Flaunt it Like Nelly Would....

This week i finished Avery's prairie bonnet....for our previously mentioned prairie days. And Mary, that title was for you! I thought of it as soon as i saw your comment on her pinafore.

she picked out a very colorful and modern floral by Kaffe Fassett. I am impressed with her taste. I also wanted to make this very old fashioned thing be more modern and updated. If you can update a bonnet?

I am more than thrilled that she wanted to wear it all today on our little afternoon trip to the river. My homemade gifts are not usually a thrill to my kids so to have her wear it and love it makes my day.

I found a very easy and fun tutorial on how to make a simple bonnet at Given Moments blog. i was able to make the brim, bonnet and ties with a fat quarter and used a contrasting fabric inside the brim.

Colleen's Quilt

Since my sister is visiting i took some time to get together the quilt i have been promising her for years. It came together really quickly. The pattern is easy and fun.

The favorite fabric here would be the one that i featured a few weeks ago. Colleen picked this one out and it was the center for the fabric choices...every other one was chosen to go with this one. It is adorable.

I hope to get it together and continue moving as fast as i have already. Cross your fingers...that means there is quilting to come.

The Met

Saturday morning we headed out early and took the train to NYC. We had a wonderful trip planned for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We took a cab to the museum from Grand Central so that the kids would not be tired already by the time we got there. Mitchell was very taken with the big buildings he could see from his seat in the taxi.
We spent lots of time in the Egyptian exhibit. The kids loved our made up stories about the hieroglyphs and what we thought that they meant.
William, was the most adorable blue hippo....wish he could come to our house. He would have a good home here. Maybe i can get one for myself.

all of the kids were doing their best mummy pose...they are a funny bunch.
One of the things i love about a great museum is the guards. There are always one that are scary and then there are the ones that make you laugh or teach you something or show you something you would never have noticed. This guard in the background spent all his time acting like a mummy and making the kids laugh.

It now seems to be expected that i bring along some notebooks and pencils so that the kids can sketch the art that thtey like while we are visiting. Mitchell got a lot more involved this time than usual....and the girls had a great time sketching as well, checking each others work as they went.

And what city trip would be complete without a chance to feed the pigeons. Avery was a little nervous about this, oddly, but Mitch was all for it. I think he gave them more of his pretzel than he actually ate.

Magic Water

We brought home many rocks and treasures from the beaches on Block Island...but as many beach goers might know, the rocks are much prettier wet. When they are dry you sometimes don't see how amazing they really are. The colors change, they sparkle and sometimes you can see right into the rocks.

Avery was not feeling so great and was in her room and it was just Mitch and I. We were in need of a fun distraction for this 4 year old. I had the idea to make a tray activity with the rocks. I spread them to one side of a tray on a dishtowel...put out a little bowl of water and a couple paint brushes. And as soon as you brush the "magic water" on the rocks they begin to change color.

It was such a fun activity...soothing and fun and magical all at once. The kids were not the only ones that spent time enjoying it...my mom and two of my sisters as well as myself took part in the painting. I will definitely be keeping this one out for a little while and we will surely be revisiting it over the school year when we need a quiet distraction during school time.

The End

One of our early island discoveries was this barn with Mitchell's name on it. He was so excited. I hope to get this framed up and in his room sometime soon.
Sweet Avery was so sure that somewhere on this island she would find her name too....as we were driving down the road one day she squealed with delight that she just saw a beach with her name on it. We did not have the heart to tell her that it was a road sign and that it was not her name. But she wanted us to investigate, so investigate we did and needless to say she was disappointed to find it really was just a road not a beach named after her.

Proof...after days of running in the other direction whenever anyone even mentioned a crab she finally got up the nerve to hold one herself. I think she was more proud of herself than we were. It is cool to see her conquer her fears.

Vacation was wonderful...we had so much fun being together and exploring this new place. Block Island is definitely going to be a destination for us again.

Another Beautiful Day

We are a cold beach family...we like putting on a sweatshirt and enjoying the cool breeze off the ocean while we explore the shore for treasures. None of that hot, swimsuit wearing beach for us.
Mitch and Avery had so much fun throwing a frisbee and running in the sand together. i love how thrilled they look with themselves, there must have been a really good throw.

Could she be more adorable? We caught her just standing at the edge of the beach watching the surf and looking out to sea. I love the hands behind the back.

I wanted to have things to do with us in case the weather was bad, but i also brought along watercolors. I thought that they would be fun to do on the beach with salt water. So i took them out and we sat together painting the beach. The wind presented a little challenge but we made do and have some paintings to show for our work....mine was amateur at best.

I love the look on her face as she was trying to get something right in her painting.

Rainy Vacation Fun

We were not about to let a little rain spoil our vacation fun. My kids know that the only place you can jump on beds is at the hotel so that is usually the first thing they want to do when we get there and the only thing they want to do anytime we are in the hotel instead of out and about exploring. This afternoon there were some drops to deal with so we went back and Chris caught the kids having so much fun....too much fun!

Peace at the Beach

You thought that i was done with the vacation pictures, right? But there are more, cause it is so hard to just pick a few.

The kids played on the beach for hours this day. I got to sit there with a blanket and a sweatshirt on, it was cold don't let the kids clothes fool you! I was able to read a book, non stop with no interruptions. Can you believe it? And Chris got to fly kites, what he loves the best about the beach!

I could hardly believe that the kids were in the water. Kids must have a different internal temperature than grown-ups. It was overcast, windy and it could not have been more than 60 degrees out. Had they lost their little minds?

Every day was amazing, but this was the best day. Just the hours, about 6, of peace and quiet, total relaxation, no fighting children. Amazing!