Monday, August 29, 2011

Green!

So, I've noticed lately that I'm hooked on green. Not the earth friendly, Eco, biodegradable, recycle green (although I do recycle). I'm talking about the color. I am in looove with apple green in particular.




Sunday, August 28, 2011

Chappy!!

Emersyn just loves chappy!! Every time she comes over she heads to my bathroom and says "MiMi, I need 3 chappies"! Then she has to apply each one. Since she got a boatload for her birthday, I was able to put mine away in the drawer.




Friday, August 26, 2011

Our Princess turns 3!

Sketch Along Tuesdays #22 at "Frosted Designs". This is my first time posting a layout at a website other than Two-Peas-In-A-Bucket or Scrapbook.com.

I'm not crazy about the design of my title. I might change it or get over it.



I hope they don't mind over at Frosted Designs that I changed the size from a 12x12 to 8.5x11.
This was loads of fun and I can't wait to get started on another sketch challenge.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Very productive day. I went to see Peggy and worked on looking for photos to scrap. Even though we didn't actually cut any paper or paste anything down, she still enjoyed herself and considered it a "scrappy" day. Not sure if I posted this picture of the two of us in a previous post or not. We went to Baker's Square for lunch one day and I got the waitress (do they still call them that?..server?) to take this picture of us.
I'm hoping to get Wendy to come over to Peggy's and take our picture while we scrap. I think Diane would love that. Peggy's Alzheimer's seems to be progressing rather quickly...it's just too sad.

On a lighter note, Eric seems to be having waaaay too much fun with the camera settings on his Droid. I will for sure have to ask him for pointers. This picture was taken while they were at the park. People were flying kites and Eric just happened to have a couple in his trunk.
Emmy flying a kite!
Love the color and crispness of this photo he took. Another awesome shot of Emmy...
Covering a shell to hide for later.
Too sweet!! I love the colors of this one too. He's getting great at composition also! With the bad storm we had last night, Eric and family were without power for most of the day. We had them over for dinner. I did go into the office after lunch with Jenn, but the office was without power all day too so it looks like my plans to scrap and knit tomorrow are going to wait until after I get things done there. Speaking of lunch with Jenn, we went to the Tree House in Avon. Quaint little antique shop with amazing lunches. I had the lobster bisque and strawberry salad...yum! and Jenn had the chicken/artichoke soup and turkey salad. Both were delish!! We did have to deal with some pesky bees while trying to eat out on the little patio.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A good run.

Went for a 2 mile run this morning. It was a good run although I might get out there earlier on Friday to avoid the back to school buses and traffic.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A great week away!

Got away from it all for a week. We celebrated our 36th Wedding Anniversary by taking a week long camping trip to Hocking Hills Ohio. Oh man did we have a great time! Our friends Joe & Diane came on Saturday and stayed with us until Monday afternoon. We went Zip Lining..something I never would have thought to do. Especially since I hate roller-coasters. Totally different type of amusement though. Not being on a track and feeling like I have a bit more control might have had something to do with it. Anyway, whatever my reason-being a thing to cross off my "bucket list" or just to say "I did it", it was an amazing experience!

The 4 of us about 1/2 way through the adventure. Diane, me, Joe & Paul.
Our group. The peeps in the yellow hardhats were our guides.
The strangest thing happened. After we got all geared up and started walking to the training section, one of the guides mentioned "so, you're all from Avon Lake"? The 4 of us were thinking...well, just the 4 of us. Then one of the other people in our group said, "yea"! We couldn't believe our ears!! There was a husband and wife and their 2 kids in our group that were all from the same little town as us!! Really strange!
What fun!!!!
We explored the caves again but this time with Joe & Diane. Joe had never seen them before so we started with Old Man's Cave. 
Joe & Diane
Beautiful!
Walking into Conkles Hollow
Next we walked into Conkles Hollow which is totally different from the Old Man's Cave. Much more rain-forest like with moss and ferns everywhere. I wouldn't have been surprised to see a fairy or a gnome!

Diane taking in the vastness and beauty.


Joe & Diane stayed with us from Saturday until Monday. We had a great time!
Our campsite. We weren't thrilled with the size but at least it was level.

They brought some turkey burgers which Di had added some fresh sage from their garden..fantastic!
Rose Lake

Some day I will paint this...yes, I will!





After Joe & Di left, Paul and I spent some days driving around Hocking Hills in search of little shops and antique stores. We headed out and landed up at one point on a one lane dirt road..yikes! Twists and hairpin turns all along the way. We didn't know what we would do if we saw a car coming from the other direction. One of us would have had some backing up to do. One day we spotted a Lois's Antiques in the little local magazine. We found the shop and met the most delightful couple in the world! After we shopped in her little store, her husband was waiting outside and said he had a chair for us. Well, under a little tent in the front yard sat 4 chairs all facing each other. We sat and chatted for over 2 hours!!
Fred, Lois and their white German Shepherd, Heidi in front of the store.

Paul & I with Heidi.

The tent is just to the left of the driveway. Antiques were in the garage too :)
So, now that we've been camping a few times (3 to be exact), we now realize that doing dishes outside is a much more efficient and enjoyable experience than in the camper. We always put a pot of water on the campfire so while we're eating, hot water is being readied for dishes. I've been on the lookout now for the perfect pot to boil water in and I can't believe our luck this trip! In an antique store, we found this beauty:
Awesome!! It came with 6 little tin cups inside, one we kept to put peanut shells in.
 So, we're in a little gift shop with all kinds of country knick-knacks. Paul comes over to me and say's I've got to come see what he found. Well, needless to say-we now have a wind chime to beat all!! We love it!
Waitin' for the wind to blow! Too fun!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

A camping we will go...

Yep, we went camping with our new camper..twice. The first time was just Paul & myself at Findley. It was a kind of learning experience. The fridge quit working but all in all it was a great time.
Steve brought Winston by for a visit.

Paul made an awesome fire.


So, our 2nd trip was to Punderson State Park and this was a family camping trip.
Jenn borrowed our tent. In the background is the lake! We couldn't have picked a prettier site.
We did some fishing!

So, 2 of my 3 kids (Eric & Jenn) have this thing...a certain pointing stance.
I might get all the photos of "the pointing stance" from over the years and scrap a page about it. I think their children might be interested one day!


Logan had fun with his rubber snake. Reminds me of the movie "Tremors" LOL!



My sweet Jenn!
Jessie and Emmy.
Traci & Steve
Emmy and Eric


We celebrated Steve and Jessie's birthdays!
A day of golf from Jenn.




I can't wait til our next camping trip...coming up next weekend. Paul & I are going to Hocking Hills to celebrate our 36th Wedding Anniversary! Whoo Hoo!