Our Favorite Dogs

The other highlight to being back in Schaumburg is seeing Emma and Max reunited! They have a great time together, when they aren't fighting over logs...

Emma raided the firewood pile

and found a nice log to chew on.

 Max wanted one too.

Emma refused to share,

so he had to chew on a stick.

Emma was hilarious!

Our dog is ridiculous,

apparently one giant log isn't enough...

  
Emma loved hanging out in the sun with her buddy. We miss him already! And those logs are more popular than any chew toy we've ever bought. Crazy canines!

Summer Crafting with Mom

Since Mom and Ron were cruising in Alaska for part of our visit, I wanted to do something relaxing with her when she got back. I found some very cute projects on Pinterest, so Mom and I had a very fun craft day!

Our projects involved lots of painting.

  

Day 1 of Crafting  was a success!

Project 1 - Flag Blocks

I love all projects made from 2x4s!

They found a great place on our island!

Project 2 - Firecrackers!

(And they remind me of Rice Krispies - hilarious!)

These turned out great!

Project 3 - Eat

Since we can't make a penny covered bar quite yet,

this will have to do!

I'm in LOVE!

I did bring my herbs in the car to Chicago,
then back to NY.
They're hanging in there!
(And look like they might be growing, too!)

I had a great time back in Schaumburg hanging out with the family! I felt so relaxed AND productive. I still can't believe I got all of those projects done! Now it's time to figure out what Mom and I are going to create for Christmas...

Sewing at Home

I was going to title this "Sister Sewing Day," but a more accurate title would have been "Sister Sewing Day Turns Into Sewing Marathon." Dylan and I spent a good two days sewing and working on various projects. Not surprisingly, I managed to fit in much less sewing than Dylan did. She is amazing!

The main reason for our sewing day was that I wanted to try my hand at sewing a cardigan. I didn't think I would be able to attempt it on my own, so I wanted her help. Dylan's been wanting to try some new projects, so on top of supervising me, she had to work on a few projects of her own (for me)! (I did manage to hem two of my existing skirts with minimal help from her, while she worked on these other projects.)

Dylan hard at work on my skirt.

Found the tutorial at Elle Apparel, 

but knew I could never make one myself.  

The nearly finished skirt!

(Photo of me in skirt to come ASAP)

I found this cardigan tutorial at the same blog.

Dylan agreed to finish the neck for me, 

so I can't wait to get it!

 Proof that I did most of the sewing!

We threw in a couple fun projects -

this work-out tank and this fun top.

I didn't like the tank top tutorial,

I think I'll try a different one next time...

After our first long day sewing,

we needed some food from Greek Fest!!

We had so much fun sewing! I still have a few things to finish, and obviously need to take photos IN the clothing that we've made, but that will have to wait for another blog post. She's also making me a very cute wrap dress, so I can't wait to see how that turns out!

Pensacola Adventures

In addition to totally spoiling Grayson, we were able to see some of the other attractions in Pensacola. On Monday, we explored the National Museum of Naval Aviation. We loved seeing all of the old planes and exploring the giant museum.

He loves his planes!

After the museum, 

we stopped by the Pensacola Lighthouse.

You can't climb the lighthouse in flip flops...

so I went barefoot!

On Tuesday morning, we woke up early and drove back to the base so we could watch the Blue Angels practice session.

After watching them fly all around, we went to spend another day at the beach. It was a beautiful day!

She is the cutest beach baby! 

We had such a great time in Florida. We miss those three so much already! We can't wait to visit them in their new home in Orlando - and have some new adventures!