Family Time

 The rare, non-quilty post. Just lots of family time this week.

My niece came to visit for two nights from Washington, DC. Two years ago she graduated from Harvard, and a few weeks ago she got her Master's Degree in Education from Johns Hopkins University:

To celebrate, she is off on a 7-week road trip, mostly by herself. She plans to visit as many National Parks as she can. Her itinerary is really something, about 7500 miles or so:

Shenandoah National Park--VA

New River Gorge National Park--WV

Huntsville, AL--two nights with us

Little Rock, AR

Oklahoma City, OK

Albuquerque, NM

Grand Canyon, AZ

Joshua Tree National Park, CA

Los Angeles, CA

San Francisco, CA

Redwood National Park, CA

Portland, OR

Spokane, WA

Glacier National Park, MT

Yellowstone National Park, WY

Custer/Rapid City, SD--Mount Rushmore

Chicago, IL

Niagara Falls, NY

Vermont

New Hampshire

We will enjoy photos from her various stops. 

While Devon was here, our two sons were able to join us--they hadn't seen her since Andy's wedding, 9 years ago:

Joshua, Devon, Andrew

She met our two grandkids, Stella and Sam:

                                        

Uncle Josh brought an early birthday present for Sam, who will soon turn 3:

The grands stayed with us for two nights because their Daddy was having foot surgery and had to be at the Surgery Center at 5:30 am. He has been a skateboarder since age 4 and at 40 some of those ankle injuries are needing attention. Turns out his beloved wife, Lauren, just found out she also  has a minor fracture in her foot, so they BOTH have boots:

The kids enjoy staying here for a couple nights. We took them to the farm, about an hour away, where my husband's siblings live. His sister and her daughter from South Mississippi had come to visit so we were able to spend a little time with them. His other sister took the kids on a tour, in search of the cows, which they did find, in the pond and shady tree grove to avoid the heat:

Stella and her cousin, Perrin

So, not much sewing for me this week but it's great to have the kids  here. They are funny, and smart, champion eaters, and sleep well all night--they just wake up so early! We love to see them come and then we love to see them go--back home to Mommy and Daddy where they can take care of their parents as they are healing.

Let's quilt.

Barbara