Are you ready for spring? Summer? Depending on where you live it might already be spring but here in North Western Ontario spring is weeks away dare I say months…
One of the quilts I had the privilege of quilting this week made me think of a pretty little cottage by a lake….
What a fantastic way to use a floral fabric stash!
I chose to use the Pantograph Garden Frills as it adds an almost Lacey feel and such a soft flow of stitching.
I really like the affect of laying a corner of the quilt top over the backing for the above picture as it was really hard to capture the true white backing and the soft pretty floral prints. This picture is a really close match.
This queen sized quilt is now trimmed and ready for binding!
Unfortunately it was a gray rainy day driving from Winona for much of the day.
We stopped in Red Wing MN and crossed over to Wisconsin to check out a place we had previously visited.
We had hoped to show Liam the barges that push the huge rafts but none were to be seen. Something for another time.
We visited the shoe store and museum in Redwing…
A quick stop in Duluth and Liam and I checked out Dicks sporting goods. We spotted this soccer ball…Liam decided he probably didn’t need it 😊
We stopped for a little hike at Temperance River
This was hard to see. Liam didn’t think it was wise.
One last ice cream stop in Grand Marais
We were happy to cross back into Canada and arrive home from such a fun filled trip. We are truly blessed to have so much time with our Grandson and share so many adventures with him!
With our stay at the Shamrock Motel we receive a wrist band for Noah’s Ark for every day of our stay and new to us this year was also a one day pass for Mount Olympus.
We chose to spend our last full day in the dells playing. We spent the morning at Noah’s ark enjoying a few more rides. We arrived just as the park was opening so the lines of some of the favourite rides weren’t as long as they get later in the day.
One of the big achievements this year that Liam had been considering was the Point of No Return slide…this slide is 100 feet high and a straight down slide. Erik really enjoys it, I however have not been able to talk myself into it.
Liam however did it twice!
You can see the Point of No Return slide on the left. I took videos of him on the slide and haven’t been able to add that to this post. So the picture shows him coming from another favourite slide.
We returned to the room for a little lunch
This was a smoked turkey leg, we actually cut up and shared after taking some fun pictures.
After lunch we walked up the road a bit to Mount Olympus, Liam complained a bit about the hike as it was a bit hot…but he had no idea of what was I store!
He and Pappa had so much fun driving the go carts!
After driving the 4 tracks it was time to enjoy the wave pool. It was pretty cool with its 9 foot waves! I was too busy enjoying it to take my own pictures.
We decided to return to Noah’s Ark to catch my favourite ride before the park closed. I absolutely love the Black Anaconda is a water rollercoaster so fast and fun…the guys don’t agree but they do come along!
After a full day of fun and a relaxing dinner we all slept well preparing for another day of adventures.
The weather was perfect thankfully and we were able to enjoy the show in the big top, tour all of the buildings as well as the outside trapeze act and motorcycle on the tightrope.
When we visited in 2019 there was a tiger show which was not there this time.
The big top performance this year had a pirate theme, it was a fun show to watch that included juggling, trapeze acts, clowning around of course and more.
Liam’s favourite act:
This guy was pretty amazing, you need to see the show yourself as I was watching it myself.An elephant tricycle…
Here is a link if you are interested in the history and story of this interesting attraction.
Sadly it was time to leave the Dells but we sure had a great time.
We decided to take a different way home in order to show Liam the Mississippi River and enjoy a more scenic route. We spent the night in Winona Minnesota, we have often stopped there to grill as they have a really nice park there.
Day 2 of our Dells trip we had planned to visit Circus World in Baraboo, however the weather had different plans for us an unpredicted thunder storm developed while we were on our way.
We decided to declare the day a shopping one as we had planned to have one anyways. So we pulled into a Blain’s Farm and Fleet store and what did Liam see first?
A little too big for now.
While at Menards he discovered a new kind of chair!
His find in Walmart…
This did not find its way into the cart.
When we finished our shopping in Baraboo we made our way back to the Lake Delton and visited the Cracker Barrel, again for a little shopping…and play.
The next stop was Market Square Cheese, Liam found the shopping there really interesting and fun. I was sad to see that Covid has changed things and they no longer let you sample the different flavours of cheese which had always led to purchases.
We did make sure to get some pictures with the mascot.
The one place we have really enjoyed eating at over the years is MooseJaw Pizza and they definitely lived up to our memories!
After our delicious pizza dinner we made our way to Pirates cove for some mini putt play.
But first had to check out a few things…
It was a fun game and the score keeper won…though the guys didn’t believe her!
We went for a walk on the downtown strip afterwards… it’s an interesting walk.
Liam had wanted a tattoo after seeing the, done the night before so why not 😊
After the guys made some new friends we found some ice cream to finish off the day.
In August 2019 we took Liam to Wisconsin Dells and introduced him to the fun at Noah’s Ark Water Park. Until the pandemic Erik and I had been going every summer at least once.
It really was a fun trip and we had planned to take Liam again the following summer…
Well we finally were able to fulfill the promise this month!
Starting the trip with ice cream of course!
We stopped at the DQ in Two Harbours MN
We spent some time shopping in Duluth on the way to the Dells. One of the stops was Camping World. Liam informed me that if someone told him he could have 20 minutes to spend a million dollars there he could easily do that!
He was really impressed with the deluxe ice fishing shack…and after 15% down and $417. For 240 months it could be his!
A few more toys that caught his eye…
One of the things that Liam often mentioned when he spoke of the trip was how much he liked was that we stop at rest stops to grill when we travel. This picture is from the 2019 trip.
And this year
We were able to find the same rest stop
We have stayed at the Shamrock Motel on almost all of our stays there, it’s the perfect place for us! It’s right across from Noah’s Ark and supplies wrist bands with your stay. Liam really enjoyed being able to sit and chat with Pappa just outside our door.
We also grill and picnic at the motel.
Of course the main purpose of the trip is the water park…
We spent the first day from opening to closing at the park. We normally take a break mid day and return to the room for lunch and a break. However not this year, Liam didn’t want to miss any time or rides!
The Raja was the big favourite of the guys this year!
My favourite ride is still the Black Anaconda which is a water rollercoaster, the guys don’t find it as exciting as I do but humour me anyways!
After closing the park we enjoyed a rest and picnic supper and later walked the downtown strip finishing off the day with some ice cream. We all had a really good sleep that night!
This was purchased as a kit and perfectly pieced. One of the frustrations that it’s maker, my friend shared was that there wasn’t enough fabric to mitre the final border. She did a great job making it work.
She chose the pantograph Shasta Daisy which was a perfect fit and really danced on the beautiful backing fabric!
Am so thankful to be able to share my love of quilting with others and to have the gift of helping them to bring their projects to completion!
Well with a look of the calendar we are a little past mid July…it’s been a full month.
One of the best things about my quilting business is that I can work throughout the day and evenings instead of having to fit life around my job. I am currently working on a king size quilt and have some others to share.
One of the best things in the summer is extra time with Liam…something he and I both agree on. He has spent as much time as he can in the pool and the weather for the most part has worked in his favour. Our pool is solar heated.
He can spend hours swimming and playing in there at times just floating around looking so relaxed!
He loves it when I get in too and we have been working on perfecting our frisbee game.
My Dad’s 85th birthday was this month. Life is good and he has certainly role modelled to his family what a healthy lifestyle can bring to life! Sadly we missed his party that I had planned due to Covid, so we had a second party after taking extra time to be sure we would all be safe.
My Auntie Marie had sent one of her blueberry pies along with my brother when he stopped to visit enroute from Calgary. Dad saved the pie to share with us. It turns out that blueberry pie isn’t only Dads favourite!
Liam has been asking me to teach him to make banana bread this summer…the days have been way too hot to use the oven. That is until yesterday. I haven’t made bread in a really long time and have been meaning to replace my old loaf pans so we made muffins instead.
We watched a YouTube video first which explained the process and then got busy.
He had a hard time waiting for them to cool… and a hard time not snacking on them during the day. At ten and a half his appetite seems to be constant…and he loves that he is almost as tall as I am.
It rained much of the day yesterday, but we did manage to get out for a walk together. I usually walk first thing in the morning in the summer while the guys sleep. Today is looking promising for both my morning walk and Liam’s pool time.
It was a hot day yesterday and Liam and I had made important plans for after school when I picked him up.
First thing was to head to Dairy Queen as he and Pappa had run out of ice cream cake in he freezer. Liam suggested that also have a small cone while there, his disappeared almost instantly and then he suggested that he finish mine…which he did.
Our special start to summer cake
As soon as we got to the house he raced in to get his swim suit on…he likes to be first one into the pool each year.
Such a happy day!
Followed with bison burgers for supper
And of course cake…
And more swimming!
He has 3 more days of school and then summer break.
Wendy’s Quilting and Life 