Tag: Summer

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Heading Home

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One of the things we really enjoy when on a road trip is staying off of the interstate highways as much as possible!

Driving home along the Mississippi in Wisconsin allowed for interesting sites and finding fresh corn for sale at the end of a farms driveway…no pictures but wow you can’t beat fresh corn!

The roadside stops were interesting and this was at one of them…the guys really enjoyed using it!

We stopped to explore and play in Hastings MN.

Liam really really wanted to rent the scooter…unfortunately there wasn’t time and it also requires riders to be 18 and over…

We did find some other fun though…

Erik found a play to play too!!

Liam likes to climb and tease me that he is going to jump!!

The next stop was Stillwater MN where we climbed the 150 step stairs!

The bridge we were standing on used to be for vehicles, now it’s pedestrian only and the new bridge is in the background.

Another rest stop just before Hinckley MN where we stopped to grill. Liam had a great time in the play area with his skateboard!

We stayed overnight at the Hinckley Inn…we all had a good sleep…

The next morning we were off to Duluth MN for a little shopping…

Liam loves his Lego!

All things that drive

And esp visiting Camping world where he likes to explore the Ice Fishing “Shacks” and travel trailers.

One last cookout of the trip was in Beaver Bay…the weather had changed to drizzly and cool but that didn’t stop the fun!

One last stop to play and explore!

I didn’t take pictures but I did visit the newer quilt shop in Two Harbours MN on the way home it’s called One Old Loon and is well worth visiting!!!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Children and Creativity

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Our house was full of activity this week! We are truly blessed with grandchildren! Our time with them involves a lot of activities from soccer, quad and dirt biking and even target shooting (and other adventures which I will write about in another post).

Music to this grandmas ears is when Kaija who is almost 4 yrs asks if we can go to my studio and make something! She loves my scrap basket, looking and checking out my notions and my sewing machine.

This week she pulled some crumb piecing from the basket and we added some fusible batting to them and spent time together quilting the two pieces…just nice relaxing stitching using the walking foot and pink thread…her choice. Her job was the foot petal and some guiding with help of the quilt sand which. She loves to push the thread cutter and needle up and down buttons as well.

She was pretty proud of her work!

When we finished stitching she decided to add some colour to the back and very carefully wrote her name on each piece and coloured in the squares with a highlighter pen. The original plan was to make another pouch and she had picked out a pink zipper and fabric for a lining…instead she wanted to colour the back.

She proudly took her art home 😊 it may or may not come back to be turned into a pouch and that’s fine. I think it’s more important that she had fun and enjoyed the process and was allowed to make her project into what she envisioned!!

Kaija also spent a lot of time examining several different notions wondering what they were and what they were used for! I remember playing with my Moms sewing tools, I much preferred them over toys! I hope that she will continue to ask if we can make something 😊

My friend Ana Paula is offering Sewing Camps this summer in her fun bright studio. If you have budding artists and creators who are curious or interested in sewing you might consider checking out what she is offering! I know that as a child I would have been overjoyed!!!

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Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

June! and a Liam update

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Anyone who knows me knows that I love June! I always have for as long as I can remember!

The month started off welcoming and celebrating the grand opening of my friend Ana Paula’s new shop!

Two of my daughters share my birth month, the weather truly warms up and my world outside turns green!

Oh and Summer Solstice! Something else Liam and I share is the love of looking forward to and enjoying the longest daylight day of the year.

In the last years Liam delights in June looking forward to the first swim in the pool, barbecues (especially his favourite Bison Burgers) playing soccer outside and of course looking forward to summer holidays!!

This June for Liam marked a big milestone in his life! He graduated from grade 6 (grandma brag here…with an excellent report card!) on that note He had an amazing teacher this year and school really clicked for Liam starting in the fall, when he informed me that his teacher had a standing desk station for those who found sitting for long stretches hard. She also announced the snack table and that if you are hungry please have a snack! This woman clearly has a good understanding of 11 year old boys!! Liam will miss her and the elementary school but now moves onto Jr High in the fall.

This Junes ice cream cake was to celebrate Liam’s graduation!

He and his Mom spent well over an hour playing in the pool, the laughter was true music to my ears!!

Speaking of Liam and his Mom…she has shared her love of beading with him! The creativity in my family always amazes me and fills me with joy!!!

My Sister by choice and longtime very best friend came for a visit! Liam has met her before and when I mentioned something about her being a pilot and now is a captain he told me that he thought she was one of those people who bring you food! So we did some education 🥰 that those flight attendants are there much more for your safety than anything else!!

There was quilting happening as usual…though somehow I managed to pick up a flu bug and ended up spending quite a bit of the month dealing with that…thankfully that’s behind me!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Annual Birthday Trip

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We have been going to Duluth Minnesota every May or June since we met to celebrate Eriks birthday. (Missed the years when the border was closed)

We love the drive down, and usually stop for a few hikes…this year we chose not to feed the mosquitoes…they seem worse this year.

We did stop at the scenic lookout in Grand Portage. I am always in awe of all of the different greens in the spring and early summer!

I love Canal Park so we always book a room there so we can walk to restaurants and explore.

Much to Eriks delight I’m sure, I didn’t take the usual pictures in the restaurants haha.

This spring trip we usually do some shopping for supplies…this year was mainly parts for the backhoe on Eriks side of things.

My shopping in my opinion was way more fun!!! More Pantographs to add to my collection…it’s always so much fun to have more to offer and to learn, and of course fabric!!

We also visited 4 quilt shops missing one but will get there next time 😊

There is a new granddaughter arriving in August and the quilt requested is for pink!!!!

Thank you Megan at Hannah’s Quilt Shop you are amazing!!
Oh those puppies!!!

I really love my morning coffee and I really don’t like drinking from paper cups…so I almost always bring a favourite mug 🥰. Staying at the Inn on the Lake we request lakeside and ground floor and enjoy walking outside from the room.

Oh and the view!!

The hotel also offers bikes to borrow and the trails are fantastic in Duluth!

We stopped along the drive home…I thought of our rock collecting grandchildren and the fun they would have had!!

Lake Superior really offers spectacular views!! The lake was so calm yesterday.

After stopping at the DQ in Grand Marais for a bite to eat…we were on our way home. Sven and Ollie’s is open again which was our first choice but this popular pizza place had a very long line!

It’s good to be home!

My Longarm awaits!

I am really looking forward to my visit with Ana Paula and seeing her Studio and Open House today!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Dreaming of Summer Quilt 💐

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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!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Heading Home

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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!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Dells (part 3)

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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.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Dells (part 4)

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Our last at the Dells was spent at Circus World in Baraboo. https://www.circusworldbaraboo.org

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.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_World_Museum

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.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Dells (part 2)

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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.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Dells (part 1)

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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!