Vacation 2.0

This post is WAY overdue.... in fact really any post from me is way overdue... what can I say, we've been playing a LOT and enjoying the summer. That leaves me with little time to properly blog...

The last week in June, we packed up the kids and the car again and drove north this time to the finger lakes region of NY. Cayuga Lake to be specific. We've been traveling there since before the dawn of time (or at least that's what it seems like). We planned to spend a week with my family. We had some nice weather early in the week, then things got quite soggy... we did manage to get in a decent amount of swimming and water fun during the mornings and early afternoons... then almost every day after dinner things turned gray and either rained or threatened to.

We did have a LOT of fun though, here are some photos to prove it:

In this photo, you are seeing silly towel hats and fart noise instruction.


In this photo, this is what you would call a Toddler Burrito with a side of Silly Sunglasses.


Lots of family fun.


And even a photo shoot with a "supermodel" for a centerfold. Courtesy of my brother, Jesse.

More photos can be found here.

just like that

And just like that, I think Andy might be done with his morning nap.... for the past month or so it's been something that depending on our schedule, I would put him down or we would continue to play or go on a playdate or hit the beach or whatever.... today, I asked him, "Andy, are you ready for a nap?" he said, "no." and ran away. he's happily playing and not really showing any signs of needing to sleep.... I'm sure there will still be the random occasion when he will need to rest in the morning... but I'm pretty sure those will end up being rare and exstinct very soon too.

I have about 3 planned blogs in my head... lake vacation wrap up, gardening (jumping on the bandwagon here), and a new recipe. hopefully, my photos will be rescued from never never land soon so that those posts can be written...

Beach Vacation and Language

We spent last week at the beach. This is the 3rd year in a row that we traveled there, it was the 2nd year that we spent the week with Chris's family. We travel to Lewes Beach DE and it's about a 7 hour drive including lunch stops and such. Chris's Aunt and Uncle from Denver travel there as well and they usually bring 2 grandchildren. This year they brought Elias and Andrew with them, both boys were 12 years old. My kids learned a LOT from the boys :) Max's language and sentence structure exploded while there. He's speaking in nearly full sentences and it's just hilarious. Andy also has had an explosion of sorts, his words currently consist of the following:
cup - which means cup and also water in terms of water in the bathtub and water in the ocean
help
up
off (he tells us to turn lights and ceiling fans off - however off also apparently means ON)
cat
puppy
hello
buh bye
bike
book
ball
uh huh
boo boo
sheep

He also understands everything! Including his brother. Max has started to instruct Andy during play, Andy sometimes listens. And this results in a lot of 10 minute play sessions where they are playing with the SAME toy (the fisher price farm for example). No one gets mad, screams or cries. i call that progress! Max is also really learning to share. This is a great change as well :)

Here are a few photos from vacation:


Max enjoying a banana ice cream cone - while eating this, he bit a whole in the cone and started to 'hoot', I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Looking for an owl." Since the topic of ice cream flavors seems to be a popular one these days, banana might be a good one to try, this was outstanding!


This was taken the evening we got there, after dinner we headed to the beach in our regular clothes... I should have known better... I tried to keep the kids from getting completely soaked but slightly damp turned into wet pants, and wet pants turned into damp shirt and damp shirt turned into completely soaked. I threw in the towel at wet pants... LOL they had fun and so did we and frankly i'm pretty sure that is all that matters.

More photos can be seen here.

In crafty news, I knit a few more washrag's the circular ones from MDK, I just love those. And, I started a project requested by my cousin. She requested a beach bag. I had a hard time finding fabric that I loved... and that I knew SHE would love. Until Monday.... It's a large floral print. I've started sewing the Everything Tote from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. Examples can be found here. Photos to follow soon.

Smashing Smock: New Owner

Smashing Smock found a few loving owner today:

Enjoy it Carrie!

Follow this link for my review of the Smashing Smock Pattern. 

Smashing Smock: Following Directions

I have ventured into the world of sewing women's apparel. My first pattern to follow is from Anna Maria Horner's book titled Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing. I followed the pattern almost to the T. I did add an extra inch of width to all pieces and i later found that i need to add way more than one lonely inch... her book has lots of "how to's" regarding apparel adjustments. So making the proper adjustments to make one to fit ME will not be difficult.

Materials used:
One queen sized top sheet purchased for $.48 at the thrift store.
Coordinating thread I had in my crafty corner.
1 Matching vintage button from this excursion.


Aside from the size issues.... I am very happy with the end result. Plus, I worked out the kinks on this trial run so that with version 2.0 I should have zero hiccups. (there were a few and an experienced seamstress would be able to point them out in a flash. But to the general public, the shirt is a smash!

More photos from this project can be found here.