Lazy Days

I love holiday weekends, even if I don't have to worry about going back to work when they're over. Breanne came up yesterday for lunch and to visit little Miss Leia, who's all of 2 weeks and 4 days old already. I forgot my camera - darn it - so no photos this time.

Dick and I've spent most of today reading, with Dick watching a movie - the new one with Vin Diesel - and some teevee, while I sorted the stash and put more of it up on Ravelry. I **love** Rav's organizational tools. There's no way I'd organize things on my own; I've tried various times and always give up in frustration.For the last several months, I've been trying to work from my stash rather than buying new yarns. For that to work, I need to know what I have and where it is. I think I have most (three quarters?) of it listed and photographed now . . . over 300 yarns (including my handspun), 100 completed projects, and 144 books and magazines. Oh yeah, I definitely need to work from stash.

Projects

Mine: A baby blanket for Leia, based on an afghan pattern I've made several times. I love the cables and texture; I'm planning to put a big lacy border around the edge to finish it off. (The bottom picture is closest to the real color.)

Dick's: Finishing the molding around the dining room windows (no pictures yet) and getting ready to replace the ugly 70's linoleum floor in the kitchen. Matt tore out the old flooring today; most of it anyway. Some was just too stubborn to realize it's no longer wanted. I'm so not going to miss that flooring.

Spinderella

I did manage to get a little spinning done while Addy-sitting last week. This is the first of 16 ounces of 'Red Skies At Night' from Spinderella's in Utah. It's wool, alpaca, mohair and a little glitz.It's light, airy, and a dream to spin; it's working up much easier, and thinner, than the last batch of Frosted Fields. I'm planning to 3-ply this, aiming for a DK or sport weight yarn - or at least something less than the heavy worsted I've been getting. We'll see how it turns out. I've still got a ways to go.

Regular Programming

Addy left this morning (sad face), so tomorrow I'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Youngest child with youngest grandchild. Sweet.

When Rachel and John got back yesterday, we headed to Matt's for a family bbq. I even managed to get a picture of Gary with Leia - and I didn't have to twist his arm. When Addy was born, Gary was so afraid of hurting her that he flat refused to hold her unless we harassed him. It didn't help that she could sense his nervousness and started crying every time. He's more relaxed this time.

Addy shared her daddy with Leia

We're going to miss Addison. Only 360 days until we get her to ourselves again. But who's counting?

Water Baby

Addy loves her "feeshees" so Dick and I wanted to take her to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach before she went home. We'd just gotten in the door when Addy spotted this guy and made a beeline for him.
Addy liked the exhibits, especially the ones where she could get right up to the glass and try to touch the fish. The sea lions and otters were very active while we were there and Addy loved both. The jelly fish, one of my favorite displays, drew a giant yawn.But once we got outside, Addy was in heaven. She loved splashing in the manta ray pool; she had no interest in touching the rays, she just wanted to play in the water. The pool's edge is designed so Addy could lie on her belly and splash to her heart's content - while grandma kept a grip on her shirt and legs. Since Addy was getting tired, we stood outside the lorikeet exhibit rather than take her inside where the birds landing on her arms or head might scare her. I thought our day was about over and was making plans to leave when Addy spotted the water play area.

She saw the water spraying from the giant squid and took off for it at a dead run. I thought she'd come running back the first time the water hit her in the face. Wrong. She was thrilled; such a look of pure joy when she realized nobody was going to stop her from playing in the sprinklers.She chased the water, climbed on the squid, directed the water sprays at herself, and generally had a fantastic time. Can you tell from these photos just how wet she is? Water was literally pouring off her and she was soaked to the bone. She couldn't have been happier. Can you imagine how much fun she's going to have on the water rides at Disneyland when she's older?? A change of clothes - which Dick had the foresight to bring along - and a quick snack marked the end of our trip. Addy had a lot to tell her baby and her monkey on the ride home.

Visiting the Great-Grands

We'd planned to take Addy to see Dick's parents during her visit but we added to the fun when we persuaded Matt and Chris to let us take one-week-old Leia - and brother Miles - on her first visit to the great-grands.

Except for one little blip*, everything went perfectly. Leia met Great-Grandpa, Great-Grandma and Great-Aunt Vickie. Miles had met the great-grands before and was happy to visit again, especially when Great-Grandma agreed to play cars with him. Miles was such a sweetheart; he's usually a rough and tumble little boy, always on the go-go-go, but he instinctively knew to be very gentle when he climbed up on great-grandma's chair. We took along some puzzles for Miles - his second favorite toy, after his beloved cars - and books for Addy. Miles has never shown an interest in being read to, until today. When Addy climbed in my lap with a book, Miles snuggled up to my side. Addy wandered off a few minutes later but Miles stayed and insisted on re-reading the book at least 8 times. There was something about "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed" that just fascinated him.

*Addy's Rules:

1. During waking hours, the grandma must be within arm's reach at all times.
2. The grandma must do nothing that takes her attention away from the Addy-Baby. This includes bathroom breaks and photography.
   
3. Grandma may hold other babies (Addy loves babies), provided there is still room on the lap for Addy.
   
4. There are no acceptable substitutes for the grandma.
   
5. Failure to follow these rules leads to this:

Sad, isn't it? Pop-Pop, Aunt Marie, Miles, and the great-grandparents were all there with her. But the grandma went missing for 30 seconds. Meltdown.

License to Spoil

Doesn't this face just scream 'I'm in charge and I know it'? Our household is being run by a 20-month-old, and we're loving it. Addy spends the mornings hanging out with grandpa, eating breakfast, reading books and telling stories. Afternoons and evenings are grandma time; we play, read more books, do chores, and take naps.

It didn't take Addy long to figure out that she had us wrapped around her little finger. First she spotted the fish* in my studio - which is now her "feeeshy". It's bigger than she is, but she hauls it all over the house with her. Then she decided that my office chair (it's a great spinning wheel and weaving loom chair - totally adjustable) was her chair; it's now her favorite place for snacking. And I was ok with losing that chair; I still had my recliner where I could watch TV and work on the computer. Yeah, right.

I came back from a quick trip to the kitchen to find that Addy had claimed that for herself too. She'd hauled herself up, crossed her legs, and was mousing around like she'd been doing it all her life. Now whenever I leave the room, she climbs up, makes herself comfortable, and starts giggling when she sees me coming back.Addy's enjoying herself but she misses her mom and dad occasionally. Yesterday Dick found her sitting on the floor in front of a photo of mommy and daddy, reading to them from her favorite book (complete with smacking the bug, just like her mommy taught her). Totally an 'awwwwwww' moment.

*Gary won the fish at Sea World several years ago by knocking over milk cans with a baseball. It was 3 balls for $1. He won the red fish with the first dollar - and with his second dollar, he won the purple fish for me! He kept the red fish in his room until he out grew it, whereupon I claimed it for me - and now for Addy.

Crocus Bud Shawl

Remember the mystery fiber I got from Fearless Fibers a week or so ago? I finished crocheting the Crocus Bud Shawl (Rav link) on Sunday, then blocked it in sections over the last two days; it's much too long to do in one shot on my blocking board.

Today, I persuaded my two favorite models to help show it off. Addy was doing really well (doesn't she look like a little madonna? No, not the singer . . .) until she discovered how much fun it was to stick her fingers through the holes in the lace.
Marie's not quite as cute (sorry, Marie) but she's a little more reliable. The shawl is about 18" wide and over seven feet long, almost two feet longer than its preblocked size. The kid mohair is incredibly soft and the fabric drapes beautifully. I love how the colors shimmer in the sunlight. The pattern is a one-row repeat, easy to do but not boring, and makes a gorgeous shawl. This is one of those garments that's going to be an absolute pleasure to wear.

Tech specs: Crocus Bud Crocheted Shawl, size "K" hook, approx. 660 yards of 100% kid mohair yarn from Fearless Fibers.

Yabba Dabba Zoo

We've wanted to take the grandkids to my favorite zoo since summer began but each time we planned the trip, something seemed to come up (like new grand-daughters). But with Addy visiting from Colorado and school starting tomorrow for Naia, today was finally the perfect day. The Santa Barbara Zoo is great for younger kids; it's smaller than others in our area which makes it just right for shorter legs, and it has some great, kid-friendly exhibits like the climb-on-me turtle sculpture that Addy made friends with. The kids all enjoyed the little train that circles the zoo and Naia totally loved feeding the giraffes, with their long, purple tongues slurping up her offering. ($4 per person; a very cool experience and a great way to make $$ for the zoo!)

Miles' favorite things were running everywhere - he was in constant motion most of the day - and climbing on fences to get a better look at things.

(Dick is standing right beside him, ready to make the grab if things go awry.)

I thought Addy's favorite would be the monkeys - she loves looking for them in her books -

Mommy, grandma got me my own monkey! (And she hasn't put it down since she got it.)

but she loved the elephants. We got 'wow, wow, wow' when she first saw them; she would have stood watching them all day if we hadn't carried her away.
The zoo has added/enhanced the children's play area since we were last there. The tunnel was great for climbing and crawling; Addy loved following the big kids. The 'astro turf' on the hill was good for kids. Addy made it all the way to the top a couple of times; I had to catch her on the way down though - she got going so fast she couldn't stop. All three kids had a blast here; they didn't want to leave when it was time to see the rest of the animals.

I thought all this activity would wear them out and they'd fall asleep as soon as we got back in the car. Silly grandma. All three stayed awake the entire trip home. Just barely in Addy's case; she struggled to stay awake, not wanting to miss a single minute with Naia and Miles, but she passed out as soon as we laid her down on the bed.

And for Carolyn, the only flower photo I took all day. It's amazing how little time you have for taking 'pretty' pictures when you're wrangling three little kids.

Addy's Here!

Addy and her parents arrived Saturday. Addy enjoyed entertaining everyone on the flight from Denver; she's a veteran traveler, having flown at least a dozen times in the past year and a half. Addy loved meeting Leia; she was very gentle, patting Leia's arm and repeating 'baaaaby'.

Miss Leia is such a mellow baby; but she made her opinion known when dad had the audacity to change her diaper before giving her the bottle she wanted. Leia was hungry. And she made sure we all knew it. Other than that one time, she was an angel, sleeping through the continuous changes of scenery as we passed her around all evening. She keeps getting cuter every day.