The Dells

This past weekend we took a trip to WI Dells with my family; 6 adults + 3 kids in a 3-bedroom suite for two nights.  A little getaway, but lots of fun.

Hours of swimming and playing with cousins.  These two are only a year apart and have been tending to stick together in recent weeks:

So awesome to see them just chatting with each other, each of them in turn running up to the other and grabbing a hand, excitedly wanting to bring her over to something new and fun.

This is definitely one of my favorite pics from the weekend.  Ada was a little crabby and her cousin was attempting to cheer her up with a "joke".

Bedtime snacks and stories together, snuggled in jammies after baths.

On the drive home we stopped at this awesome park.

 Golden leaves, tree bending down into the water.

 

Cool but sunny.

 

Perfect spot for a snack next to the water.

 

 And a playground with a climbing wall just the perfect size for little legs.

Up the wall, across the bridge, down the steps.  Over and over.

A few tears when it was time to go.

Beautiful fall colors the whole drive home.

I even fit in time for some sewing projects, and a few quilt shop stops.

She...

Is growing up WAY too fast.

Spent several evenings in the pool this summer - but not enough.

Spent the night in the tent - and stayed by herself in the dark for a couple hours all by herself.  Halfway through the night she decided she wanted to sleep by Papa, which meant Papa ending up "sleeping" not on his mat, but directly on the floor.

Got her first set of Legos, and LOVED them.  I think they are definitely her most favorite toy ever.  We spent at least a month playing Legos as soon as we got home each night.

Is so enthusiastic about the garden.  She loves peas and tomatoes; loves carrying produce from the garden to the house in her special basket.

Loves to paint.  She wears her "painting dress" and is pretty darn good at rolling.

Loves hoods.  And she's so darn cute in them.

 Is so full of energy.  On this day I had taken her outside and just said, "Run!" and she did, laughing; so full of joy.

Loves working on "projects".  Is starting to try to write letters - specifically M for Mama and P for Papa.

 

Loves the beach.  I've been panicking the last couple of weeks, thinking about all the things we DIDN'T do this summer.  Once we heard the cold weather was coming I knew we could not waste the last night of "summer" - so we left work a bit early and took her to the beach.  She had such a great time, asking me to help her build sandcastles over and over, and then walking with Papa along the beach, being so much braver about going in the lake and getting wet.  She went in up to her knees, splashed, bounced, walked out and then in again, went under for the first time when she fell - but didn't panic.  And then we went out for ice cream.

Is such a talker.  We love hearing her tell us about her days; and overhearing the conversations she has with her dolls and animals as she plays.  Lately she has been loving to dress everyone up, do her dolls' hair, and make Andrew lunch.  More than once he has received two plates of watermelon and two pieces of cucumber, all carefully laid out, and only brought to him after he's been buckled in and has his bib on.

Loves to sing.  Especially "Bob and Larry" songs.  Almost every morning and almost every night there's a request for Bob and Larry (VeggieTales) in the car.

Is SO wonderful, and I am so thankful for her every day.

The Busy Days of Summer

First up, a cute summer nightgown, details over at bur oak life.

I spent last week documenting our days for my Week In The Life project. You can read more about this project on Ali Edwards' blog.  Hoping to get my album together in the coming days and will be posting more here.  Anyone else participating?

We've also had some fun family outings recently, and I have some sewing projects I've been meaning to post.

How are you spending these last days of summer?

Quilt Guild Shop Hop

Blogged at bur oak life.

MN Quilt Show

Blogged over at bur oak life.

Sweet Potatoes, Barley...and a New Blog

While I was making a sweet potato and barley salad tonight Ada decided she wanted to work with me in the "real kitchen".  She took a few seconds to watch what I was doing, went over to her play kitchen to get her supplies, then climbed up on her stool and got right to work.  So glad I stopped to take a picture; it's already a favorite.

In other news - I have a new blog!  I'll be using the new blog for more public content (gardening, sewing, etc.) and keeping the family / kid posting here.  I already have a few posts up at my new site, so if you're looking for something to read, head over to check it out.

On the Fourth

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July.  We had a packed day!  Ada and I left the house super early (as in 6 am early) with my sister to go pick strawberries.

Ada was awesome.  She helped me put berries in the tray, picked a bunch on her own (ripe ones!), walked up and down the rows while we continued picking, and only ate 2 strawberries before we paid.  Not bad for a two-year old.

With my sister's help I ended up with around 15 pounds or so of berries.  The season's canning and freezing has begun!

Then we had family over for lunch and general hanging out.

This girl SO loves watermelon.  Pretty sure she ate at least 5 slices.

 After lunch the kids ran through the sprinkler.

Ada liked the sparklers last year, but this year did not like the fireworks in the yard as they are "too loud".  To cap off the afternoon we had root beer floats.  Ada was not interested in the root beer, but demanded to have her ice cream in a cup like everyone else. :)

Hoping to get my pics from Vegas up soon...

Wow

I'm in Las Vegas. All week.

You might be thinking this is going to be a post on all the great sights I'm seeing. Sorry, I'll write that post when I get home.

For now, my thoughts are too jumbled, my brain overloaded. I'm here for work, and the days are intense. I thought I'd spend time in my room each night having some alone time, reading or sewing. Instead I've been staying up way too late essentially doing nothing. Tonight I realized that's because there are so many things I'm thinking about related to work that I just need a lot of time to decompress at night. I really hope my brain is up to the task of staying focused for another nine hours tomorrow.

I brought along a new sewing book to read on the trip. I finally cracked open the cover tonight as a bit of escape from thinking about work. First page, second paragraph, I read the following: "Sewing can be such a balm for the busy soul, as long as you take the time to enjoy the process of creating and don't rush yourself to quickly churn out finished products." I had to stop reading right there. Too close to so many other thoughts that have been churning in my mind recently. Guess it will just have to wait until I'm back home and can re-focus.

For now I think I'll veg out in front of the tv, and then actually try to get eight hours of sleep.

IT'S HERE!!!!

My birthday present is finally here!

Good thing there are leftovers in the fridge, cuz ya know what I'll be doing tonight instead of cooking dinner...

Around the Web

It's cold and rainy today and we're all a bit under the weather.  So we've been sitting inside reading, watching movies, and snacking (some of us still in our pj's...).  Thought I'd take a break and share a few things I've been checking out online this week.

Favorite blog post of the week: Posie Gets Cozy's Man Sampler

Ali Edwards' newest Memory Keeping Q&A series

Sneak peek of Studio Calico's June kits

If you're looking for some quilting inspiration, check out the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, going on through the 20th.

And last but not least, people healthier and far more productive than I've been this week have been sewing awesome clothing for their children as part of the Kids Clothes Week Challenge.  One of these rounds I swear I'm going to participate...

What have you been checking out online recently?

A Good Birthday

Sunday was a big day, with three celebrations - Mother's Day, and birthdays for me and my sweet girl.

She was super excited to open her presents:

The things on sticks include a broom and rake for using outside.  She's been really into "dusting" the garage floor just lately.

Her big present was a kitchen.  The kitchen at daycare is a favorite so she was pretty excited about having one of her own.

She did a great job helping Papa put the kitchen together while I made some blueberry pancakes for brunch.

Normally she loves pancakes, but ended up being too excited to actually eat much. :)

She spent most of the day playing with her new kitchen - baking cookies, making soup, and of course making sure to give lots of helpings of each to Mama and Papa.  She even washed the dishes. :)

We also Skyped with Gramma and Grandpa so they could see Ada open her presents from them.

A new dress Gramma made her; perfect for the 4th of July.

And this sweet backpack.  She totally knew what a backpack was and put it on right away.  Looking all grown-up, she headed for the door and told me, "Gotta go now.  Gotta go to school." Woah. Totally not ready for that and nearly brought tears to my eyes.  Please don't grow up quite yet sweet girl.

To top off the day, we blew her mind by introducing her to ice cream cake.  She couldn't wait to eat cake, and she's definitely inherited Mama's love of ice cream.  It was perfect; she loved it.

Don't worry; I had a good time too. :)