hi hi birdie!

We had planned to spend Sunday afternoon at the aviary on a family outing, but Barrett's poor infected ears had other plans.  So we left Barrett at home with the hubs to nap, and Britton and I set off on our adventure.  I had heard great things about the National Aviary, which is America's only independent indoor nonprofit zoo dedicated to birds.  And it happens to be right in Pittsburgh!

As luck would have it, we happened to show up smack dab in the middle of their Penguin Party!  And it wasn't crowded at all, so we could make our way through easily.  Britton I started out in the Wetlands exhibit, then found our favorite birds - the penguins!

Britton went into the tunnels to see the penguins closer - see her peeking out?  I even ventured into the tunnels to get a better look.

The penguins all have name tags on their wings, and this one is named TJ.  Definitely not a coincidence that Britton's favorite bird and PawPaw share the same name.

Then we went into the exhibit hall where Britton got her picture taken with Trubie, the first penguin hatched at the aviary.

We went to explore the rest of the exhibits.  This place is not big, so we could dawdle in the different areas and take our time watching the birds.

A couple walked up to us and asked us if we were leaving.  We weren't, so they gave us their tickets for the lorikeet feeding because they had to go.  How nice is that?  I was surprised and very appreciative.  We found the feeding, and got little cups of nectar.  Britton wasn't into holding the cups, so I did and she watched.  The minute we walked in the lorikeets were all over me!

I can definitely see up coming back with the hubs and Barrett, especially in the dark cold months of winter.  What a fantastic discovery!

the need to read

Britton has always loved reading. Or, more accurately, me reading to her. We average five books a night, regularly hit up the library and get 20 books at a time, and rank story time up there with dessert!  Last time we went to the library, I had picked up this "Dick and Jane" book on a lark.  On Friday night, Britton pulled it out during our nighttime reading session and proceeded to sound out and READ word after word.  She would make it through one page, then want to move on to the next. 

I've had Britton practice reading while we read, sounding out random words, and she's tried sentences in the "Learn to Read"-type books.  But this was the first time she read entire pages and kept going.  I was so excited that we charged downstairs so she could read for the hubs too!  She was so proud of herself, really proud, and I love that we've instilled a love of reading in her.

On Saturday, after soccer we went to the library and picked up three more "Dick and Jane" books!  And when lunch was ready, Britton let her pizza get cold while she read aloud from one of the new books.  Jessica and I used to sneak "Sweet Valley Twins" into the cafeteria in elementary school, so seeing Britton read instead of eating was a flashback of sorts!  

"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world.  Love of books is the best of all."

~ Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

faking an antique: the red and white quilt

I remember, a long time ago, my sister and I were driving through Rappahannock, Virginia or somewhere around there.  There was an antique store on the side of the road, with a sign that read, "ANTIQUES: MADE DAILY."  Yep, true story.  So while this brand new just-made quilt looks like an antique red and white quilt, it isn't.  Everything old is new again.  I'm so very in love with it!

Lately I've really been interested in antique quilts.  Add in my new appreciation for solids, and when I saw this quilt I knew it was on my to-do list.  A combination of snowball and nine-patch blocks - so simple yet so pretty.

Both solids are Kona, with the white being "Snow" and the red is "Rich Red."  I added a small red border and the wider white border to bring the quilt to a true twin size.  

I straight-line stitched crossways in the red, and then (a first for me!) I used a stencil in the middle of the snowball blocks.  This stencil is a continuous stencil, meaning I didn't have to stop sewing to complete the entire stencil.  It's a 5.5 inch interlocking heart design. I really like that from far away, it also looks like a snowflake.

I didn't put a label on this quilt because, well, honestly I forgot.  Instead, I stitched in the date.

Fresh out of the dryer and all crinkly and wrinkly.  I backed the quilt in muslim, making it look even more vintage, and ridiculously cozy and soft.

On the white border, I straight-line stitched rows, trying to keep them as evenly-spaced as possible.

It's now proudly lying at the foot of the guest bed, ready to be shown off to anyone who steps foot in my house.  I would not be surprised if Britton took off with it, because she is a connoisseur of all things snuggly!

to the mouse house!

We spent the last four days, three nights at Disney World, for Britton's last solo Disney trip.  Even though Barrett is down to one nap and walks well by himself, he's still too young to do Disney when Britton wants to go go go the minute we walk into the parks.  We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, my hands-down favorite resort.  You can't beat a 7 minute boat ride to Magic Kingdom, the park where we spend most of our time.  Princesses everywhere, so why resist it?  We happened to go during the Halloween Party (though we didn't attend the Halloween Party), and the decor had me itching to go home and decorate for fall!

There's been a lot of new construction since I was last there - Britton spied this Rapunzel tower, plus they've totally revamped Fantasyland and added a castle for Belle.

Rapunzel's Tower - unfortunately, no sign of Flynn Rider.

Belle's Castle

"It's a Small World."  The lady in front of us in line asked me what this ride is about.  Ummmm.... dolls from different regions and countries singing?  That answer seemed to suffice!

One new part of Fantasyland is Ariel's Grotto, where you get to meet tail-not-legs Ariel.

And we hit up the classics - Dumbo's Circus Ride, the carousel.  We got there on Wednesday, and I've never seen the park so empty.  I don't think we waited over 15 minutes for a ride.

We even caught the new parade from the pathway behind Cinderella's castle.  

We started out Thursday morning with the princess breakfast in Cinderella's castle.  Seriously, inside the castle.  I had heard good things about the breakfast and it did not disappoint.  Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel (with legs this time, because honestly why not?), Jasmine, and Sleeping Beauty were in attendance.  I guess Belle was sleeping in!  Each princess comes around to your table to chat and sign autographs and pose for pictures.  Their mannerisms and voices were spot-on and I got swept up in the princess-ness of it all (hence, me hopping up to pose with Ariel!).  Funny story - for some reason, every time we went to a meal, our reservation was flagged as a birthday celebration (the hubs turned 36 on the 15th).  And the waitress always brought out a cupcake and sang "Happy Birthday!"  By the fourth or so time this happened, the hubs just politely asked if we could skip the festivities!

Then, as if we hadn't met enough princesses, we got in line for Elsa and Anna.  The wait was about an hour, and it was getting progressively more hot and humid in the line, but Britton really wanted to meet them.  The Frozen sisters were fantastic, and I was in awe of Elsa's dress!

Britton loves the flying carpet ride.  This was my first time riding!

We had lunch at Crystal Palace, which was also a first for me.  Crystal Palace is a buffet located right at the front of Magic Kingdom, with Winnie-the-Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger.  Britton has apparently conquered her fears of the furries because she excitedly waited for each one to come to the table.  She even showed Winnie-the-Pooh her poor little Winnie.

Then we hit Main Street for some window shopping.  Britton spied the fancy real (and incredibly expensive) tiaras.  Britton was on the hunt for a candy apple, since she was convinced that it would get her loose tooth to come out.  Alas, it didn't!

But on the way out of the candy shop we ran into Mary Poppins!

And yes, I swear we actually went on the rides too, but this trip was chock-full of meet-and-greets.  I don't think Britton has ever met so many characters in one trip!

See that fan below?  Worth every penny.  Not only was it over 90 degrees on Thursday (we're not used to it because it's never gotten to 90 degrees at home this summer!), but the humidity was oppressive.

On Friday morning, we started off with another princess breakfast, this time in Norway at EPCOT.  It consisted of the same princesses as the day before, but added Belle and no Jasmine.  Then we went to the Nemo aquarium, and got to see the sting ray, fish, and turtles being fed by the divers.  Britton spoke to one of the aquarium guides for at least 10 minutes, asking her question after question after question!

Then we went to Animal Kingdom for the safari.  Can I admit something?  Other than the one time I rode the Yeti roller coaster with Caroline ages ago, I've only ever done the safari at Animal Kingdom.  It's a great park, and one I should explore more, but we've just not ever spent much time there.  On Friday, it was humid and rainy, and after waiting for the safari for almost an hour we were spent!

But the animals don't mind the rain, so we got to see tons on the safari.  And then we cooled off with ice cream!  After that, we went back to the hotel to rest and cool off in the pool.  

I think we must have walked ten miles a day, or at least it felt like it!  On the Monday before we left, I broke my middle left toe.  Seriously.  I was standing next to the swing set and Barrett started falling off the ladder, so I swung around to catch him and my toe somehow ended up all wonky.  There's nothing you can do for a broken toe, and I certainly had no intention of missing out of our Disney trip.  But my body was compensating for the hurt toe, and by Friday my legs and back were so out of whack that even sitting was painful.  We all had a great time, but by Saturday were we all ready to come home.  Bye Disney World!

kicking it, soccer-style

Britton started soccer this weekend!  She loved it so much last year that it was a given she'd be doing it again this fall.  It's an odd group this year, as none of the other kids seem to have ever played soccer before.  The first class was a lot of basic instruction, so I'm hoping that they will move on to more advanced skills so Britton can continue to progress.

And, total odd side note, her coach looks like Harry Styles.  But not in a good way.  It was kind of creepy.  But he's excited and seems to love working with kids, so I'll ignore the ridiculous hair for now.

One thing I love about this soccer program is that each practice ends with a quick scrimmage.  There's no real games, so I'm not carting her all over town multiple times a week.  I'd much rather Britton get to play and learn for the entire lesson than stand on a soccer field for a hour while they play a real game.

Britton loves being outside and running around, so soccer is a great fit for her.  Here's to a fun soccer season!