We Took a Vacation

In June, we took a trip.  I had a big "0" birthday and decided that I wanted to take a vacation trip to celebrate.

It just so happened that my SIL was traveling to Europe while we were on our vacation.  She wanted/needed a bag that she could carry cross body, having a zip at the top, and also having an outside zip pocket that she could stow her camera in.  I volunteered to make her a bag.  The bag I made is the Daytripper by Erin Erickson of Dog Under My Desk.  Erin doesn't pay me to promote her patterns, I just do because I like how they all turn out and find that they are really well written with tons of photos.  I have a lot of her patterns because I am always pleased with this one.  

Of course, I didn't really consider the cost of the materials when I told my SIL I would make it.  She told me she would pay for materials, but in my head I thought that I would already have most of them.  Nope, I ended up buying fabric and zippers and some interfacing, too.  The long and short of it is that this bag is not cheap to make ($50 in materials - unless you have some sort of wholesale connection or someone has gifted you with lots of fabrics and interfacing), but it has lots of room and comes together so nicely.  

Anyway, a pic of my SIL and her bag on vacation (which I put in the mail as I was driving out of town for my vacation… procrastinator, I am) :

My husband and I started our trip by heading to Lafayette, IN.  My uncle lives there and had been wanting us to visit.  So we visited for a bit and took him out to lunch.

Then, we headed to Indianapolis, IN.  We made a stop at Crimson Tate::Modern Quilter.  This shop is a.w.e.s.o.m.e!  There are no shops local to me that carry this much modern fabric.  I was in love from the moment I walked in.  If you're in that area and have the time, I highly recommend stopping.

We tried to go to another shop with car memorabilia, for my husband, but they have closed their doors since the last time that my husband was there.

Then it was on to Cincinnati, OH.  We stayed at a Hampton Inn, near the Cincinnati Zoo.  I wanted to mention it because the hotel was very nice!  Also, the employees seemed to just be so happy and like they truly enjoyed working there.  It struck me very positively.

We spent a day at the Cincinnati Zoo.  It was such a nice zoo.  Very pretty and nice to walk around.  We ended up at the giraffe area just as they were doing a thing… I don't know what they called it, but you could pay $1 and feed the selected giraffe a cracker.  We both did it, but didn't have the husband take a photo when I was feeding the giraffe.  It was fun and different.

Instead, you get a photo of me petting the tortoise!  We don't seem to get these closer encounters at the zoos in this area.

Once we left Cincinnati, we headed to Niagara Falls, ON.  (With an overnight stop on the way)

Niagara Falls was beautiful!!  If you have never been there, I would recommend adding it to your bucket list.  We took a tour that took us around to see some different sights and we did the boat tour where you get to go right up to the Falls (wearing the rain ponchos, of course).  Niagara Falls, ON has a great tourist bus system, too.  Make sure to take advantage of it if you travel to the Falls.  

When I came home, I sewed myself a bag.  This is the Snap Tote by bitterpurl, available to be purchased on Craftsy.  It didn't end up being as large as I imagined, based on the "tote" in the title, so I am carrying it as a purse.  (Granted, I should have payed attention to the measurements in the pattern before buying it… )  I made myself a little matching coin purse zippy wallet thing, too.

Since we've been home from vacation, not too much has been happening.  We had a bad storm last week, with a confirmed EF-1 tornado that touched down within miles of our home.  The bad part was, it was at 10-ish at night, so there was no real way to see what was coming… they set off the emergency sirens based on rotation viewed on the radar and it was only later that they were able to confirm a tornado, based on damage.  We ended up having no power for 40-ish hours (luckily, we have a generator that we used to run the refrigerator and deep freeze), and this puncture hole in the back of our garage.  We are so thankful that our home is in one piece and that we were able to stay safe. There were many trees around that that were just uprooted and tipped over, due in part to all of the rainy weather we had.

I'm hoping to be back to this space a little sooner the next time :)

A Day at the Zoo

Last week on Sunday, my husband and I took a quick trip to the zoo.  It was a beautiful day and even though we had lots that we needed to accomplish at home we wanted to spend some time together, just enjoying the day.  We have a zoo membership, so it didn't cost us any money except the fuel it took to drive there.

We both said it was the best time we have had at the zoo in a long time.  We arrived before the gates were even open, but there were lots of others waiting right along with us.  The animals were super active.  I'm not sure if that was due to the time of day or the delightful temperature.

I managed to snap some nice photos before the battery ran out in my camera.  I thought I had charged it, but obviously not long enough.

I thought this guy was really cool.  They always have what they call "Boo at the Zoo" and this was still hanging around due in no small part to the cool weather we had, I'm sure.

This guy is just enjoying the sun, I think:

                              

Even the lions were up and moving around: 

Okay, she's not up and moving, but I think she is beautiful:

                            

Sometimes we don't even see the snow leopards since they blend into their enclosure so well:

                           

The geese had to get in on the action, too, even though they are at the zoo willingly:

I had never noticed this carving before, so it may be new:

                                    

I have more photos and some stories, but I just realized it is past my bedtime....so more to come on another day!