Summer Overhaul: Cleveland Rocks!, a Nice Suprise, and the End of Painting

Last week I was in Cleveland on a mini vacation.  You may be asking, "Cleveland? Really?"  Yes. Cleveland.  Who could resist after this inspiring "hastily made Cleveland tourism video"?

                                       
We did see the "art" and tried not to die! :) Fun was had, though, believe it our not.  We went to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, of course.

We also made it to the zoo and rain forest.

We got faked a little culture at the art museum.

We found something more on our level with a children's money tour at the Federal Reserve Bank.

After learning (and practicing as seen in the middle picture!) how to pick out counterfeit money, learning a ton of slang terms for currency, and making our own money (in crayon...) we decided to head for one more adventure - a haunted mansion!

Franklin Castle is so haunted, that it is closed to the public.  You are supposed to be able to hear people screaming from inside still...so we stayed in the car! (You can see the review mirror in the bottom left...evidence of my cowardice!)

After several hours of driving on the most dull interstate ever, we made it back home and headed straight for the bathroom thanks to our large cokes at lunch.  I soon noticed that not one, but both bathrooms had been freshly painted!  Apparently Mom and Dad had secretly been working on my house the whole time I was gone!  (Yeah, they are pretty great like that!)  Not only was this an awesome surprise, but it finished up our painting marathon!!  No more paint fumes and drop clothes all over the house and no more super dark bathrooms!  So, although I can't take credit for the bathroom make-overs (Mom&Dad also helped with the pictures for this too!),  I will share the progress as part of the collective summer overhaul.  So, let's start with the smaller downstairs bathroom.

Here is a before picture of the downstairs bathroom.  You can see the awful, dark greenish-brown color and the beginning of primer work.

 All primed (it took two coats) and no more ugly, darkness!

 And now freshly painted in Fairytale Pink.  It looks so much lighter now!

The same ugly, dark greenish-brown was also used in the upstairs bathroom, so I decided to continue with the light pink.  Before I left and before the painting started we did make a few help modifications. First, we added hooks to the wall right outside of the shower -a much more convenient location.

Next, I moved the toilet paper holder, which was quite a reach, from here (white patches under the towel was the original location).... 

...To here.  Another much more convenient switch and I updated the holder to one more my style.

Once these basic switches were made pre-Cleveland trip, Mom and Dad jumped right into priming the upstairs.

 All primed, after a couple of coats.  The dark ugly color is completely gone from the house -hooray!

 And the whole room is now much much lighter in pink!

Now I just need to get the shelves organized - yikes!  (Working on this now - stay tuned!)

P.S.   Thanks Mom&Dad! :)