Another Year Older

Yep, Another year has flown by and that means another birthday is upon me. My sweetie planned out a day adventure in Chicago to help me celebrate. Our first stop was a music shop to pick out a new violin. Unfortunately I didn't find anything I wanted to purchase. Not too far away was a music festival we went to check out.


We were just in time to hear the play offs for the Midwest Fiddle Championship.

Next up was lunch at at a Costa Rican restaraunt-Irazu. The food tasted fresh and delicious!


If you're going to celebrate a birthday you need cake so the next stop was a yummy bakery.


He planned to take me to a bunch of fabric and yarn stops along the way but we ran out of time and they were all closed by the time we made our way around the traffic. We stopped at another music store on our way home and spent a couple of hours tinkering on guitar's and bass's. Now I have a mandolin, guitar, bass, and violin to add to my wish list. My neighbors are going to love me!

Summer is flying by!

Wow-It's July. Where did June go?

Both of my kids attended separate theater camps during June. The month was filled with carting kids to different places at different hours of the day. It was the first full length musical for my eldest. He had a fantastic time with 60 other young thespians putting together Miss Saigon with only 2 weeks of rehearsals.



I found out about a very unique 500 acre park only 40 miles from our home so we went to check it out. There are two history-rich museums in the park: the Robert R. McCormick Museum and the Cantigny First Division Museum. The First Division Museum contains over 10,000 items from every war and conflict from the Revolutionary War to Desert Storm. It's like having a Smithsonian in our backyard. Surrounding the First Division Museum they have 10 tanks on display. It's no surprise as to which part of the park were my kid's favorite.



I fell in love with the gardens. A little bit of "peace" on earth after touring the war history museum.



We are headed back to this park at the end of July for their birthday celebration. Complete with cake and ice cream, 19th century games, farm animals and period farming equipment, and the kid's favorite-backyard ballistics.

A Sheep in the City

What do I do if life is getting too serious?

Knit up a sheep and make him drive a tractor.

A bit Scattered

I have way too many hobbies going on at once. That's what happens when school is out for summer and I can dabble with whatever strikes my mood on a particular day.
First up is my sewing obsession. It has taken on the form of my knitting projects. I have way too many started at once so there are no completed projects to report.

I have a summer dress, 2 skirts, and a Kindle tote in progress. It sure is fun to pick out patterns and fabric!

A couple of weekends ago I went to a class with a friend to make goat milk cheese. We made chevre, fromagina, ricotta, mozarella, feta, and queso blanco.



The goats that provided the milk were right outside the "classroom" so that was neat. Cocoa was very patient with the first time milkers.


I think I've been away from eating animal products too long as it was very hard for me to taste the end results. Now I have the urge to make goat milk soap. The ingredients are proving to be a bit expensive though.

Summer is here and June came sooner than I expected. I started a new "workout" via wii and it's kicking my butt.

It's just like having a personal trainer right in my own living room. I am halfway through my 30 day challenge. If you have a wii and you're looking for a good workout Active is the way to go.

This past weekend we headed North to WI for our first camping/biking adventure in 3 years.



"In 1965 the Chicago-North Western Railroad removed the tracks and sold the right of way to the Wisconsin Conservation Department. The trail is considered to be the first rails to trails hiking and biking trail in the nation."
The best part about this trail is trekking trough the 3 tunnels.


There were so few people along the trail we had the campground and trail to ourselves. We had a great time despite the rainy/cold weather.

I have music and knitting adventures too but I'll have to save the details for another post.

Summertime

Summer officially begins at our house when the first person jumps in the backyard pool. Yesterday the pool proved to be very inviting and the kids couldn't resist getting in despite a water temperature of 67.



Last night the kids and I headed up to a class on owls. They were able to try to determine what an owl ate by dissecting a pellet. For a couple of squeamish kids they dug right in trying to separate and classify all the bones.



It was a perfect, clear, night sky too. They were amazed how dark it is in the country away from the city lights. We were able to see shooting stars, the planet Saturn, tons of constellations, and we spotted a couple of man made satellites moving across the sky. We headed home after 11pm and the kids were exhausted(so was I).

Rain,Rain Go Away

My better half took Friday off from work to hang out in the summery weather. We headed off to go biking again along the Fox River trail for a short 10 mile ride from Batavia to St. Charles.

This sculpture always greets us on the way through Pottawatomie Park in St. Charles. Meet Foxcycle, he's made entirely from recycled bicycle parts.

We were lucky to have such a nice, sunny day on Friday. The kid's earned free tickets to a Kane County Cougars game on Saturday but we didn't get to see a game played as the rain and thunderstorms blanketed the area.
On Saturday my eldest participated in his first piano competition. He ended up with a silver medal for second place. He was surprised he placed as he has only been playing for a bit over a year now.

He says now he's inclined to enter next year to strive for first place with a cash prize. It is amazing what this child can do when he motivates himself toward a goal.

A New Love

It started with a triangle shawl, the forest canopy shawl. I knit this in a beautiful green colorway from numma numma yarns at the end of February. Then I moved to a rectangle stole, the Woodland Shawl. It was in a bright, orange colorway from Fearless Fibers that brightened my dark March days.
My love for knitting lace on these two shawls brought me to Girasole. A circular shawl pattern with 7 different lace charts, a cast-on I've never tried, and a border that looked like it would take me a year to complete. I picked another colorway from numma numma yarns and cast on a couple of weeks ago. I finished blocking it over the weekend and it hasn't left my shoulders since.

I was able to impress the man and boys of my house with this project.

This lace knitting is addictive. I'm taking a break from lace for my next project, a cute, top down cardigan. But I've already printed out my next lace chart. It's a blanket pattern in bulky cotton yarn and I can't wait to cast on.