Summer Vacation 2016 - Miscellaneous Pictures

We just returned from a great vacation in Oregon. We're missing Dayna, as she stayed behind to be spoiled by her grandparents. Here are some random pictures taken while we were gone.

Badlands, SD

Oldest Chinese restaurant in the US

It used to be a brothel

Columbia River Gorge (from the WA side)

Stonehenge/WWI memorial by Marysville

Gathering with old longtime friends

Visiting my alma mater

My favorite dorm room

Many hours spent in the old music building

Star Trees

A birthday day out with my best friend

Independence Day 2016

The 4th was a quiet day for us - an afternoon with friends, good food, and some hometown fireworks in the evening.

17 Things I Love About Dan

July 2 marked 17 years of marriage to this guy. So for fun, here are 17 things I love about Dan:

1. He always keeps my tank filled with gas.
2. He loves to drive across the country with me - often letting me knit while he drives.
3. He's super quiet early in the morning so the rest of us can sleep.
4. He listens to me tell the same stories over and over again.
5. He loves to "tickle wrestle" with the girls, filling our home with belly laughs.
6. He keeps laundry going when he's working at home.
7. He loves drum corps. Really loves drum corps. 
8. He laughs a lot and his whole face changes when he's laughing.
9. He smells good. (Usually - but not often after drum corps.)
10. He likes seafood as much as I do.
11. He frequently picks up after the girls. (All three of us.)
12. He waters and weeds the garden for me faithfully. 
13. He enjoys taking walks with me, often letting me do a lot of the talking.
14. He's a really good listener (see #4, 13)
15. He loves trains and often takes the girls to watch trains while I sneak a few quiet moments at home.
16. He's a really good cook.
17. He's dependable, faithful, full of integrity, selfless, secure, kind...much more than a list of 17 can contain.

Love you, Dan! Can't wait for many, many more years.

Chinese Cultural Camp

Dayna had an opportunity to attend a Chinese cultural camp, where she learned some language, calligraphy, martial arts, games and even cooking!

The A Team

Whenever it's just Annie and I together, she likes to call us the "A Team." (Annie and Alaina - that makes Daddy and Dayna the "D Team.") Today it was just the A Team for the afternoon. We had an impromptu picnic in the backyard and even some time to snuggle and read some fairy tales together. Love my little snuggle bunny!

Whole Lotta Nothing Going On

It seems that summer has been off to a slow start. We've had a whole lot of nothing going on around here. Some projects on the house. Some down time for knitting or reading. A lot of walking. And I mean a LOT of walking (over 5 miles a day.) Even some running here and there. Evenings at the water park. Visits to the library. Bike rides to the park.

But really, it's been a quiet summer so far. Things are getting ready to kick into full gear now, and we're ready for July and August. Just not so sure how ready we are for school to start again. And with as busy as things are about to get, we need to start shopping now.

Here's to summer!

June's Finished Projects

I've actually been quite busy this month, and I'm within hours of finishing a couple of other projects. But I can say that these two projects were finished this week.

This blanket was made for my dear friend Martha. She lost her mom several years ago to ALS. Last winter, Martha gave me boxes of her mom's yarn. When Martha had a sweet baby boy a few months ago, it was only right to use her Mama's yarn to make something for little Austin.

These are the socks that drove me batty. Love the colors (go Seahawks!), love the way the pattern looks. Just didn't love the process (pattern is Geek Socks on Ravelry.) The yarn was super yummy! I purchased it online from New Zealand with my birthday money (Stray Cats on Etsy). But having never worked with slip stitches on socks, I found them to be way too small (see last month's post.) So I ripped them back to the heel, turned them inside out to knit and used a larger needle. Now with some finessing, I can wear them. But I don't know that I will do this particular pattern again. They were definitely a learning curve for me.

And yes, I do realize that both projects are blue, green and white stripes. Purely coincidental. Maybe Austin will grow up to love the Seahawks, too!