Summer Vacation Part VI

Vacation knitting!

I took some yarn I won on a blog contest with me. I printed off a pattern the night before we left. I grabbed a pair of needles and left.

I had know idea if the yarn would work with the pattern or if I would have enough. Luckily it worked out well.

I enjoyed the pattern a lot. It was easy to memorize and good for car travel. Not too much thought involved. I finished it when we got to the lake but I knew when I tried it on that I probably wouldn't wear it. It wasn't the right shape.

So the day we left the lake, I ripped the stockinette portion out and started over, changing the short rows a bit. I wanted to finish it before we got home but I didn't quite make it. I got halfway through the bind off before we pulled into the driveway.













I'm happy with the results. I think the yarn did well with the border pattern. The color repeats followed the pattern repeat fairly well. The colors remind me of sunset.

Meluka Ravelry link

Summer Vacation Part V

After the IA family departed, we had a couple of days to fill. After 3 full days on the water all day long, MIL decided to take the kids to the Discovery Center in Springfield. J decided to stay at the cabin and I got talked into going along.

Springfield is about an hour's drive away, not too bad. We got in the car and headed out. MIL started talking to the kids asking them questions without response. I had to inform her that they were all watching a movie and weren't going to answer. She turned around and found them all slack mouthed with headphones on. They were out.

It was a nice little children's museum. Much smaller than the Magic House in St. Louis but much less crowded and the kids were still entertained.











For Mom




B's hair is not as dramatic on the static machine

Summer Vacation Part IV

Water skiing pictures!

I don't have pics of the IA cousins skiing. I used BIL's camera so he has them all. They need to start a blog so you can see them! Here's what I got.


J up


And J going down!


B's first time skiing lesson


He's almost up


almost up


And almost up


And down!


DH showing off his Texas A&M Ski Team skills


And on slalom


A popped up on her third try and went around the cove a couple of times


On our last day at the lake, the kids tried skiing again. J got up but made the fatal error of pulling the rope in and went right over. A popped up the first time and skied around awhile. She kept her back straight and looked great! B was a determined little kid. He tried and tried and tried. He said he wasn't going to leave the lake until he got up and stayed up. Poor thing kept pulling the rope in. He finally got tired and decided to try again next year. As we left the boat he yelled back to the skis, "I will ride you next year and I'm not going down!"

Summer Vacation Part III

After our weekend in Indy, we went to the lake house with S#1 & family in tow. The caravan was slow, coordinating 9 bladders doesn't always work so we made lots of stops. Eventually we arrived and got to enjoy the lake. It was hot there but luckily there is the water to cool you off. Days were filled with hotdogging, floating, fishing and water-skiing. I was glad that S#1 came along. My kids loved hanging out with the IA cousins and DH & I had fun hanging out with her and BIL#1.

Summer Vacation Part II

Friday we were off to Indianapolis for my dad's family reunion. First we made a quick stop to visit the gateway arch.


The arch


Tram ride up.


At the top


Looking out


Busch Stadium getting ready for the U2 concert


Wow, it was crowded up there



After the Arch, we took off for Indy. Somehow I never pulled out my camera while in Indy. Too much talking and visiting going on and not a single picture to document it.

Friday night we met up with the cousins from Iowa and the cousins from Kazakhstan at the hotel, had dinner at my aunt's house with various cousins, went to a party at another cousin's house.

Saturday DH played a 9 hole golf scramble with some of the family. I took A & 5 cousins to see the final episode of Harry Potter. S#2 took the boys see Winnie the Pooh. S#1 & S#5 went out to lunch and a farmer's market. We ended the day with yet another party at yet another cousin's house. That was a terrific house. They had a massive garden with bee hives, plus a swing set, zip line and trampoline. I was envious. Kids were in heaven.

Sunday most of the family headed to my aunt's lake house outside Columbus, IN. S#1 & family joined us on a trip out the IL's lake house in Missouri. I wish we had been able to join the family in IN but the trip was long and I was glad to have it over during the day instead of driving through the night.

Summer Vacation Part I

Our summer vacation plans were set, a trip to Indy for the Crum Cousin (dad's family reunion) & a week at the lake. However DH wasn't sure if he was going to join us for the trip to Indy. Finally Tuesday he decided to go and we changed plans again by adding a stop in St. Louis.

We left a day early and drove to the lake on Wednesday. Thursday morning we headed to St. Louis. A few hours later we were pulling into the parking at the Magic House, a children's museum that DH remembers going to when he was a kid. Everyone had fun and I discovered just how static-y my hair really is!













After the Magic House, we drove around the neighborhood, saw the house where MIL lived and stopped by Ursuline Academy St. Louis.



We decided to go for a traditional St. Louis dinner. We found a restaurant in the Hill, Guido's. We ate toasted raviolis and St. Louis style pizza. Loved the cracker thin crust, but the provel cheese, not so much. Boys ate one bite and declared it disgusting. Provel is like white velveeta and not our taste. Next time we'll request mozzarella. We headed to Ted Drewe's, home of the concrete for dessert.



Its not a good idea to turn your custard upside down even if it isn't suppose to fall out.



They were nice and gave Brian a new custard.

Despite the provel cheese & the dropped dessert, it was a good day in St. Louis.

knitting

I don't have much time for knitting lately ever. I started a scarf for B's preschool teacher back in December. I finished this week. 7 months total. I guess that's not too bad for a row here and a row there.

I made B model it for me since A wasn't here and it is for his teacher. I'm not thrilled with the color but his teacher has nice red hair and I'm hoping it will complement her.

Day Trip to Brenham & WOTB

We took day trip #2 of the summer.  S#2 & S#4 & all the cousins joined in.  We went to Brenham and toured the Blue Bell Factory.  The tour was not too long and we all got a scoop when it was over.  Yum! We went to the Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park.  It was very informative. We toured Independence Hall where the Texas Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written back in 1836. The living history farm was neat.  Kids enjoyed catching grasshoppers to feed to the fowl.  There were toys to play with and chores to practice.  After much driving around to closed restaurants, we ended up at Hullabaloo's which was on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives. The food was good and plentiful and (IMHO) worth the drive.  It was a fun trip. 

Now its time to plan the next one.