Fun with Friends

Playing in the park after school is one of the kids' favorite activity. Having it right next to school makes it easy too. There are nice slides and bridges, one for small children and another for big kids plus a rocket ship with several levels. Lots of mature trees and grass with little hills suitable for sports and kite flying etc. We love our park.

I happen to catch the kids having fun with their friends and just being kids. I brought our Air Hogs rocket which brought lots of kids asking to give it a go. The only problem is that one needs to be practically adult-size to jump and produce enough force to propel the rocket in the air. There is a space shuttle type attachment that will then detach and hopefully catch the wind and fly a ways. Tyler is able to launch it high if he jumps on it just so and he learned not to bend over the rocket while jumping otherwise you get a rocket into your face! All the kids have a grand time with it. Ahh, to be young and carefree!

Busy Hands

I'm a bit behind on my pictures but at least I'm blogging more.  Been working on sustaining our garden which is all very new to me. We planted strawberries (for Tyler) and a salsa garden (tomatoes, cilantro and jalapenos). There is also a pumpkin and watermelon patch. Also our avocado tree which has been lanquishing and scrawny for the last few years is now growing bigger. Yesterday, Hector pointed out a couple of little, tiny avocados (fingernail size) and I found 2 more. Yeah! Hopefully my tree will start producing lots of fruit to keep me happy.
I was planning a taking pictures of my little avocados but it's been drizzling all morning. Oh well.

I'm on a photography kick so I dug out my remote to take some more pictures of my Scandanavian socks. A bit off center but not too bad for my first attempts. I had fun with it so expect more shots in the future. I like my sock blockers but have to show the socks on feet now. :)

I will lots more to share after the weekend so be safe and have lots of fun!

Beached

I had lots of fun at the beach yesterday afternoon. It was a gorgeous day but a bit windy and chilly.

Some pictures at the beach yesterday.

It's breezy again today but the supposed rain clouds have passed by so I'll be off to test the other lens today (10-22mm).

Friday Field Trip

It's fun to meet up with a friend that you haven't seen for a while. Add a mini photo field trip to an area you've never explored and yummy cupcakes to make a terrific day.

Veronica like to take pictures and practice our photography so this time we headed over to Belmont Shores to find a cupcake shop. We used the GPS and that thing will get me there but it doesn't have common sense to get me to the nearest major street and then direct me from there. Nope, it decided to direct us through the local neighborhoods that had us turning and twisting and it definitely added about 15-20 minutes to our travel time. Bah! But we made it before the cupcake shop opened so we walked down the street toward the ocean. What a cute neighborhood. Lovely Spanish homes with great landscaping. We had fun with the variety of flowers and plants in the yards.

But then there is the cupcakes. Oh my, about 12 different flavors that looked so yummy. I ended buying half a dozen because I had to share with the kids. Hector doesn't have a sweet tooth at all. If they made a salty meat cupcake that would be another story. I had the butter toffee cupcake which was divine.

Very cute boutiques sprinkled among some chain stores and lots of restaurants especially Lebanese so that was intriguing to me. I have to make a mental note to try it.

Veronica and I always find something to shoot and talk so time flies by. We always say we need to do this more often and I'm gonna make sure we do.

Such concentration at basketball.

A cute litte prize.

Tyler busy digging a hole.

We ended the night with the school fair with the kids. They rode down the big inflatable slide and played a few games but mostly enjoyed time with their friends and playing on the school equipment.

Buffet

Domo costume that my talented cousin Grace made for Hannah's cartoon themed birthday party.

So darn cool. I want it.

Also I brought my banana chocolate DUI ice cream which turned out to be a big hit. What does that tell you about the people that were at this party! Hee hee.

My 2nd shawlette/scarf which doubles as a bandanna. I'm calling it Garden Mist because of the shades of gray, pale lavender, pink and green. I need something  for my moody days.

Joshua is such a great model.

Shrimp Chorizo Soup which is freakin awesome.

I think it'll be in my unexpected yet yummy recipes that I found online. Now that it's chilly May gray, I'm developing a craving for it again.

As you can tell, this post is a buffet that has a bit of everything. Help yourself.

showdown

On Saturday, Joshua asked me to help get his Nerf vest on then promptly got his Nerf sword and went outside. I grabbed my camera since he started going through his dueling moves. We have a huge rock in our front yard which was originally seen as a negative when we bought the house but our kids plus any kids that visit are magically drawn to the rock to climb and jump off. Joshua has mastered the rock and just doesn't jump off the rock; he launches himself off the rock. Then he'll do poses in his jumps which is awesome for me taking pictures. Honestly, I could make a coffee table book just of Josh's jumps.

Josh surveying his kingdom.

I welcome you to taste my sword.

Prepare to battle!!

Overhead jump slash!

The final blow to defeat his enemy.

Note: I just noticed that Josh's fly is down. Sorry. I also apologize for his hair too. I take responsibility because I cut it very badly.

Cotton Dish/wash cloths and Tribbles

Initially, when I first saw knit dishcloths I thought who would waste their time with these? But lately, I've obviously come around. Reusuable, bright and cheerful is what they are. Sure they take longer to dry but if I make enough of them, I'll have plenty on hand and throw them in the laundry.

The only problem is that my wrists hurt after knitting them. Darn carpal tunnel. I made these for my cousin Hannah. Just a little something for her birthday. Now to make some for me. :)

Catching up

I may have posted these finished projects but most likely not. Some of these are from February when I was busy with the Victoria/Vancouver trip. First item for viewing is the lovely USA hat.

 I cannot say how much I use Ravelry for resources and interacting with fellow knitters. If you're into knittting or crochet and not already a member, do it now! It's free. So back to my story. As soon as I got home, Ravelry had patterns posted of some of the Olympics hats seen on the athletes. Talented people who can look at a hat and chart out the pattern. It's amazing and these people post the pattern free for everyone to make and enjoy.

Here are my Scandanavian socks where I use 2 different yarns to create the pattern. Not as difficult as I thought but it does take getting used to. I frequently became tangled with the 4 balls of yarn around me but it was worth it.
I started a new pair of socks for the May/June KAL (knit a long). The moderators pick 2 pairs of socks and people try knitting them for those months. Some KALs are very specific that both socks are finished in the month along with the cast on date etc but this KAL is very relaxed which is great for me. The other KAL has to be strict because they offer goodies for the people who finish on time and to be honest I've never tried that one although I so like looking at their projects. :)
This is the Crosshatch Lace pattern with the lovely Fleece Artist yarn that I got from my sock club (but I didn't care for that pattern).

Summery colors of yellows, green and blue.
I'm still working on a pair of Sasquatch socks for our friend Matt who has whopper size 16 feet. I estimate that I'm about 1/2 way through the foot which is about 6 inches so far. I have a long way to go. I hope I have enough yarn..

Mother's Day Flowers

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms who devote their lives and love to their loved ones.

We planted some flowers yesterday in our garden. Some marigolds(?) and this pink one which I have no idea of its name.

The pink one is pretty small but my macro lens allows me to get really close (duh). The multi-hued orange ones are very pretty too and vibrant.

The boys also brought me some roses so I had to take pics of those too.

Enjoy your day!!

USA USA

I can't remember if i posted this video but here it is (maybe again). It shows more of the 1st game we went to in Vancouver. It is USA vs. Switzerland mens ice hockey. It is kinda long but it ends with the 2 girls off behind us taking off their clothes to reveal their USA flag bikinis. Yep. Quite a day.