Young's

I could count on one hand--probably on two or three fingers, at most--the number of times that I've made a trip back to Ohio and not gone to Young's Jersey Dairy. I even remember going at Christmas once (when they had some cinnamon ice cream that Doug thought was very cool). The day that we picked for this excursion, by mischance, happened to be the day of the Yellow Springs street fair, and the place was packed. There was a line going out the door. Fortunately we didn't have to wait too long, as someone came back and told us that we could order ice cream at the food counter, which we did.



We went outside to eat. Kate and I shared some strawberry and French vanilla. Yum!



Elizabeth enjoyed feeding herself some ice cream...



... with golf ball on the side.



Hazel got to try a little. Too cold!



After the ice cream, we went into the barn to see the animals.





This must be why they tell you to wash your hands after visiting the barn.



Feeding the goats outside.



Kirsten was having a good time too!




They had this little ride--a train of oil-drum cars pulled by a tractor. Kate and Elizabeth both got to go on it.





They went out into the field, and even went through a big pipe-tunnel twice. When they got back, Peter said, "Wow, that ride was four-and-a-half minutes long. That's like The Beast!"



Barb watches.



Doug!



Me and Andy (on grandma's camera).



We had some fun with these cutouts.





Karen, Elizabeth, and Peter.



Playing with Daddy's hat.



Ice cream, animals, and fun! A good time was had by all.

Indivisible

This is Peter in his "Indivisible" shirt. I mentioned in this post how Brandon Sanderson described Peter as "incalculable" in the acknowledgments of the first Mistborn book. At my suggestion, Peter got a shirt made with "Incalculable" on it, and wore it to a book signing. Brandon told me he was going to have to come up with a new adjective for Peter in each book. In the third Mistborn book he thanks "the indivisible Peter Ahlstrom."

Peter had been looking for another full-time job since getting laid off at Tokyopop (along with about 40% off the staff). He was able to take on some other work, but it was difficult, especially with housing costs in the Los Angeles area being what they are. Then just a couple of months ago Brandon hired Peter as his personal assistant, so he and his family moved to Provo (Utah). This is a great job for Peter, and from what we hear seems to be going well for Brandon, too.

Warbreaker, recently released, describes Peter as "insoluble."

(Mom: "Meaning...what?"

Peter: "It means I can't be dissolved in water."

Mom: "But why does that refer to you, specifically?"

Peter: "Because I can't be dissolved in water.")

Yep, he's got the "Insoluble" shirt ready too. (I just finished Warbreaker a few days ago. Good story.)

The Days are Just Packed

More from Ohio!



When I was about 14 I went through a phase of making stuffed animals and trying to sell them (at craft fairs and a consignment store). The remaining relics of this venture have been bagged and stashed on a shelf in the garage. I dug them out for the kids to play with while we were there.



Andy finds himself surrounded.




Kate gallops across the lawn with a unicorn.




My parents got this little inflatable baby pool that we set up in the front yard. Kate and Elizabeth enjoyed splashing around in it.



Tricky lighting! I got some more pictures of Elizabeth later when it was more overcast.





They also got a sandbox for the back yard, along with some great sand that packed wonderfully. It was like playing in brown sugar. (Elizabeth apparently thought so too, and tried eating it.)





Kyle spent a lot of time landscaping around the deck and the swing house.



Hazel on the swing with her dad and grandma.



Kate and Andy with Aunt Barbie, on the other side of the swing.



Andy! Barb kept exclaiming about how light he was, compared to Hazel.



Elizabeth encounters Mollie the cat.



Grandma with Andy on the deck.



And with Elizabeth.



I wonder what family get-togethers will entail when the kids are older. Obstacle courses in the back yard? Box forts? Slip 'N Slides? So many fun possibilities.

Andy at 25 weeks

We're back! We ended up reinstalling Windows, which means I have to reinstall all my programs, too. (Didn't lose any files, though--hooray for partitioning!) And the car has a new alternator.

These were taken in Ohio, June 20.

We are experiencing technical difficulties.

It seems I did something to my computer a few days ago. Doug suspects a registry or driver corruption. We're working on it, but right now I can't work on my pictures. (I've been reading and crocheting a lot.)

Something may be wrong with our car, too. The battery light came on Saturday night, while we were on the way home from our Independence Day cookout at Scott's. Sunday morning, as we were getting ready for church, Doug said, "I guess I'd better go out and see if the car will start." and then he thought better of it. If he did get the car to start, that's no guarantee that he would be able to get it to start again later. So I suggested we should just walk to church, and then he could take the car up to Schuck's on Monday. Kate was grumpy and resistant to getting ready (which often happens on Sunday mornings), but as soon as I told her we were going to walk to church she got all excited. She said, "Are we going to have a parade? Can I bring my flag?" So we had a parade to church. It's about four blocks. Kate sat in the stroller with her flag (plastic deal on a dowel about two feet long, that Scott gave her), and I carried Andy. We were a little bit late, but not too bad.

I hope to return to our regularly scheduled posting soon!

Crochet threads

These are a couple of pieces that I had in-progress, and finished up while we were in Ohio.




I got the edging design from one of my Japanese patterns, and made up the rest.




Another Japanese pattern. I wasn't sure how big this would turn out with the size 10 crochet thread, so I thought I'd just make it and then give it to either Elizabeth or Hazel, depending on who it fit better (never supposing that they would both be wearing the same size).



I didn't have time to block this one, but told Karen how to do it at home, if she wants to.

One of these days I'll get around to finishing another piece for me!

Bloomer Girl

I ordered these bloomers for Kate from LainaLine. I got the capri length (4T)--they're a bit bigger (and longer) than I was expecting, but cute! I suppose she'll be able to wear them for a couple of years.








This one cracks me up. Think she's tired of posing?

Having ordered many things online, I'm accustomed to things like order confirmations and shipping notifications. I got nothing like that from LainaLine, but was able to get a hold of them when I needed to. Would do business with them again.

Oh Baby Baby Baby!

Here's Andy with his cousin Hazel. She's two-and-a-half months older than he is, and is already wearing eighteen-months size clothes. We figured she was going to be big, since her parents are so tall. (Fortunately, we expect she will not maintain her current rate of growth.)



Hazel likes to pull up!



And pull her mom's hair!



Aren't they cute? It's so fun to see Barb as a mom.



Elizabeth (Peter and Karen's daughter) is really liking balls right now. She says "BaaaaAAAAAUUUL!" We went bowling one night, and Elizabeth was just in ball heaven.




Moms and kids. (Andy was not happy about this!)



The three little ones were all born in 2008--in January, October, and December. We figured out there'll be about two-and-a-half weeks every year where they're all the same age.



Doug with drooly Andy.



And Kate!



Hooray for cute cousins!