Pumpkin Carving

Fleece Socks

I've been on a sewing kick, I can't remember the last time I've sewed so much. Having the sewing machine out has really motivated me, usually the thought of getting it out of the closet and setting it up has discouraged me from sewing, and only when the bag of things-that-needs-holes-patched gets full do I finally get going.

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I've been somewhat working on caps, however things haven't been going well and I'm not sure how much longer I want to pursue that. My kids tell me, "don't give up!" but I needed something new (just a little break, don't worry kids!) So I tried sewing some socks! Initiallly I was looking into knitting them. But they just looked so hard, even though I know knitted socks are soooo much nicer. Sewed these babies in under 15 minutes, they're warm and fuzzy and Abby loved them.

Homebrewed Components

David's bike buddy Dan makes these cool bike cogs out of his home. They're so unique and I like the colors. He can custom make you one, check him out here.

Cycling Cap

David likes cycling caps, don't know why cuz they look so small on his head. ^_^ But one day he says, do you think you can sew one of these? Hmmm, I don't know, caps look so hard. But I guess I can try. So here's my first cap. Came out a little too big so Abby's bear Monty got a new cap. Since then I've been tinkering with two other patterns and after six caps I think I'm getting close to making one that would be sellable. Down the road I'll start screenprinting on them too.

Homemade Beeswax Lip Balm

I am one of those people who have dry lips year round. I'm constantly putting lip balm on my lips. But one day I read that the ingredients in commercial lip balm, namely phenol, camphor, and menthol actually cause the lips to dry out. Yes, they have some antibacterial properties, but no wonder my problem never went away. How sneaky, putting something in the product that'll make you need it more. So I started looking into making my own but wanted a simple recipe. Found one at eHow.com, pretty much just beeswax, oil, and essential oil. It was very simple to make, I melted the beeswax pearls and sweet almond oil in the microwave and added my spearmint essential oil. Poured them into old lip balm containers that I had been saving just for this very occasion (^_^). The balm came out harder than the store-bought kind but still very useable. However I could barely smell the spearmint. So I re-melted everything and added in 10 more drops of peppermint oil this time. I can smell it more but it doesn't taste like it or have that tingling sensation I thought the mint would give. Nonetheless, I am happy with my first batch. I bought my supplies on Etsy, the beeswax was about $2.50 (including shipping) and sweet almond oil was $7. I used about half of it and got five tubs out of it. And I know what's in them are all natural and aren't going to make my lips drier.

Tour de Fat - San Diego

The family drove down to San Diego to participate in the Tour de Fat put on by beermakers New Belgium. The day started off with a costume bike parade through town which was quite fun.

Back at Balboa Park there were festivities, unfortunately most of it occured in the 21+ beer garden. It wasn't quite "family friendly" as I thought so we didn't stay as long as planned.

The kids dressed up as Space Duck, Charger fan, and Cruella De Vil.

Day 8: Prescott

Took the kids to Lynx Lake in Prescott, AZ while David did his ride. Saw this trailer thing that said, "Trailhead Host." I've never seen anything like this before, I thought it was interesting. Sounds like a cool job.

Prescott Roasters

Whiskey Row



I'm a sucker for things that say "Sage" on it that I have to take a picture with Sage next to it. ^_^

Welcome to California...

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After we crossed into CA, we just wanted to get back to home-sweet-home.

Day 7: Slide Rock SP & Jerome

Slide Rock State Park in Sedona, AZ.

A very popular place in the summer, they have these natural water slides. There's algae on the bottom that makes it super slippery. However the water was freezing cold when we went but that didn't stop us from sliding!

Jerome, AZ. A small town mile-high between Sedona and Prescott.

Jerome had these funny products...

Day 6: Mesa Verde & Sedona

Mesa Verde: Cliff Palace. Only accessible by a ranger guided tour which was good in a way because we got to take pictures without having a whole lotta people in it. This place was really neat. Hard to imagine living in a place like this with hundreds of people.

Driving thru the Arizona desert heat.

Check out this super giant beef jerkey!

Sedona

If you're looking for a cheap place to stay in Sedona, look no further. $67/night for a room with two queen beds...

...and a pool and a jacuzzi!