So when I last left off, Cindy and Carrie were running from one vacation to another, working hard in between and trying to stay on top of the garden and lawn maintenance as well. At one point during all these planned vacations, I got the great idea to add another! My cousin Melinda was busy during this time growing her second baby and I asked her if she was going to have another baby shower. She said she'd talked about it with some friends and it seemed like it wasn't taboo to have a second shower, especially since she was having a girl this time. I asked her when it would be, she gave me an estimated date, and I said that I had that weekend off. She told me if I was going to come she'd make sure it happened that weekend. So I booked a trip. I convinced Mom to go with me by telling her the hotel we were staying at had a water-park attached and I'd pay for the hotel and airfare. So the second to last weekend of August we flew out of Pasco down to Phoenix. Now Mom and I have always said that our best trips are often: 1.) Planned at the last minute, and 2.) Contained within a 3 day weekend. Well this trip did not break that record. We had a blast! We got down to Phoenix late on Friday (also part of our M.O. - arrive very late at night at your destination and then try to drive somewhere) and on Saturday morning we met up with Melinda. Actually I think it was more like Saturday afternoon, because we went to the water-park for about an hour that morning, got all gussied up for the shower and then hit up a yarn store (because that's a requirement whenever we go someplace new). We visited with Melinda, Eric and Camden for a little while and then gathered the packages that had been mailed and Mom, Melinda and I all headed to the party. It was lovely! We got to meet all of Melinda's friends and co-workers, ate delicious food and cake, and played a few party games. Melinda opened her presents and she got plenty of adorable clothes, blankets and toys for Baby Girl. I really enjoyed meeting all the people I hear about in blog or on Facebook, especially Kelly - Baker and Cake Decorator Extraordinare. She made the amazing cake that looked like a teapot for the shower. Plus she has a wicked (as in awesome) sense of humor, because when we met she said it's like meeting a celebrity; you know a lot about them, but you don't know what to say. Kelly - "I really like your raised beds." Me - "I'm a big fan of your work."
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| That's right people! That's a cake!! |
After the party, Mom and I were still a bit hungry so Melinda joined us at one of their favorite places to eat, Smoothie Cafe. I'd heard about these amazing smoothies for so long and I needed to get one before we left. They also had delicious sandwiches so we had a well rounded meal. On Sunday everyone piled into Eric and Melinda's SUV and we went and visited her office as ASU and then went to the zoo. Camden was the real star of this point in the trip because he was wildly entertaining. He was going to turn, in his words, "3 candles" that Friday and told us all the things he was going to do for his birthday. He also told me how he really liked the ocean and could make the sound of waves breaking on a beach. I told him we had a lot in common. We all enjoyed walking around the zoo (except for maybe Eric, his knee was pretty swollen at the end) and Camden played for quite a while in the splash pad they have at the zoo.
Afterwards we all went to Sweet Tomatoes, a delicious buffet-style restaurant, and ate Arizona style - outside under the misters. Since I hadn't sent anything down for Camden's birthday, I had the bright idea that we'd take him to Toys R Us and let him pick out something. Melinda said this could go one of two ways, sweet and pleasant or tantrum and crying. I was up for either option. After lunch we went to the toy store and Melinda told Camden he could pick out something he wanted. The first thing he sees is the fart gun from Despicable Me. We said that it was a good toy, but maybe he wanted to look around a little more than just inside the door. We walked through the Legos (not interested), the Barbies (picked up a pink Mini Cooper) and then we made it to the Cars section. Here all former items were forgotten. Camden chose some single Cars and a pack of 10 (maybe? I can't really remember how many) that included ones he didn't have in his collection. He deemed these good and we were ready to go. Before we left, however, I walked over to the puzzles section to get a couple of those too. He's recently become interested in them and when we had arrived that was the first thing he showed me was his puzzles and we put one together. So obviously he needs more. We picked out two puzzles, an ocean one and a 3-D image one. Happy as a clam we all headed back home and I untied the cars while he played with puzzles and we watched a movie. Later Melinda, Mom and I all went to the Babies R Us so that she could look at the swings in person. Part of her shower presents was money towards one and she wanted to see them in person before she went and ordered one online. Wow. I didn't know there were ever so many options for baby swings. Or how pricey and high tech they can get! After that we went back, had some dinner, listened to Camden's nighttime stories and talked to Melinda and Eric for as long as we could. The next day we packed up, drove to the airport and flew home.
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| Some views from our hotel |
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| Downtown Phoenix in the distance |
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| Those hills look fake…like you're in an amusement park... |
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| The Columbia river welcoming us home |
I had told Melinda that I wanted to see a haboob (giant sand/dust storm) while we were there. They had promised thunderstorms all weekend, which what the storms usually precede, but no luck. When I got home, however, I found on my Facebook a picture of one with the tag that I'd just missed it. They had one about an hour after I took off on my plane! So close....
So about a week after coming back from Arizona we headed down to Cannon Beach. It was our usual 5 day summer stay and it was fabulous. We relaxed, knitted, ate good food, watched 3 weddings on the beach, knitted, drove down to the Tillamook Creamery, and walked the beach a lot! Mom and I both took our Fitbits with us and on one day I clocked over 16,000 steps! Woo hoo! I got to eat things I'm not usually allowed anymore, like donuts, ice cream, pizza and beer. We tried the crepe place and really liked them! I didn't overspend on yarn, but I did manage to buy some more fabric for making bags, which means I have about twelve sets waiting around for me to feel like sewing (which is a rare occasion indeed). I have been playing around with nail art lately and decided to try and put starfish on my toes in honor of the beach. They don't look much like the Pinterest picture, but they were cute nonetheless. It was a good time had by all.
Then at the end of September, Nicole thought she'd come up for a visit. It was the beginning of the fair up here and I told her we'd take Emily and her along for the ride, since we had decided our day to go was that Saturday. Nicole and Emily drove up on Friday and spent the long weekend with us, leaving on Monday to go to visit her parents for the rest of the week. Saturday was a lovely day and we did all the fair things you're supposed to do.
We visited the petting zoo…
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| Mom was thrilled with the goats. You can bet we'll be getting those next... |
And got some cotton candy (and an elephant ear for the adults)…
Took a tour through the kids' barn…
And found a pumpkin with Nicole's nickname on it…
And lastly found a house full of hops for Nicole.
She'd been saying that she missed the smell that signals the start of fall here in the valley. And it's true. Every morning on my way into work we pass the hop processing plants and when you get that good wiff of hops, then you know fall has arrived. Emily said they smelled "funny". Guess you have to grow up with that kind of thing. I also asked Nicole to help me make the messenger bag she had sent me material for. We cut it out and I gave it my best effort on Sunday to get it done, but I ended up having to finish it the next weekend I was off and mail it to her. At least she got to put her input in on what material she wanted where and I think she was happy with the final result. Poor thing didn't know that sewing is not my favorite thing. I like the item I get at the end, but the process is hell to get through. Especially cutting. I hate cutting the thing out. But those are the things we do for people we love. ;)
