Too many to post!

I have been busy, too busy to post apparently! On our recent trip to visit family I finished 2 soakers, a sweater for Lucy, a cardi for my mom, and a dishcloth (small, but it counts!)

This is the cardi, a DROPS pattern that was difficult to decipher, to say the least! But I did figure it out and was thrilled with the finished project. It looks even better on...less boxy.
Pics of the soakers and Lucy's sweater are still on the camera, but I will get them up eventually.

I am currently working on a commisioned Dolly, and am now working on styling her hair. They are always much cuter once they get some hair!

I visited an awesome fiber store while in Ohio - Fiberworks, in Beavercreek, OH. They were super helpful and let me try out all the spinning wheels! I think I know which one I am officially lusting after - the Kromski Sonata. So now I know just how much I have to save up to get it! I also walked out with a few new spindles to hold me over until I can afford my wheel and some BFL in a gorgeous colorway, as well as 7 beautiful ounces of natural alpaca in a gorgeous grey. It is spinning up gorgeously! I think I'm going to knit it into a scarf and matching hat for myself for this winter! Yum!

I also returned from Ohio with a huge suitcase full of yarn, a la Aunt Lisa and company! Thanks! I am perusing baby blanket patterns and am planning to do some knitting for charity with all my new yarn and awesome assortment of colors! Plus it gives me lots of color options for Dollys!

I will post more pics when I get them off the camera!

Celebrating the Fourth, Martin style

After watching tractors, the kids rested up a bit and we watched radar to see if rain would ruin our Fourth of July plans. While it was cloudy and a little drizzly, we still had an awesome barbecue and fireworks with Curtis's aunt and uncle and clan!

This is how Lucy plays cornhole

Soon after we started the small stuff the ducks ran for the hills.
Getting ready for the big race...Toby picked out this train (of course!)
Ready, get set,...
GO!
Poor Toby's train did nothing but smoke a lot. But he had a lot of fun!
And getting the army men ready for the war


More small things...these were so much fun!
Toby and Mommy
Lucy and Mommy
We had a great time and a wonderful visit with everyone. We miss everyone so much already, but at the same time it's so nice to be HOME again! We didn't do anything yesterday, just chilled at home, and it was lovely! At some point this week I'm going to have to pick up and leave the house, but I'm just enjoying being home right now. :)

Well I have 2 whiney, hungry children so I suppose that means it's time to start breakfast. Have a great day!

And PS My new camera lens, which was backordered and I didn't expect for months, is supposed to arrive today so I'm sure I will take lots of pics playing with it! Expect some more soon.

Newport Aquarium and Wheat Threashers

Last week we hit up the Newport Aquarium and the wheat threshers reunion.

Here is a view of the big shark tank at the aquarium.

Seahorse
The octopus actually came out while we were standing there! Very cool.
Ok, out of order. Toby showing me the wheat. He loved all the tractors!

And back to the fish...Lucy's way of viewing the alligators on the glass walkway :)

Day out with Thomas; Young's Dairy

Grandpa and Grandma M treated the kids to a Day out with Thomas in Connersville, Indiana while we were in. We didn't even tell Toby where we were going, we just went for a drive, and as we got close, guess who we passed on the railroad! Thomas! Toby was so excited, I don't think he even knew what to say.

Here's the kids in their new Thomas shirts. (Toby is wearing his today)

This is what Lucy thought of Sir Topham Hat.
This was Toby's reaction.
Mommy and kids at the petting zoo part.
Grandma helped Toby with the pony ride. He loved it!

Ready to ride behind Thomas!
Lucy and Thomas
Toby and Thomas
Lucy had to try the lemon out of Grandpa's tea... :P
Curtis and I took the kids to Young's Dairy....YUM! We stopped by after we went to Wittenberg, which by the way I DID take pictures at but I don't know what happened to them....hmmmmm. The card must have eaten them, but that's the first time that's happened. Grrrrrrr. There were some cute ones too.

Anyway, Toby and the chickens at Young's Dairy.
The goat sniffing Toby at Young's.

Columbus Zoo and Sprinkler Fun

During the week while Curtis was in Nevada, mom and I took the kids to the Columbus Zoo. We had an awesome day - gorgeous weather, lots of animals!

Here's Toby and a gorilla face :)

A gorgeous black swan
The koala...he just looks so cuddly
Toby watching a ray swim by
Toby the prairie dog.
Toby even got to pet a flamingo! Just as we stepped into the zoo, mom and I were booking it for the exhibits and Toby says, "I saw a flamingo!" We turned around, and sure enough one of the keepers had brought out two flamingos for people to see and pet up close. Very cool!
Back in Lewisburg, we brought out the sprinklers one day for some backyard fun!

Blowing Bubbles/ Carriage Hill/ Heaven's Corner

Ok, this is from the beginning of our trip, waaaaaaay beack somewhere around June 6.

First off, we tried to play bubbles with the kids, and they wanted to, but....the puddles were oh so appealing. Lucy barely left the puddle and was soaked from waist down. And it was a little puddle to start with.



We took the kids to Carriage Hill on Sunday afternoon. Toby petted the horse and even got to collect eggs from the chicken coop! It was a great afternoon.
On Saturday we went with Curtis's parents to Heaven's Corner, a little zoo right in Preble County! They rescue animals - most of them very exotic - and keep them in a little zoo right in the middle of the country! Here's Toby with a "jaguar" (ok it's really a leopard, but he thought it was a jaguar and he was so excited I didn't have the heart to tell him it was something else)
Lucy was thrilled too.
This was my fav, of course! I even asked what they do with the fleece (yes, I am always thinking of fiber, how to use fiber, how to get fiber), and if only I knew how to shear a sheep I would have a fleece on my hands...but alas, I have no idea how to get it off the sheep. Ag.
This picture is just...because. I like birds (from a certain distance, I am most certainly not a bird-person), and thought this was a cool picture.
On Monday we met friends at the waterpark halfway between our houses. We had a blast - Toby LOVED it and wanted to go back EVERY day!

And thus, vacation ends

Perhaps you have noticed my absence the last month...or perhaps I just like to believe that I have enough readers to notice when I am absent...either way, I have been gone. I see I did not post at all the month of June, and believe it or not, this was the first month in the history of my blog that I didn't post at least once in the month! And my blog was born in October 2005, so that's a long stretch of posts.

Ok, record breaking aside, so where have we been? In Ohio, of course! We had planned on a two week trip to visit, and Curtis had to take a work trip in the middle of that. But when he got back we took a look at the calendar and decided to make it a three week trip instead! So it was a LONG trip, indeed!

We did so many fun things this trip...we really tried to make it a fun vacation for the kids, plus the time with family made it extra special. To break it up a little, I'm going to blog about each place seperately so I can tell stories and share pics without cramming it all into one ginormously long post.

As you can tell, we are home again. The house is still standing, and the weeds are standing taller than ever. The weeds are the only things that have grown, as the grass is brown and my garden is browner...dead, dead, dead. I was afraid that would happen, but it doesn't make the finding of it any easier. I was so looking forward to fresh veggies this summer. Guess I'll have to hit up the farmer's market instead.

Ok, onto the posts!