Vacation Memories - Autumn 2011

We enjoyed a trip to the Midwest last month!  The weather was beautiful nearly every day and, though it was late October, autumn colors were still lovely.  Each stop was 

filled with family, friends, fun & food.  

We started our vacation at a favorite B&B.

The donuts were so tasty!

We played cars.....

.....and trucks with Peter.

We read Grammy's Nook.

We did a bit of gardening.

We read Grammy's Nook some more.

We went to a special party.

We visited friends.

We did some cooking with Caleb.

We cooked some more.

And then we even cooked a bit more!

We shopped at a favorite tourist attraction.

We enjoyed the beauty of Michigan autumn.

We walked on the shores of Lake Charlevoix.

We spent a lot of time here, drinking coffee & chatting with Mom. 

We are already looking forward to our next visit home. 

Happy 10th Anniversary to the Borgers!

Tami & Jeremy have their wedding quilt!  The happy couple were married in June 2001 and I just finished their gift. It may be the first and last wedding quilt I ever make. Oh, the pressure! Every anniversary that passed made me feel more guilty.  No pressure from these dear friends, mind you, but I knew they were looking forward to receiving it.  Little did I dream when I started this project that it would take me so long and they would have 4 children by the time I gave it to them.

When we arrived at their front door and knocked, we heard excited little voices shouting, "They're here!"  Wow, what a welcome we got!  The children were SO excited.  And I think the grown-ups (us included) were, too. We last saw each other at our grandson Caleb's first birthday party, which was over a year and a half ago.  It was time for a good visit!

Of course, as little kids will do, they had to bring out all manner of their most prized possessions to show us.  I always think that is the way children express they are glad to see someone.  They may not have the words to say, "I've missed you" or "It's so nice to see you again" so they put their favorite toys in your lap instead.  It's so sweet.  We visited for awhile and then it was time for the big presentation!

I think they like it!  

Those children were so excited you'd have thought that quilt was a magic carpet or something equally wondrous.  They hugged it, rolled around on it, poured over every square all the while giggling their hearts out.. "What does this one say?" "Look at the kitties!"  "There's dogs over here."  "Whose name is that?" So many questions and so much fun.  We spent a considerable amount of time examining the names on the signature blocks, words and shapes I had hidden in the quilting and scripture verses I had written on unsigned blocks.  It made me feel better about being so late with this gift, for had I completed it in a more timely fashion, there would not have been these delightful children to enrich the process of giving it.  

Burying stray threads with the kiddos

It's a simple quilt of nine-patch blocks comprised of rail fence blocks and solid squares.  Tami and I sat together by the fireplace in my family room (way back when we still lived in Michigan and they weren't yet married!) and sorted through my fabric stash, choosing colors and prints she liked.  That afternoon is still a pleasant memory for me, as is the memory of their beautiful wedding day on the shores of Lake Michigan.  

Tami wanted the quilt to be colorful and cheerful and that's just how it turned out. The fabrics were chosen in friendship and the blocks were signed with good wishes, blessings and love. Then all was stitched together (...slowly...) with more of the same in my sunny Arizona sewing room.  I like to think there's a lot of sunshine sewn right into that quilt.  I know there's a lot of love. 

T-Shirt Ringlet Scarf (or Grammy Is Feeling Crafty)

Strips cut from old T-shirts

I found this clever project on a couple of blogs recently.  It's a scarf made from old 
T-shirts!  It looked easy, fun, and seemed like a good way to use something that was headed for the the rag bag anyway. 

Candy Corn T-Shirt Scarf 

Here's the finished product on the left.  My results were not quite as nice as the two blog scarves.  It looks rather like a Halloween-style Hawaiian lei, don't you think??  But, I like it and will wear it when we go to a Pumpkin Patch with another grandson next week!

Makes me hungry for candy corn!
If you have old T-shirts you'd like to cut up and a little free time, complete instructions are available here:

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/crafts-projects/make-this-quick-n-easy-ringlet-t-shirt-scarf.html

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/recycled_tee_circle_scarf

See you in the Pumpkin Patch!

Pumpkin Patch Fun at MacDonald's Ranch

"Watch me jump!"

Super Boy!  Able to leap hay bales in a single bound!

Little Punkin' is shopping for his pumpkin.

We had SO much fun at the MacDonald's Ranch Pumpkin Patch again this year.  It is hot and dusty out at the ranch, but tons of fun watching the kids run, play, jump, chase and just generally have a ball. There was a petting zoo with lots of animals, including a peacock!  There were horse rides for the kiddos and a hay maze for all to enjoy (I mostly liked sitting in the shade there).  My favorite part of the outing is the hayride, though.  Larry, Moe and Curly were the beautiful black horses that pulled our wagon out. They gave us a pleasant ride through the desert to the pumpkin patch. It's not a true patch of growing pumpkins, but a large display of pumpkins of all sizes arranged on hay bales. There were even scare crows to add to the atmosphere.  After choosing our pumpkins, we hopped on a returning wagon driven by a friendly, REAL cowboy.  Collin got a ride with Kit Kat to top off the evening.  What a great way to spend some family time on an October Sunday.      

Those are some pretty spendy pumpkins!  Hope you brought your allowance.

"Mom, I need money!"

Collin rides Kit Kat

There were LOTS more pumpkins than this, but this picture gives a nice idea of the feel of the place.
 Can you see the mountains and saguaros in the background? 

Colossal Cave and Other Adventures

Collin at the entrance to Colossal Cave 

Yesterday, Collin, along with his mommy, daddy and grandpa, visited Colossal Cave outside of Tucson. Grammy and Ryan stayed home since, as Mommy Laura put it,        "A cave is no place for a screamy baby!"  Grammy was sure a cave was no place for a scaredy-cat grandmother, either.

Down into the cave -
This would have been far enough for me!

They took lots of pictures and told us all about it when they returned that afternoon. Grandpa impressed us with his wisdom on stalactites and stalagmites - "Stalactites stick 'tight' to the ceiling of the cave. Stalagmites 'might' grow all the way up to the ceiling." Isn't he amazing?? I never could remember which comes up from the bottom and which hangs from the top. Now I'll never forget! Collin is learning about nocturnal animals this month, so they were hoping to see bats or perhaps a ringtail, but only spotted one sleeping bat.

Looks so narrow!
I'm sure I would have
had to turn back at this
point, but then I would
have had a hard time
going in at all! 

What a gorgeous view

Another pretty scene

The Khatirs in the Cave

Ranger Sarah checks the mine
for danger (rattlesnakes?)

Two other recent adventures took place at Cave Creek Regional Park, which is not far from where we live.  The first was an after dark scorpion hunt and hike with Ranger Sarah in September.  Armed with a black light and an abundance of enthusiasm, Collin and Grandpa Tom had a blast hunting down scorpions.  Collin had a fabulous time.  Grandpa confessed later that he was a little freaked out about the whole adventure of running around in the desert at night with a little boy who says he "loves scorpions and is not afraid of them."   Yikes.

Tom & Ryan

The second adventure with Ranger Sarah at the park involved bats and a mine. Yikes (again) and time for Grandma Suzanne to stay at home (again). Ryan went along for this trip and Grandpa reported that he hiked along the trail to the abandoned clay mine like a trooper. Collin had lots of questions for Ranger Sarah, which she said were all great questions! I wonder what the next family adventure be..... and if scaredy-cat Grammy will be too afraid to go??

Hiking the desert with Grandpa

   

Friday School with Grammy

On Friday, Collin has been spending the morning at Grammy's while Mommy and brother Ryan head to story time at the library.  We usually do some homeschool related activities and always have fun.  Last week, the weather was so beautiful that we sat outside at the table on our front patio.  

We are at last beyond our "hotter than the hinges" season and the weather is heavenly. In fact, it was almost chilly.  We enjoyed a mug of hot cocoa as we read about Arizona history and did some coloring pages.  Collin is learning about the United States, as well and we had postcards to read from far away family members & friends.  He is eager to learn and it is great fun to help with his lessons.  Grammy learned something new, too!  Did you know that the copper star on the Arizona flag represents the copper mining in our state?  Or that the 13 sunburst rays are for the 13 original colonies?  I didn't, but I do now!          

Signs of Autumn

In the Midwest we had cooler weather and beautifully colored leaves to signal autumn's arrival.  Here in Arizona, we have cooler weather (yes, 95 degrees feels cool after weeks of 110+ temps), but no beautifully colored leaves.  Well, not in Phoenix, anyway.  Instead of pretty leaves we get......

BALLOONS!!!

The hot air balloons are back!  They don't fly in the hot, hot months of summer, so when we see those first balloons in September, we know autumn is right around the corner.  They launch near our home, so as they fly over us they are still quite low in the air.  Sometimes there is just one balloon.  Sometimes two or three together.  Sometimes we see as many as a dozen at the same time. The photo on the left was taken from under our patio roof.  Some Saturday mornings we wake to the sound of the burners as the balloons go over the house!  I always feel like a kid on Christmas morning when I wake to that sound....I jump out of bed so I can see them before they soar too high.  It's a gorgeous sight against the pure blue Arizona sky, and so welcome after the hot summer.