Uncle Tyler meets Elliott for the first time!

During Tyler's recent visit, we drove to Maynard to visit Casey and Dave and so Tyler could meet Elliott for the first time.  We spent the night and had a great visit.  Elliott smiled and laughed for us - Tyler asked "does he ever cry?"  Hoping they will get to meet again at Christmas time???

Scrabble every night with Ty!

Tyler's recent Connecticut Visit - We go canoeing

Tyler came to the east for a visit arriving last Tuesday and staying until this morning when we took him to Albany for his long trek back to Oregon.  He spent the first two days with Jamie, Ian and Emmett in Saugerties, and we got him on Thursday evening until he departed today.  We decided it would be fun to take a boat out on the Housatonic River.  We wanted to raft, but the water is too low for rafting, so we opted for canoeing.  We rented a canoe and were driven to a spot where we dropped off our car then rode in a van with a canoe on top to the drop off point.  The trip was six miles total.  It was wicked hot that day but out on the river, we had a breeze most of the time and it was actually pleasant.  We were told the trip would take us about 2 hours, and that was just about how long it took us.  

Our driver takes the canoe off the top of his van.

Off we go for our 6 mile canoe ride along the Housatonic River - Tyler works the front paddle, I work the back paddle, and David sits in the middle being a backseat driver

At about the 3 mile plus mark, we stop for a break.  No, that is not a beer I'm drinking - it's a Diet Coke!

Happy canoers!

Tyler being our lead man for the whole 6 miles.

                                    We see a great blue heron fishing along the side of the river.

It was a really, really great trip and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  There is also a 13 mile trip you can take, and I might be up for a longer ride one day.  I will, however, leave Dave Davis at home.  He is such a nervous Nelly when he gets on water, despite the fact we were never far from shore, could often see the bottom of the river, and he was wearing a life jacket.  He was terrified we were going to tip over and shouted out orders when Tyler and I failed to paddle in an exact straight line right down the middle of the river.  Jeez!  Buzz kill!  So Ty and I just laughed and ignored most of what he said.  Next time, if Ty isn't here, I'll take Ian.  If he can canoe across the Hudson River, this would be a piece of cake for him!!

Latest Ginger/Laurie Project

My friend Ginger and I decided a month or so ago that we would make shadowboxes as our next project.  I was coming to Indy for a visit in July, so we set that as the date for them to be completed.  Ginger had purchased a chipboard shadowbox at a craft store, but I had purchased this old wooden one at one of the craft shows I went to last year and had not done anything with it.

Here is the finished project.  I backed each little cubby with a different paper then glued in various new and vintage elements.  There is really no particular theme, but I just tried to keep the overall composition harmonious.

We going to start working on a Halloween themed shadowbox, so I've been trolling the internet looking for vintage letterpress trays.

Please get me out of here!!!!!!!!

This is my gate at the Washington DC airport where I spent most of yesterday trying to get home from my Indiana visit.  Here's how it went down:

1.  Original flight leaving Indy at 9:34 AM - canceled at 7:30 AM
2.  Rebooked flight through Washington DC leaving Indy at 11:10 AM
3.  Flight out of DC to leave for Albany at 3:05 PM, then 3:30 PM, then 4:00 PM, then 4:30 PM and finally pulled away from the gate about 4:45.
4.  Plane taxis to the runway then stops.  Pilot says we can't go because of weather in our flight path.  We sit on the airplane for 2 hours 30 minutes.
5.  Plane taxies back to gate as they can't keep us on any longer than 3 hours or have to pay a fine of $75,000 per person.  On the way back to the gate, flight is canceled.
6.  Rebook another flight to Albany leaving at 10:00 PM.
7.  Eat dinner at the same restaurant where I had lunch.  Drank a BIG glass of wine.
8.  At 9:40 we board plane for Albany.  Plane leaves gate at 10:20 and taxies what seems like miles.  I'm thinking now we are just going to drive to Albany.
9.  Pilot stops plane and says we have to wait - weather again.  So we taxi back towards terminal.  I look out the window and see gate 38 go by - that's where we started.
10.  Finally get clearance to go and take off at 10:50 PM.
11.  Arrive in Albany at midnight.  Luggage has made it - eureka!
12.  Take shuttle bus to economy parking lot, get in my car, drive 1 hour 45 minutes to Sharon.
13.  Arrive Sharon at 2 AM.
14.  Lesson:  I should have driven home.  I would have gotten here faster and with lower blood pressure.

Summer Fun and Sun Unity Challenge

Summer Fun and Sun Unity Challenge