Sunflower Kids

 My sister-in-law, Janelle, is quite the gardener and grew a fabulous collection of sunflowers this summer.  Allison loved looking at them, picking them and sharing them with her cousin!

Corn on the Cob

 We love corn season around here.  In the past we've cut the corn off of Allison's cob because we figured it was easier.  At lunch yesterday, though, she announced she was ready to eat 'big corn' like us.  She did really well and hardly left anything on the cob.

And I think this look says it all!

 

 

I still have a few July posts to do that I'll get to eventually, but I didn't want to get too far behind on the things happening here and now....it is almost September after all!

Umbrella Girl

 We have had an unusually cool and even wet summer for us this year (and I'm not really complaining, I did grow up in Alaska after all).  My umbrella has stayed in the laundry room and a certain girl has discovered it several times and loves to play with it.  Good thing I found one to match her rain coat on clearance this spring.....I'll give it to her this fall!

Finished in 2012 No. 6

 My friend, Katherine had a baby a few weeks ago.  Back in June she had a baby shower and I managed to have this quilt finished in time for the baby shower.  They didn't know at the time whether the baby was a boy or a girl so I went with a 'gender neutral' color scheme that would work well in their nursery.  I bought pre-cut charm packs of Joel Dewberry's 'Aviary 2' fabric line off of Etsy (it is a great way to buy fabric by the way - it minimizes waste!).  There was one floral fabric that I excluded just in case the baby was a boy (although it turned out to be a girl after all!).  My friend, Natalie, came over for an afternoon and we put this quilt top together in just one afternoon, it was that easy!  The pattern was inspired by this tutorial (I loved the tutorial enough I bought the line of fabric used in the tutorial as well!)

 Katherine's favorite fabric from the line was the wood grain fabric so I used it for the backing and binding as well.

I also had a Mr. Hoot all cut out and ready to go so I sewed him up and gave him to Katherine with the quilt.  He matched perfectly. 

Oregon Coast with the Cousins

 We spent the last weekend in June at the Oregon Coast with Mark's family.  Although the forecast had not been great the weather cleared on our first full day and we spent all morning playing on the beach.

 Papa worked long and hard to get this kite to fly - it was in quite the state of disrepair.  The kids all attempted to help.....eventually it was flying high on it's own.

 The kids loved playing in the sand.  First with a big hole and then they discovered a creek.  Full of 'oozy sticky mud' according to Allison.  She loved the 'oozy sticky mud.'

 Cole is a little goofball.  I'm really happy that he smiles for the camera for me!

 The 'oozy sticky mud'

 The kite flying high.

 While we were there we celebrated Nana's retirement with a mini party.  Complete with cupcakes.  They were yummy.  And messy.

 The next day we headed back to the beach.  The weather wasn't quite so fabulous but the kids didn't mind (until it started to rain and they got cold!).

 So they wrapped up the day with a soak in the hot tub with Papa, of course.

 Except Cole.  Who would rather pose for pictures for me.  What a great kid.

And did I mention he's goofy, too?

Silver Falls Hike

 We fit in one more hike while Grammie was visiting in June.  Although it might be a stretch to call this a 'hike' since we only walked the South Falls loop at Silver Falls.  Regardless, Allison walked the whole way, down and UP by herself.  We bribed her.  A lot.  With granola bars (she's munching on one in the picture below).  She asked to be picked up several times on the way up.  We would just tell her no.  At which point she would take off on a dead run and get ahead of us a bit and then wait for us to catch up.  Pretty sure she had way more energy than the rest of us we just need to work on the motivation.

We wrapped up by eating sandwiches for lunch at the cafe in the lodge at the top (it is becoming a bit of a tradition for us - I'm not the best at packing lunches) and then stopping in Stayton at an old-school A&W Rootbeer where we ordered ice cream treats through a phone from our booth.  Allison was rather fascinated with the phone!