Scenes from a retreat... 🌊

...so far!

This is my first year attending the NJ Shore Retreat and this is the view from the deck. Gorgeous!

That required a walk to the beach before it got too dark.

The view of the house we're staying in, I think there's 20 stitching ladies, with a couple of commuters.

Our middle of the day view.

First time I've seen all this on a horseshoe crab.

And what do stitch while at the beach? My Emerald Mermaid, of course!

I decided to frog the area that I started to stitch over one and go back to over two.

(what the HE was I thinking?!)

That's if for now, the weekend isn't over yet.

Family & Fun Time 💞

Last week, DH took off Wednesday and Thursday for family time since we couldn't take a vacation this summer and he's been working this whole time during the craziness. He already had off on Friday, so we had a bonus day too.

On Wednesday, we to went for a hike at Cunningham Falls. It was a beautiful day and we were mostly in the shade.

The guys got a little more closer than I did, I probably would have fallen!

Seeing some love on the rocks.

On the way home, we stopped for a late lunch and a drink at Idiom Brewing Co. Love those sours!

On Thursday, we went to Conowingo Dam. Poor Chewie did not like the winding road to get there and tossed all of his breakfast, yuck! Luckily it was on the plastic mat so I was able to dump in the grass. I guess it turned out to be a special treat for the vultures.

There were signs warning you about the vultures causing damage to vehicles and to park at your own risk, and it's true! This was not our car, although when we came back from looking at the dam, our car looked just like this! I decided to move it away from them and then we continued on our walk.

This was near the dam.

And home to lots of Eagles! We didn't see very many, but we/I'll be back to see some more later in the year.

This was a nice and easy hike, and Gman1's girlfirend C was able to join us, although she's apparently hidden in this photo!

We stopped for a little sit down by the rocks, Chewie didn't seem to like the water as much as we though he would.

View from the trail.

And some fun on the way back!

And imagine, we stopped at Independent Brewing Co for another late lunch and drinks! Poor Chewie, he was only allowed water. 

And for our Friday's adventure, see last week's post here for our golfing outing.

Last week I also tried ice dyeing for the first time. I had two fabric pieces and two white shirts I didn't wear very often, they might have had some stains on them?

Pretty in purple!

It seems to be working...

So close!

And then it rained that night/morning and I forgot that it was outside, oops. No worry, they still turned out.

The larger piece I got at a sale, so no biggie if it didn't turn out.

The smaller piece. a little too much white?

So maybe one of these patterns? I have lots more, but they're smaller. Any other suggestions?

And I like the way the shirts turned out!

So we had some great family days, just not quite what we had originally had planned for our summer.

Scenes from a... 🚶

HIKE!

DH wanted to go for a hike on Father's Day, so off we went and only a few miles away from home.

Years ago when we were there last (and I means years ago) this reservoir was a mucky area, but now filled back up with water. Gman2 got his shoe stuck in it way back when, but luckily didn't lose it!

DH and his boys!

Chewie very interested in the turtle we came across.

Hardly anyone was there except for some people fishing, and the kayaks in the water. You can see the kayaks at the edge of the water.

Beautiful day for a hike.

As usual, I'm behind everyone else. Stopping to take photos doesn't help!

I found some love on the trail.

Fabulous field of ferns and shrooms!

Our clan

And finally, time for a rinse off before heading back home.

A lovely Father's Day, ending with steaks on the grill for the guys and DH's requested iced sugar cookies for dessert!

Another road trip! 🍁

July was our family vacation to Montreal, Canada. Plane tickets were a little pricey, so we decided to drive. It was actually a nice ride, I'd head that way again!

Passing NY City

Such a beautiful drive.

I thought this was the perfect thing to stitch in the car. This is the one I picked up last year when we went to Toronto. I think I'm going to make it a biscornu, but change up some of the designs as to what we've seen in Niagara Falls, Toronto, and now Montreal.

We arrived!

Montreal

Fun in Old Montreal

Jazz Festival while we were there.

Montreal Olympic Park

This is what we did on July 4th, seemed appropriate. Not quite sure what's up with Nathan's expression!

Botanical Garden

The Biosphere

Some Montreal Street Art, it was everywhere.

We stayed near the Mount Royal Cross, so we hiked up there one afternoon after seeing it from afar.

DH and the Gmen went to a football game at McGill University one evening...

while Nathan and I hit the streets in search of ice cream. We found Le Bleuboy and enjoyed cooling down, 50's style!

A bakery we saw along our walk, just a little scary!

And then before we knew it, it was time to head home.

Overall a nice trip in spite of the heat wave! But next time we'll read the fine print and ask questions about where we're staying... no ac! Oh my, I think it was hotter here than at home. We had a fan for each of us to use, but it was still flippin' hot! We did a lot of walking, but survived. 
I'm not sure when, but I'm planning on our next Canadian adventure to be in Nova Scotia.


Not much stitching, but I did manage another block.
Ah, Tim Horton's, love it!