Parent's Weekend at JMU

Parent's Weekend at JMU is a weekend filled with activities - lots of fun stuff. After picking up Cari we headed to the Outpost Bookstore to see what kind of trouble we could get into. She found quite a few things she just had to have, of course. I picked up a couple of t-shirts and a travel mug and Bob found a "JMU Mom" coffee mug that's the perfect size for tea! :)

From there we headed to dinner at Outback where Cari's roommate, Jocelyn, works. Jocelyn told me I simply had to try their new Caramel Appletini. I did. It was wonderful! By the time we left we needed to head back for the Colin Mochrie, Brad Sherwood Show (from "Whose Line is it Anyway?"). OH MY GOD ... what an evening filled with laughter. To say they are amazing is putting it mildly. I can't even imagine being that talented and thinking that fast on my feet. They are two crazy guys let me tell you. To tour the country and have no plan is inconceivable. But that's exactly what they do. Oh they have basic games they plan to play, but all the integral parts of the games are provided by those in the audience. When you see people shout out things in the audience on the TV show, it's true. That's how they do their show. And their show is crazy funny. My face hurt from smiling and laughing the entire time. I would go see them again in a heart beat!

We stayed at the Residence Inn in Waynesboro. It's a fairly new place and we loved it! Everyone who works there goes out of their way to make your stay as pleasant as possible. The ladies at the front desk told us about the Fall Arts Festival in downtown Waynesboro that weekend. Since we weren't able to get tickets for the football game Saturday (sold out) we decided to check out the arts festival after the picnic.

It was actually larger than we thought it would be and covered parts of several streets.


Bob checked out glassware - we did end up buying a couple of pieces (bowl and vase) from one lady. Cari found a bead booth and went home with beads and silk cording for a bracelet.

and before leaving we had to buy some of these beautiful local apples and honey ...


Cari needed some groceries so we headed to the nearest Walmart to pick up her supplies. A full cart later (which included 2 cases of water) we took the cold stuff back to our room to put in the fridge while we went to get some grub at Applebees. We had tickets for the Pops concert that evening but ended up not going. The concert didn't start until 8:30 and we were all just too tired to mess with it. After going back to Cari's dorm and putting everything away we decided it to go see if we could get her a piece of carpet for her floor and a piece of foam for her bed. Bob stayed at the dorm and played on the computer while Cari and I left. It was another late night by the time Bob and I got back to our room thirty minutes away. We both slept late Sunday morning!

We met Cari for lunch around noon and headed over to Wilson Hall for the A cappella-thon. JMU has seven a cappella groups and each one perform three songs. It was fabulous! I can't wait to hear them again. All of them were amazing. Bob said on the way home that he was sitting there thinking how untalented he is. LOL Those kids just blow you away with their talent.

About 5:00pm we headed for home. Between picking up Peanut and my car, which we left at Herb and Jean's, it was around 10:0pm by the time we got home. A very long and fun weekend!

... until next time,
QB

Balloon Ride

Bob and I have been wanting to go on a hot air balloon ride for ages. Since we decided to take an extra day before going up to JMU for Parent's Weekend, it seemed to be a good time. After researching the different companies in the Charlottesville area, we chose Bonaire Charter. Several weeks in advance I called and talked to Scott, who we later found out would be our pilot. I held myself back from getting super excited because I was afraid the weather wouldn't cooperate and we'd end up not being able to go. Monday before our scheduled ride on Thursday I called to confirm and it looked like the weather was going to be really nice, but Scott told me to call back after 2pm Thursday after he received the current update. As we drove towards Charlottesville the temperature was perfect and the sky a beautiful blue, with only a few fluffy clouds. I started letting myself get excited! Scott told us to meet him in the parking lot next to the Boar's Head Inn and we would be able to spot him because the basket would be in the back of the truck. He wasn't kidding! This is what we found we we drove up:

Scott then told us we'd be going to another location to light off with three other balloons! How cool!! My mind was already racing ahead to the photos I'd be able to get. :) It was fascinating to see the process from the very beginning! Kyle (the chaser) took this photo of us inside the balloon while it was still be blown up with the fan:

Once the balloon almost full of air, Scott started adding heat to the air ... and balloon started rising. It was SO COOL!

Lift-off was so gradual we didn't hardly even realize we were off the ground! It was so peaceful and serene. The views were awesome, especially with the other three balloons! The views were amazing. Of course I was snapping photos like crazy.


And one thing that really surprised us was the even 1300'+ in the air we could hear dogs barking like they were just down the street. Scott told us that they could hear conversations from the ground - that sounds are muffled by trees and buildings and such on the ground, but they carry in the air. It was wild. There are beautiful lakes in Charlottesville and we were above the one the UVA rowing team uses - we actually saw them practicing. Here's one of my favorite shots over the water:


The next amazing thing that happened was the "Splash and Go" technique. As we watched from our balloon, one of the other ones was slowly "falling" towards the water. As they got closer and closer to the water, Scott explained the "Splash and Go" technique to us. The pilot actually sets the basket down on the water for a few seconds, then takes off again. Wow! How cool is that?

... and here is OUR basket hitting the water. See the ripples?


How cool is that? Pretty cool, I'm thinkin'. As we rose again one of the other pilots warned Scott there was a front (with rain) coming in. We could actually see it...

Sadly, we needed to set down a bit earlier than otherwise so Scott started looking for an appropriate place to land. We ended up in a field, on a hill. It was a good thing Scott has been flying for 20 years and had plenty of experience. He walked that balloon up a hill like a dog. Kyle soon came along with the truck and the process of packing the balloon up began. Imagine our delight when we were asked to help! LOL

After the balloon was all packed up in the truck again, we headed back to the Boar's Head Inn where we enjoyed the final phase of this wonderful experience. Scott popped a bottle of champagne for us!

When we asked Scott to recommend a place for dinner he suggested "Duner's" right down the road. So off we headed. It was a small place with a packed parking lot, but we were immediately seated. As we browsed the menu, we ordered wine and munched on the delicious bread provided. Dinner was absolutely wonderful!! It was some of the best we've ever had! My marinated pork tenderloin and mashed sweet potatoes were amazing! By the time we headed back to our hotel we were slugs. The only thing that could've made our day/evening better was if Cari had been able to join us. She had planned to but had too many issues with her computer programming assignment that was due that night and couldn't make it. Hopefully next time though.

The first day of our trip started off with a bang. We looked forward to seeing some of Blue Ridge Parkway on Friday and having dinner with Cari.

... tata for now

photos by Wanda Troupe and Kyle.

More baby love!!

Got to see my little love bug on Thursday!! She is so beautiful and so sweet. Apparently, stranger anxiety has kicked in a bit early too. It had been over two week since she had seen me and as soon as she did the bottom lip poked out and she tuned up and cried. It was pitiful and cute at the same time! LOL Heidi was getting ready to give her a bath so I got to get a couple of shot of her enjoying it.


After she was all squeaky clean and dressed, I got to rock and feed her. Then it was play time:

Recent knitting projects ...

I finished my 3-way wrap a week or so ago. It's blocked and ready for buttons. I'm having trouble finding what I want. I've been to both local fabric stores and yarn shops with no luck. My next stop will be the Fabric Hut on Little Creek Road - it's been recommended. Hopefully I'll get there one day this week and find some that will really pop. (Update - went there and they didn't have anything either. UGH!) I'm working on Cari's 3-way wrap and will be looking for the perfect buttons for that as well. Hopefully, it will be finished and ready to give her next week when we go up for Parent's Weekend.

Here's mine - without big honkin' funky buttons ... still looking. :(
Cari's wrap ... finished!! :)

I've recently finished a couple of multi directional scarves. Love how both of them turned out! (Only took a photo of one ...)


I still have an afghan in progress for a Christmas gift. Will get cracking on that as soon as this wrap is completed. I haven't decided what's next after that.

That's all for now!

What fun!!

We FINALLY got our play time Saturday night!! Missy and I that is. It's been way too long - sometime in May - since we've played. Of course our "date" starts out with shopping. We always are short on some supplies for whatever we're doing - plus I always hoard some 40% off coupons that week too! Our list of choices is entirely too long to be sane. We discussed all these options:

• Scrapping
• Making cards
• Knitting and/or Crocheting
• Making Candles
• Making Soap
• Sewing (some fun projects in mind)
• Beading - bookmarks this time
• Xmas Gifts (can't tell you about them)

Scrapping and beading won out this time. We both bought some much needed paper packs, some new stamps, new ribbon and a few beads. So much fun!! We worked up an appetite with all of our shopping (Beach Scrapbooks, TJ Max & Michael's) our mouths were watering in anticipation of the delicious chicken nachos at Havana's. =:)

After a couple of brews and nachos, it was eventually time to head back and get to work. Opening and playing with all of our new loot (I think I used everything I bought except one stamp set!) was so much fun. Of course just being together was the best part. We lasted until about 1:30am and decided to call it a night. These are the beaded ribbon bookmarks I made:



Missy packed up about 10am in the morning and we headed to Panera for a breakfast sandwich and a wee bit more shopping. We've been doing this for many years now and we sure can tell when it's been too long. When life gets too busy and we don't get our time together we literally go into detox.

Oh I forgot! One of the things I found was my broom for Halloween!! It even has a purple band on it that matches my costume! :D Our Bunco group's next game is Oct 31 and we're all dressing up as witches. Yes, I will definitely have my camera ready that night!

Okay - off to do some domestic chores ...

Neptune Wine Festival ...

What a beautiful day we had for the wine festival!! It got a bit hot but the breeze off the beach made it bearable. Regina and I wasted no time making a bee line to Horton's tent to get another taste of that fabulous XOCO (chocolate wine). It was just as good as we had remembered from July. Yummm. Rick and Regina arrived about the same time we did ...

Mike, Paddy and Mr. Bill showed up a bit later on their bikes ...

Just sayin' ...

Slowly we made our way around to some of the booths. Bob really liked the Chateau Morrisette but I never did make it up to the booth for tasting - it was always too crowded. Surprisingly we found quite a few wines we really liked. James River Cellars Vineyards was one of our favorites - we pretty much liked all of their wines. During one of our breaks (the rest of the gang were off somewhere) Regina and I had our photo taken with King Neptune himself!

We all had a really nice time and are looking forward to going back next year, although we'll come a bit better prepared - we'll take our picnic basket full of goodies. :) I took this last shot from the parking garage on the way to the car.

... until next time ...

Baby Love ...

Went to see the smallest (although she sure is growing fast!) love of my life yesterday. We met at our old standby, iHop for brunch. I'm glad I only have one grand baby right now ... because I can truthfully and unabashedly say she it the most beautiful and sweetest baby in my world. It's really hard to accept how fast she's growing. It had only been a little over two weeks since I had seen her and I swear she grew a couple of inches! She's even more verbal than before and I'm so looking forward to hearing her squeal with delight!!

And here I am counting the days until I get to love on her again ...

The Mortal Instuments series

I just finished The Mortal Instruments series (City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass) by Cassandra Clare this afternoon. This is a basically another teenage fantasy love story with warlocks, shadowhunters (demon hunters), vampires, werewolves and of course, demons. Not usually in my normal range of fun, fictional reading material ... but I made it through all three books and they kept my attention. I wouldn't call them "must reads" but they are certainly good stories. After going to the website I discovered there will be another book in the series, due to come out in 2011. Here we go again. At least this one didn't leave me hanging over a cliff by my fingernails like Dream Fever did.

Haven't decided what's next yet ...

Morgan is growing SO FAST!!!

What fun Mom (Nana) and I had visiting with Heidi and Morgan last week! She is getting so big! At her checkup the week before she was up to 11 lbs and had grown 3-1/2 inches!!! She is smiling so sweet and has found her voice, talking and cooing up a storm. I can remember when my girls were little and how difficult it was to get anything accomplished because I wanted to nap when they were napping and play with them when they were awake! Here are some new snapshots from last week.






Now that Cari's back in school, she really missing her Morgan time. I guess I'll just have to pick up her slack until she can get back. :)

July/August FO's ...

This is the infamous multi fiber wrap Regina and I took a class to learn how to make. I love how it turned out. I'm now looking forward to making one from my stash using some funky fibers. :) I should get lots of opportunities to wear it. FRONT:

BACK:

CLOSEUP:

My FIRST pair of socks!! :) I've been wanting to learn how to do socks for quite a while. It just seemed that every time I started a pair something more important came up and I would end up aborting them. I have two sock books, so one day decided to get them out and learn how to do them on my own. I chose regular old Red Heart worsted weight acrylic so I could use larger needles and be able to learn the construction and finish them quickly. And I made them one at a time. I now have my first pair of two at a time on the needles but haven't gotten back to them in a few weeks. Since these are worsted weight they turned out more as slipper socks instead of socks you can actually wear with shoes, but that's ok. I learned the basic construction! I'm so tickled! LOL


This is the green scarf I finished for Cari. It's very soft and the perfect weight. I'm very happy with the results but I will have to say the pattern got pretty boring after a while.


This is the latest FO - just last night. It still needs to be washed and blocked - it needs some serious stretching. I would've made it longer but ran out of yarn - it needed at least one more rectangle. Oh well, hopefully the blocking will give me enough length. Oh and BTW the pattern is in the "Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders" book. Be sure to check the errata page for any pattern in this book. There was a couple for this one as well.



Still OTN (on the needles) is a 3-wrap for ME!; a black gray multi directional scarf and a pair of socks.

Have a great day!
QB