{What I Did on} My Summer Vacation!

I know it's been a little bit quiet around the ol' blog lately, but I've been out of town for a week and all I took with me was my phone - very hard to write blog posts from my phone, I'm afraid.  But a very fun week it was! I don't know that I've ever had a vacation where I actually accomplished everything I set out to do before, but it actually happened this time, and I'm very excited.

After a grueling 29 hours in transit (one of the joys of flying standby, I'm afraid) I finally arrived in Seattle, which was my first stop.  My very kind brother in law collected me from the airport and we began our adventure.  You see, when my grandmother passed away, her very cool Singer treadle sewing machine that both my sister and I sewed on in our early years, was left to me.  However, I live some 3000 miles away.  When my cousin decided to purchase and remodel her house, my sister rescued the machine and has been storing it for me in her garage for two or three years.  I had hoped to get it last summer, but we had a wedding instead.

The cabinet is a little worn, but the machine looks to be in wonderful shape.  Of course, I'll need to buy a new belt, and probably take it in for a little tune up, but preliminary indications are that it is in great condition.  And would you believe it has all of its original parts, including the manual?  Sadly, my photos were geared much more toward how to put it back together, than how cool it is, but I promise to do a better job of chronicling the restoration process than I did the disassembly.

Just love these old cast iron parts - they are truly works of art!

So, the first two (non-traveling) days of my vacation were spent dismantling and packaging the sewing machine to ship home.  Despite all of my nightmares about rusted bolts and impossible screws, it came apart fairly easily, particularly after said BIL ran to the hardware store for some penetrating oil and patiently tap-tap-tapped on the reluctant bolt that wouldn't come out.

My sister is a very organized kind of girl, and she had thoroughly researched various methods of dismantling and packaging treadle machines to encourage their safe arrival at their destination.  Accordingly, we spent all of the second day packaging the machine (thank goodness for take-out meals!)  While there were several promising methods described online, we finally decided on a plan that used copious quantities of 1-1/2 inch foam insulation and lots and lots of plastic film.  We'll know by the end of the week if we chose the right method.

Tuesday morning early we were at the post office, which agreed to ship my new treasure home for only $122.00 insured.  I was actually amazed, since early estimates from FedEx and UPS were right around $1000.

 I can't wait until it arrives!

And Tuesday afternoon, my friend Krista and her 3 adorable little boys came and got me and we did some fabric shop hopping and had lunch!  It was so, so fun to meet her.  We've been conversing online and texting for weeks, so it was great fun to get together in person.  She's making me some hexie blocks for our Sew Fun Bee!!!  I'm so close to having enough for a quilt.  Time to think about the connecting rows.  But I digress...

Wednesday morning, I headed off to Salt Lake City to visit the grands.  In fact, I got lots of baby love, as their mommy and daddy left mid-day Thursday to attend a wedding in Colorado.

Abby and I went out to run some errands (and give mommy some peace to pack) early Thursday.  Of course, McDonald's PlayPlace was the first stop.  In something of a major miracle, said granddaughter ate 2-1/2 pancakes.  I was shock-ed and amaz-ed, as she doesn't ever eat much.

Then we ran some errands and came home to take care of her brother so mom and dad could head out.  Little brother wasn't too sure that the stuff Grandma was trying to feed him was edible, but after a little bit of reluctance, his appetite overcame his taste-buds, and we got along just fine.

Friday, we started out with a haircut, and then had a great play day, with pony rides on the carousel...

and a visit to the splash pad (that's Abby in the middle in orange)...

And lunch with Uncle Sean

Saturday, Uncle Sean joined us again, and we went to the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days carnival.  While brother took a nap in the stroller...

Big Sister went on all the "little kid" rides (except the motorcycles - no interest at all in the motorcycles, for some reason), including the Ferris Wheel

Intrepid little soul, isn't she?  There were adults freaking out about the Ferris Wheel, and she just sat there calmly and took it all in.

Unfortunately, Grandma had to leave before mommy and daddy got back, so Uncle Sean (make that bachelor Uncle Sean) got to babysit for about 10 hours on Sunday.  I think it might have been a bit more than he bargained for, but I hope he hasn't sworn off having kids forever!

But for me, it was a great vacation.  Who wouldn't love spending 4 days with these cuties?

And just in case you are in need of a little baby love, here's a video that always makes me smile.