Heat Wave!

It has been close to 100 degrees F way too many days for this Minnesotan - I'm ready for a good summer storm and some cooler temperatures! I did manage to spend Friday evening finding my flower beds under all those weeds. Saturday morning we went to the local Farmer's Market - then a Flea/Antique Show in town and then out to the lake for the weekend. It's much easier to stand the heat when you are floating in the lake with an icy lemonade. Now if only those sunnies would stop nibbling the parts hanging in the water! This is a shot at sunset from the middle of the lake. There was a nice breeze out there. I managed to complete 2 dishcloths this weekend - of course forgot to take pictures and they went home with my baby brother today. I also finished ready the copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting I got at the library this weekend. Definitely one book that will be added to my must have books list - along with the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules that I also have on loan from the library now.

I've finished the back and 5 inches of the front of my Last-Minute Stripes pullover in the 3-6 month size. It seems small to me but it's been a long time since I've held or seen a baby that size. Hopefully I'll get this version finished - and a girl version too before my newest niece or nephew arrives in November.

Bridge Jumping anyone?

On our way home from golfing on Monday, we saw 4 men about to jump off the bridge over the Snake River Canyon. We walked to where we could watch and saw each of them in turn, climb over the railing and then jump off. Luckily each of their chutes opened. The white spot in the middle of the picture is one of the person's chute's - the shadow of the bridge is also visible. Neat thing to see - no way I could do it!

Nieces - one can never have too many!

Here are two pictures of my youngest nieces. They will have a little brother or sister join them in November. These shots were taken on Sunday night when we were bowling. My brother may beat me every game in golf but I got him in bowling!

Old Faithful

Picture #1 is Old Faithful during an eruption. It lasted 2-3 minutes and was really a sight to see. This pictures looks like thousands of others I've seen but is special to me since we were actually there. Picture #2 is Mr. Buffalo who was nice enough to say goodbye to us on the way out of the Old Faithful area. Picture #3 is of me and "the boys" before the eruption. Wonderful place - would like to go again without impatient kids. :-)

Bass Lake

These pictures are some of the ones I took on Sunday when we were at the Blue Lakes Country Club's private swimming hole - Bass Lake. SIL and I took the kids and went out for an afternoon of sun and swimming while the hubby's golfed. The top picture is of my 2 sons taking my 2 nieces out in the canoe for a little tour - picture #2 is of Niece #3's very first fish she caught - and a huge one it was too! The 3rd picture is a shot of the bridge over the Snake River Canyon taken from out in a canoe at Bass Lake.

Twin Falls, Idaho

We made it to Twin Falls shortly after 7:00 pm on Friday. We drove from Cody, Wyoming, through the middle of Yellowstone. We stopped at Buffalo Bill Dam - this is the picture that Tom took with his cell phone. We then stopped at Old Faithful - and then didn't stop again until we were at Bill and Janae's house in Twin Falls. Saturday we went golfing and hung out at the pool. Today Bill and Jim golfed while Janae and I took the kids to Bass Lake. A private lake at the golf course. The water was clear and cool and we had a lot of fun. Tonight it's bowling and more vegging out together. It's nice to just hang out and not feel pressured to get tons of stuff packed in. We're really enjoying it. I'm getting my "girl fix" hanging out with my 2 and 6 year old nieces. :-)

Cody, Wyoming

We left home this morning at 6:15 am, stopped once for the bathroom, twice for gas/food and made it to our hotel in Cody, Wyoming at 9:30 pm MN time, 8:30 Wyoming time. We drove through the Big Horn Mountain Range - saw some gorgeous stuff! This is a picture we took on the way where we found a rock formation we share the same name with. Very cool - who couldn't stop the car when you see that!

Vacation Traveling!

I'm officially on vacation! Tomorrow morning at 6:00 am we begin the 22 hour trip from Minnesota to Idaho. We'll stop over in Cody, Wyoming for the night and then see Yellowstone and Old Faithful before getting to my brother Bill's house. Things are mostly packed - still need to pack some sandwiches for the trip and other food/drink. All 4 sets of golf clubs went in the trunk first. My men definitely have their priorities. :-) I shouldn't really talk since I packed my knitting first and now have to get my clothes finished. This will be our 3rd driving trip out to Bill's house, I'm anxious to see what it's like to travel when the youngest is 12. They are both getting way too grown up. The next driving trip we'll have another driver in the family! I'll update when I can - have a great weekend everyone!

Cardi-Wrap

This is another finished object thanks to a class this spring. It was my first experience with cables and with dropped stitches. I really like how it turned out although the arms are a bit snug. My next cable project will be with lighter colored yarn so the cables pop out more. Our instructor wore hers lots of different ways - one side pinned up with a pin, both sides pinned up with brooches, worn backwards with the "tails" around the front and pinned, and of course, just loose and hanging down. I'm looking forward to having it in the car and tossing it on over summer clothes when youngest son has a hockey game. Click on the pictures to see a larger version.

Dibs on Ribs Sweater

I'm finally getting pictures of some of my finished knitting projects. This one is the Dibs on Ribs sweater from Interweave Knits that I took a class on in August 2005. The sweater was actually ready to wear in October of 2005. This is my first sweater and had to be done in pieces and sewn together. I'm glad I took the class, getting this one done really gave me the confidence to do others. Here's a shot of the front and back - without extreme blocking it's MUCH shorter than it should be and I could have taken about 6 or more inches off the arms with no problems. Having really long arms, I'm not use to having that happen. If you would like to see more detail, click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Sunday already?

How did it get to be Sunday already? It seems like just an hour ago I was leaving work ready for the weekend... where did it go? It was at or near 100 F here all weekend! Way too hot to do anything. Our youngest son had a hockey clinic in town so Grandma and Grandpa took over taxi duties and we escaped to the lake (how lucky are we that Grandma and Grandpa not only live in town, but enjoy taking over the taxi duties every now and then) . It was really nice to have one child to focus on and it was amazingly bicker free - until this afternoon when we were all reunited. How is it that siblings can be absolutely cruel to each other, yet no one else can get you laughing quite as hard. I finished a dish cloth while at the lake, it promptly went in the drawer to be used and no picture was taken, sigh. . .

Cabin pictures

We like to spend every chance we can at the cabin. We still haven't finished everything inside, but it's close enough to spend some time enjoying instead of building. These are shots of the cabin from the lake - you can see the screen porch that runs the whole lake side of the cabin. This is where we spend most of our time.

This is also a shot of the boys and Drake that I took last summer. It's one of my favorite shots. They love to jump off the dock and have fun in the water.

Swan family

We spent the long 4th of July weekend at the cabin enjoying some much needed relaxation. The lake's resident swan couple chose this weekend to show off their 4 babies. They swim around the lake and "visit" everyone in the mornings and sometimes in the evenings as well. They feel safe enough to eat pieces of bread from your hands!

I have a blog!

I've caught blog fever! This will be about my life - and how I try to stay sane. I'm the mom to 2 boys (just turned 12 and almost 15) and 2 dogs (3 and almost 12) and wife to DH for almost 18 years. We live in Minnesota and spend most of our time driving to and watching our sons events and carving time to play at the cabin.

Thanks for visiting!