Summer Fun -- Very Photo Heavy

 It was such an awesome summer for our little family.  School officially starts tomorrow.  Owen will be in 10th grade.  Here's some of the things we did this summer.  

We kicked the summer off at the local Memorial Day parade with Aunt Jo.  A Block Lotto quilt was there.

We had a great Challenger baseball season.  One of our coaches had a serious medical condition after losing his young wife last year.  He's on his way to recovery now.  The team played on.

Our son was also the manager for his high school team.  Challenger baseball was only once a week, so it was a nice, relaxing way to play baseball in the summer.

I got my first kayak for Mother's Day.  Here it is ready for the maiden voyage.  I LOVE IT!

I love to kayak and our son loves to magnet fish on the shore.  He plans the place, has to figure out the map on how to get there, and has to plan and pack the picnic lunch.  Happy happy family time.  My husband is usually at work, but we love our adventures.  Last summer was full of medical issues for all three of us.  This summer we got off the couch and enjoyed the outdoors.  I know his lunch doesn't look that healthy... but last year he lost so much weight because he couldn't eat due to a tonsil issue that lasted from May to September.  When we have very active days, I let the little things go.  We'll eat healthy when we are home.  My lunch is in that Keto Chow container.  I LOVE Keto Chow!

Of course we also did a miniature golf tour of all our favorite courses this summer.

More kayak time for me.  In the photo below I'm out in the middle of a larger area lake.  I can't believe how my skills improved so much so early in my kayaking journey.  I can still see our son on the shore and have creatively learned to operate my smart watch with my nose so that we can communicate.  LOL.  I suppose I could use Siri, but then it wouldn't be that creative.  It's just easier with my nose.

There was a lot of swimming in our above-ground pool at home.  Some days we didn't have the chemicals just right, one week we needed a part for the pump/filter.  Green or not, we had fun.

He started his first JOB!  He worked a five-week program in one of our local stores.  He loved all of the jobs that he got to do.  He was so dedicated and excited to set his alarm so that he could go to bed and then set his alarm so that he could get up.  He was very responsible with his paychecks.  He got a debit card.  It was an awesome experience.

Here's his team on the summer bowling league.  Nick's mom, Owen, and Nick (his classmate) are in the photo below.  Hopefully Nick will try out for the high school bowling team this winter.

Owen and Star have been best friends since they were about 18 months old.  They play baseball together, go to dances, and hang out with area youth groups.  Such a pair!

I surprised Owen for his birthday and took his to see his favorite YouTube personality, Stephen Shearer.  This was in June.  He's still taking about it.  What a great kid-friendly, appropriate entertainer!

He didn't get to meet him in person, but this was cool too.  The hand sign Owen is making is sign language for love.  "Share the Love" (the YouTuber's last name is Shearer -- pronounced Share) is very appropriate for his YouTube subscribers.  I don't mind listening to his music and seeing his videos.  It's a much better choice considering all the other things out there on the internet.

Then I joined a kayak group of women that plan lots of events.  There's no cost.  Just show up to an event.

It makes me feel safe to do some bigger places.  Owen gets to spend garage time with dad.  I get out a bit.  It's a win for all of us.  The girl in the hat started our group.  She wanted to find about 50 for so other women to kayak with in Ohio.  As of right now there are 6400 members!   I like to go and connect with one or two people.  Now I have more people I can contact if I want to just go paddle.

There was an FCA (Federation of Christian Athletes) all abilities camp.  Here's Owen with one of his baseball friends.  We have done this every year for the last few years.  See Owen's hair in the photo?  Yes, I left his battery operated shaver on the shelf so that he could start shaving by himself.  Well... one day when I was at school, he wanted to be like his "cool" YouTuber (above) and have a cool hair style.  He did this himself.  If that is the worst thing that happened while I left him be independent for a few hours while I was at school, that's not that bad.  He has matured so much this summer.  It grew back.

  

Yep, more Kayaking.

Then the family was off on vacation.  My husband took off the whole month of July.  Owen finished his summer job after the first week of July. 

Me & my Sweetie!  I love this photo!

Magnet fishing in Newport, North Carolina.  (He didn't find anything good.)

Beautiful sky but very hot and humid in North Carolina.

Family time.  Owen's first visit to the Atlantic Ocean.

Road tripping adventure in North Carolina.  

We hiked at a marsh -- and yes it was very hot and humid...

Mini golf was definitely on the schedule.

I picked this specific RV park because it was close to Emerald Isle.  It also had a great slide that went to the really nice pool.  We were in the pool at least five times that week.  Well worth it.

There's another putt putt adventure.  It seems the courses in this tourist area are more for looks and not for a challenge.  Lots of photo opportunities, but the holes were easy to play with lots of straight putts and few bumps/hazzards.  It was fun none-the-less.

The we found Owen's favorite place in the area -- Mack Daddy's.  It had mini golf, a driving range, go carts, an arcade, a bowling alley, and an ariel obstacle course.

While on vacation we found another "favorite activity".  Ariel obstacle courses (trails).  Basically you get strapped into a harness and maneuver obstacles up high.  Only Owen did it this time.

Sunset photo taken from our rv spot.

When we got home the "big boy" got to play with some of his digging equipment.  Here he an old cold storage cellar that had caved it.  It was built by his grandparents many years ago.  

Aunt Jo took him on another magnet fishing trip at her friend's private lake.  Aunt Jo reminisced about playing ice hockey and fishing parties when she was younger at this neighborhood lake.

More kayaking for me, of course. Owen magnet fished from the docks and ramps.  This is his favorite local place to magnet fish.  He calls it his "honey hole".  We find lots of hooks, weights, and lures here.  My other new hobby is paddling around the edge and finding lures stuck in trees and bobbers floating where the fishermen can't get to them from land.

The Canton, Ohio Hall of Fame Balloon Festival Crew.

I'm super excited that I can now fit into this dress that I bought a year or two ago for $1.49 per pound at our "last chance" Goodwill outlet.  I can wear dresses to church and school now!  I'm super excited!  I love my new healthy, active lifestyle-it's definitely paying off.

More digging.  This time it's a teaching moment.

Owen is a better student than me.  I just take the keys when my husband is at work and practice on my own.  Sometimes it works and I get a nice scoop of dirt for a new flowerbed.  Sometimes a big hole in the field needs to be "fixed" when he gets home from work.  I try to practice safety as much as possible.  But OH THE LOVING PATICENCE of this MAN!!!  I am so lucky that God has chose him to be by my side.

Next I discovering kyaking at night.  We call it a Glow Paddle event.

This is the group of women that went to see the purple martins.  It was a very cool event.  It's dark when we are done.  

We met up with another friend that we met last winter for some putt putt and bowling near his house.  

So now most of you can tell why I haven't been quilting as much as I used to.  With all of the medical stuff that happened to our family in 2022, I have learned that I just need to enjoy and PARTICIPATE in life instead of watching it from the sidelines.  Thank you to my regular followers (those who follow me and make sweet comments) (and even those few from my family or ex-family that follow me to be nosy and make fun of us.)  As a special note to the second group that is reading this to know that they have not stolen my joy.  I forgive you for what you did and have moved on with life.  I am not going to refrain from posting things from my other friends that I cherish so much.  Have a great school year.  

The Kayak

This year for mother's day I got a kayak.  I was a little worried if I would like it enough or if it would get used much.  Spots in my calendar have opened up and I have been using it about twice a week!  I am really enjoying it.

I helped a lot that I found a local facebook group of women that kayak.  There are many on-going local events.

Last week we went on an outing to see the purple martins at night.  I honestly went just because I wanted to paddle with the group at night.  BUT I didn 't realize how much I'd enjoy seeing the cool formation that the birds made.  It was like a movie when they flew in a tornado formation and low and formed a vortex.  Of course my son was texting me wondering what I was doing...He wanted a selfie to see.

Here's a simple light set-up that I got at the bin store for $1.  It works.  My paddle group knew it was me because nobody else had their kayak decorated as such.  That's the whole purpose to me.  It's hard to tell who's who on the water at night.

The lotus were beautiful!  You can't tell by this photo, but this one is about as big as an extra large grapefruit.

They were everywhere!

The trees along the shore were full of these birds.  They are called cormorants.  The trees looked like something in a Dr. Seuss book.

On The Frame -- A Friend's Quilt to Longarm

 After our little sorting project earlier this week, I had time to load a quilt that I am longarming for a friend.  I am back to school for the rest of this week.  I am a full time substitute teacher.  I'll be able to work on the quilting of this quilt an hour or two here and there until it is finished.  I am excited to get back into the routine.

This quilt is just basic strips sewn together.  It is wider at the bottom than at the top.  Some will need to be trimmed.  She gave me a blanket to use as the batting.  I am using one of my Circle Lord giant template boards for the quilting design.  This design is called Ribblets.

Returning to the Longarm Room

I'm slowly making my way back to the longarm room.  Here you see my administrative assistant sorting things that a friend gave me.  He loves to open the boxes and just sort.  Yes, he is happy to help.  

Here's what he started with.  I have to admit...it is exciting to open a box of fun.

There are big chunks of up to a half yard to sort.

Some are pieces of gently used sheets.

There are little boxes of shapes and cardboard templates that have been cut with scissors.

There are a few blocks that have been sewn.  Some have been sewn by hand.

There are triangle pieces, diamonds, and tumbler shapes.

There are several different sizes of squares.

I'm thankful for my sorter helper.  I'm not sure when all these shapes will be used.  All of the big chunks have made it to their respective color bin.  There were several fun neutrals.  We can always use neutrals.

There will be no quilting or sorting today.  I am taking the administrative assistant on an adventure to an Ariel trail.  It's one of those places that straps the kid to a harness and lets him climb all over different obstacles.  Sometimes there's a little zip line here or there.  He doesn't know where where we are going, but he is uber excited.  School for him starts on Tuesday, 8/22.  

School for me starts TOMORROW.  Although I have been working on and off most of the summer.  I substitute teach at a school that has an alternative calendar for the school year.  They basically go all year round, but have longer breaks during the school year.  They did have the month of July off.  I am excited to get back to a regular schedule for me and our son.

A Finish

 I finished quilting this quilt for a friend.  She will be celebrating her 91st birthday this month.

I longarm quilted it using a design from Urban Elementz called Marmalade.  I thought it would look cute on the pastels and soften the rectangles in the quilt.

Sweet Trails Pattern Test (for Canuck Quilter Designs)

 I quickly volunteered to be a pattern tester for Joanne Kerton of Canuck Quilter Designs.  This block is called Sweet Trails.  I love it!  It is a 12" finished block.  This is the second block that I recently had the privilege to test for Joanne.

I conveniently used yellow scraps to make this block so that I could like up with the RSC23.

Woven Kisses -- A Canuck Quilter Design

 I quickly volunteered to be a pattern tester for Joanne Kerton of Canuck Quilter Designs.  This block is called Woven Kisses.  I love it!  It is a 12" finished block.