A Busy Week with Excellent Company

A pumpkin my Mom crocheted for Kristen is now going home with Penny

 I spent the week with my granddaughter.  We filled every day with fun and activities.  Shared some time with the cousins, shopped, visited the library, the park...did some crafts, some "romantic " dancing.  Read some books, or should I say, A book, "Frozen", multiple times..

 We made this cool fairy play clay.  2 and a half cups cornstarch, I cup of scented hair conditioner.

 We mixed it with our hands, then added a few drops of food color and some glitter!

 It made the dreamiest play clay, smelled great and was so much fun to create with.

 This, in case you didn't recognize it, this is a wedding cake. (Decorated with eggs, tulips and penguins!)

Penny even came with to my guild's service night and helped.  That's my beautiful friend Judy and her wonderful son Jake.  Jake and Penny were best buds by the end of the evening and Grandpa was pooped from chasing after them in the Church corridors. (Grandpa helped too, but mostly wrangled the kids.)

I don't know who these ladies are...;-)

 We still managed  to complete many pillowcases and some other projects that needed our attention.

On Friday we picked up daughter Kristen at the airport and took them home.  It was a quiet house when we got back home. I missed our little one, but slept really well.  It's wonderful that Penny is so comfortable here with Grandma and Grandpa, and we love having her here with us.  It is WORK, but so much fun and tons of hugs and love. What a girl!

On Saturday we were invited to Michigan, just north of New Buffalo.  Brother Greg and Elizabeth were staying at a friend's home on a little vacation.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to hang out at the Lake.
It was cold, even a few snow flurries, and the wind was wild.

The beach was empty except for us.  You could walk for miles on that beach... It was amazing to have it all to ourselves. We were just visiting for the afternoon, but Elizabeth has been sending me photos of sunsets and sand dunes.  Tyler started a fire for us on the beach, but the wind was too strong to feel any heat. Still, it was just amazing! A really magical place.  I hope Greg and Elizabeth are able to return next year, and invite us back.;-)  I plan on walking that beach as far as I can go, another dream of mine!

 

 A little vineyard, cozy cottages and large
beautiful homes share the Lakefront.

 

 Spending time with the little nieces was great too.

Elizabeth found this battered Monarch on the beach.  I imagine it was crossing the Lake on it's way
south for the migration.  This really was the summer of the Monarch butterfly, especially for my Granddaughter and I.  I checked to see if this butterfly was tagged, but it was not.  The last two Monarchs I saw was on October 12th, both headed south.  Just imagining the journey these beautiful butterflies take all the way to Mexico,  fills me with awe.  This little one didn't make it, but I hope that thousands perhaps millions do.

Why is it that so many of us persist in thinking that autumn is a sad season?
Nature has merely fallen asleep,
and her dreams must be beautiful if we are to judge by her countenance.

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge-

Thanks so much for stopping by.  My posts are few and far between, especially when the little ones are visiting, but I appreciate your patience and kind comments.  Enjoy this beautiful day.