9-6-2015 Pianos

Decorated pianos were found on every corner

of the Street Art Fair we attended

in Cedar Rapids, IA.

There was also a half marathon just finishing up...

Lots of fun art to see...

My favorite

was this urban labyrinth

which I had to walk!

9-5-2015 What Were We Thinking?!?!?

DH & I decided to have a weekend get-away

so today we walked through the Amana Colonies...

with outdoor temps right at 100*F...

what were we thinking?!?!?

Later in the evening

we drove to an art museum

and enjoyed the air conditioning!

After which we found a cool place for dinner

and I had my very first 

Scotch Egg!

9-4-2015 Another HOT Day!

So we are cooling off in the pool...

Our neighbor's sewer line burst

so they dug it up and replaced it today.

9-3-2015 Beating the Heat

With temps in the upper 90's

we decided to find some indoor activities yesterday

and the Family Museum.

For GD#1, the world is her jungle gym

and she will climb it!

 She used all upper body strength

to pull herself up on top of this house

about 50 times!

Her little sister, GD#2

takes a play break and snuggles with the

mommy gorilla in her nest.

9-2-2015 Pip's New Digs

"Freckles" the Pip

now has his knickers, vest, scarf, coat and hat!

Some assembly required.

All that is left is the sewing up

and the addition of hair

and a Chicago Bears logo!

9-1-2015 First Day of 3-year-old Preschool

for my #1 granddaughter...

and my #1 grandson...

8-31-2015 Current Reads

Had fun learning a new stitch pattern!

8-30-2015 GGN Sleeves Started

Now that the body of my first ever adult sweater is knitted,

it is on to the sleeves

which are knit cuff to shoulder.

I spent 3 hours going over the 5 pages of 

math worksheets and an Excel spreadsheet for the sleeves

to try and figure out the increases, stitch counts and shaping.

I even wore my LuLaRoe "bunnies" skirt

because I figured that bunnies are good at math, right?

At least they are good at multiplication!

Anyway, after 3 hours of not being able to get the numbers

to come out right,

I drafted my math genius (MIT grad) hubby 

to help me out.

He found two mistakes in the excel spreadsheet itself

and 2 mistakes in the math worksheets

(not MY mistakes, but mistakes in the pattern)

and after a few quick calculations

he had me back on track with the correct numbers!

Thank you so much, dear hubby!

I plan to knit the sleeves two-at-a-time 

so they are both identical in row and stitch count

as well as tension.

I'm super excited to have the cuffs started now!

8-29-2015 GGN BODY DONE!!!

Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finished knitting the BODY/TORSO

of my GGN Norwegian Ski Sweater KAL sweater today!

I love how it is turning out!

Also finished up this VEST

for "Freckles" the PIP KAL.

Now its on to his COAT!

8-28-2015 Beet of a Different Color

 DH pulled this beet from our garden for dinner tonight...

we were surprised it wasn't solid red when we cut into it.

I think this seed must have sneaked into the seed package!

Isn't it pretty?!?!?

8-27-2015 Cool Day at Zoo

Yesterday, DH & I took advantage

of our cooler than normal temps

and took the GDs to the zoo

for maybe the last time this summer.

After a train ride around the zoo

we fed the fish, geese and ducks.

Then we fed the goats and sheep

and headed to the carousel.

Next we fed the giraffes.

Then we fed the colorful Lorikeets

who were very hungry and feisty!

They bit us!

Next we rode the ponies.

And finally, we rode the Lions

at the Zoo exit,

and ROARED!

 Afterwards, we had lunch a a 2+1/2 hour nap!

8-26-2015 Acorns

This little peanut is

helping mommy pick up acorns.

The tree in their back yard

drops several hundred pounds of them

every summer!

8-25-2015 Hiking

Lovely day for a hike at the park!

The GDs found a caterpillar.

Makes me miss all the many hikes DH & I took

over the 30 years we lived in Missouri.

The Ozarks were such a wonderful place to hike!

Iowa cornfields, not so much.

8-24-2015 Shawl from Poland

Received this beautiful Shawl

from a friend in Poland today!!!

Thank you so much!!!

I love it!!!

8-23-2015 Zentangle

Spent yesterday

at one of my fave places,

Sinsinawa,

for a Zentangle workshop.

Here are a few of the Zentangles I made

during the workshop.

You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

8-22-2015 First Boat Ride

The girls went for their first boat ride

on the Mississippi River

in the Channel Cat today.

When I asked them about it,

they told me it was scary!

8-21-2015 Desk

DH just finished building his desk

for the basement.

I think it turned out great!

I wonder if the kids will be able to find

the secret compartment!

8-20-2015 LuLaRoe Dresses

Wish I looked this cute

in my LuLaRoe dresses!!!

8-19-2015 Charlie Horse

Granddaughter

riding "Charlie Horse"

that Papa made.

Giddyap!

8-18-2015 Not Too Sure...

Pictures from my grandsons' recent trip to the zoo...

not too sure about these kangaroos!!!

...or these goats!!!

8-17-2015 Rain

Some rain is headed our way!!!

Wish we could direct it out west

to put out the wild fires

and relieve the drought!

8-16-2015 The Bottle Fairy

The Bottle Fairy (trash can)

came and took away the baby bottles

this weekend.

It makes Oma very happy

but the girls are a bit fussy about it!

It's now time to move on to sippy cups...