, you already had a flippin' white Sequoia", you judge.  "Yes, but it totally rocked", I say.  And now it rocks even more with its monster engine that devours gasoline the way cookie monster devours cookies.  Plus, she's sitting on dubs, people.  Um, gangsta!  And it has a secret spy mirror that glares at the children, forcing them to behave like angels on long road trips. (It really does have a mirror specifically engineered to reflect backseat passengers and distract the driver worse than a teen texter.)
So, now that I've made this all about the RV and my car, lets get back to where I was originally going with this...
What happens at the farm doesn't stay at the farm because I took 464 pictures to document the whole event.
No, that's not where I was going.  But, it does show testament to how much I wanted to remember this memorable Memorial Day.  (redundant, repetitive, or impressive alliteration?)
All of the Hughes peeps were there, minus my cousin, Natalee.  (Boo!)  Plus, we had a few non-Hughes family members and many friends.
All I could think of the whole time was "why don't we do this more often?!".
So, hang on to your britches and prepare yourself for a major photo OD.
Just look at this lineup:





















































































 










I taught a lot of people how to ride my dirt bike.  Allison is the one that ended up branded.  This is her calf.  Ewww!