What I Did on My Summer Vacation

We spent last week avoiding the heat of DC by visiting the Bahamas. It was my first time to the Caribbean, and it was wonderful.

We had our own private beach.

The girls and their grandfather built a sandcastle.

The view from the back of the house.

A marvelous sunset.

It was a very, very relaxing vacation. I even managed to work on some stitching from my Wipocalypse list. This birth sampler I started from scratch while there.

This replaces the sheep PIF piece I had planned. I had the red star and blue waves on this one done before we left. There are white stars on either arm of the red star that don't show up well. Here's a link to the PDF of the pattern.

We followed our tradition of watching A Capitol Fourth on PBS. And we managed not to have to go to Urgent Care at all this trip, although we had a close call when A. decided to bite the end off of a glow stick. (Fortunately, they are non-toxic, but still taste awful.)

Last Day of School

It doesn't seem like it was so long ago that it was the first day of school for my girls.

Then it was Christmas.

And the Spring Concert.

 

Finally, the last day of school. 

 

Where did the time go?

 

Summertime

Our summer is off to a good start. We spent a weekend at Solomon's Island. The girls are enjoying Adventure Camp. I'm enjoying the reduced laundry load (less bulky summer clothes + no white uniform shirts). We're working on a plan for our front yard, so that it's no longer just weeds and mulch.

The girls' love of swimming continues. They've discovered the diving board at our local pool. It's pure joy for them. DDL is so funny - she walks to the end, hops 3-8 times, and then jumps off. She started doing this after watching the Olympic trials for springboard diving. Never mind that she isn't yet 4 and has to wear a life vest while using the diving board. She and DDA watched someone dive backwards last weekend and wanted to try that too. Um, no.

I've made some bruscetta with farm fresh tomatoes (yummmm!). We also had some farm stand watermelon. Today I baked a rhubarb tart. I started stitching a small patriotic piece to send to a friend. I love summer. Now, if only I didn't have to work so much.

11 Things

Jo at Serendipitous Stitching posted this list of 11 questions, which I thought would be fun to answer.

1. how long is it since you’ve last played, sat on the floor, with a kid? Not long.

2. your favourite school trip? We took a number of memorable trips when I was in school: the Rochester Planetarium, Corning Museum of Glass, and Buffalo Zoo. The most memorable had to be our senior trip to the Gettysburg Battlefield, Colonial Williamsburg, and Busch Gardens.

3. when you go to sleep, do you wake up in the same position, or do you find blankets and pillows all over the place? I roll over a lot during the night.

4. shades, hat or both? Both, especially when it's super-sunny. I get sun headaches otherwise.

5. was there a time you thought “I wish I was born there!”, if so when/where was it? Not really.

6. do you know how to make candy corn? could you tell me? No idea. I do know how to make marshmallows from scratch though.

7. how many years have you been stitching? did you learn by yourself or did someone help you along the way to the stitching madness it’s nowadays? I started stitching sometime in the mid-to-late '80s. I didn't get serious about it until the early '90s, when I was overseas and unemployed. I'm pretty much self taught, although I grew up in a crafty family.

8. the perfect sandwich: what is in it? These days, it's a muffaleta. Growing up, I was a huge fan of fried bologna sandwiches.

9. honestly, do you think ironing our clothes is really necessary? how do you deal with the dullest house work ever? I only iron my craft projects. Ironing clothes is a huge waste of time. This was the chore I least liked doing growing up, especially since my mother used to claim that she loved to iron and then would make me do it. I remember having a big fight with my parents over ironing at least once. The only way ironing clothes is bearable is if I'm doing it while watching television.

10. you reckon there’re even duller things than ironing? what is it?!

11. is there a TV commercial you like? (makes you laugh, takes you back to old times, reminds you of someone you know, ..) As a kid, I really loved Schoolhouse Rock. It's fun watching them again with my kids. And speaking of kids, right after mine were born in 2008, DH and I were watching a lot of Nationals' games. When the 2009 season started, we again tuned in. One evening as we were watching a game, two little heads whipped around to look at the TV. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on. They had recognized the opening music from the Amstel Light commercial. (It's the one with the elderly gentleman shouting something in Dutch that sounds like "Hum ma na, hum ma na, hum ma na, hey!") It would calm them down instantly every time it came on. It's been a couple of years since I've seen it. I wonder if they'd still react to it.

2 on Reading

I have two reading-related items for you.

First, Conde Nast published this list of the 69 Greatest Fiction Travel Books. Since I enjoy travel memoirs, I thought I might find some good reads on this list. Strangely, I've only read 2 of the recommended books. I did spot a few more that I think I'd enjoy. I noticed that Michael Ondaatje nominated quite a few of the books. I would add one or two of his books to this list, too.

Second, last week's Booking through Thursday asks about pet names and whether the names were inspired by reading. Both of my pets' names were. My cats are Dewey and Gandolf*. If there's another round of pet naming, and if my children don't trump my naming rights, I might use the names of prominent mathematicians: Ada, Turing, Galois.

* Yes, I know it's supposed to be spelled Gandalf, but I pronounce it "Gandolf" and so use that spelling.

Graduation Card

Our favorite babysitter just graduated from nursing school. This is the card I'm sending her to celebrate the event. I received the card in a swap and didn't like the original details. It had vellum over the verse and a turquoise ribbon. There was no lighter card stock inside. I took apart the card and put it back together with Groovy Guava instead, adding the inside panel to write on. Apricot is the color used in academic regalia for nursing, and this was the closest to apricot ribbon that I had on hand.

Speaking of academic regalia, one of those crazy, almost useless skills I have is knowing how to flip and affix the hoods worn with academic gowns so that they sit flat and don't choke the wearer. I learned how to do it working graduation as an undergraduate.

Little Gifts

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week at my daughters' school. In addition to contributing to the big gifts for their teachers, I made these little gifts. The girls' class is known as the Turtles, hence the theme. Sorry for the horrible background in the picture. Scanning 3-D objects on my scanner is tricky.

Glossy White paper; Wasabi, Bayou, and Basic Brown inks; brayer; Natural Prints SU! stamp set; sticky note pads; Velcro dots; double-sided tape and sticky sheets; microbeads; and Pentel RSVP pens.