the long island aquarium.

Yesterday we headed with our good friend Annemarie to the Long Island Aquarium. We expected to be there for about an hour (shorter than the ride itself) but we wound up spending the entire day! The kids had a blast! They were able to see a sea lion show, pet stingrays, mine for gems, pick up crabs in the water, see sharks, penguins and monkeys. It was a great day!

Getting Sew-cial.

This weekend I took my very first sewing class. It. Was. Awesome.

I have been reading Victoria Findlay Wolfe's blog Bumble Beans for as long as I can remember. Recently she has won best in show at Quilt Con and put out a new book on her technique, which she calls "play."  So when I heard she was coming to my local quilt store, I had to be there!

I was too starstruck to take many photos. I really kept to myself in my own little corner, for the most part. But I did meet a few people (they all knew one another already) and best of all, I learned a ton! I can't wait to find the time [when my kids are off to college?] to finally finish the quilt we started in class. . . if only I weren't kidding!

The quilt hanging in the background was the project for the day. I barely made a dent in it!

Victoria holding up one of her amazing quilts.

Another work in progress.

Look at all of the tiny pieces that make up each flower!

Paper piecing one arm of a Lemoyne Star on yellow pages.

My star.

One of my blocks.

Where I left off. . . so fun!

a fantastic weekend.

This weekend was awesome. And then it was over. *Blink.
Always the way, right?

On Saturday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and took the boys into Brooklyn for pizza, ice cream, carousel rides and a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. By the time we got home, Andy wanted 1) to know why we don't live in Brooklyn and 2) for us to refer to him as "Mr. Brooklyn." (Rowan wanted to be known as "Mr. Carousel.") No kidding. These were their own requests. It was that good of a day.