i finally saw her

I have made several trips to the zoo over the last few months hoping to catch a glimpse of Fiona, the premature baby hippo whose story captured the hearts of animal-lovers around the planet. I wore my Team Fiona t-shirt each time as a good luck charm, but she was only outside for a few minutes a day and I never happened to catch a glimpse. Now that she is 6 months old and has been successfully reintroduced to her mom and dad, Fiona spends most of her time in her outdoor pool. Last week, I was determined to see her, even if I had to linger around the enclosure for an hour!

When I arrived, Henry and Bibi were snoozing in the pool with no sign of Fiona. I asked a zoo volunteer who indicated that Fiona was tucked in between her parents and completely hidden by Henry's huge body. Then I saw two tiny, wiggly ears pop up over his back. My first glimpse! After a few more minutes, Henry woke up and started nudging Fiona. A decent crowd had gathered and I think he was encouraging her to show off for her fans. She swam up and down the length of the enclosure windows, so I got a great view! She is 400 pounds of cuteness!!

We met up with Jen and Anna (we were sad to miss Stacey and Isaac this week) and treated Mae to her first train ride. She enjoyed it, though she wanted to stand and look out the sides towards the end. She is walking all over the place now! Just in the last week she has made the transition from primarily crawling to primarily walking, and she is getting very steady on her feet! Most of the time she only falls over if she's being too silly to stand up.

Looking forward to our next fun playdate!

the missing link

We had such a fun time during Aunt Colleen's visit! The weather was beautiful all weekend, so we took advantage with lots of outdoor activities (and plenty of indoor time watching Harry Potter weekend). Colleen arrived Friday afternoon and we walked to a nearby brewery for drinks and pizza. Mae especially enjoyed the outdoor seating area since there were so many doggies to meet.

Colleen is the missing link that proves Mae is actually related to us. She doesn't look much like Dan or me with her light hair and blue eyes, but she looks just like a mini version of Colleen!

After a lazy Saturday morning (for us... Colleen ran 9 miles), we went to the swimming pool in the afternoon. Colleen showed Mae how to blow bubbles in the water and how to kick while swimming. We all took turns running through the splash pad with Mae, which made her very giggly.

Sunday, we walked to the farmers market and picked up fresh pasta and veggies for dinner. Tomato season is the best time to hit up the farmers market. I'm not a huge fan of tomatoes, but I love the little tiny heirloom ones splashed with balsamic vinegar and tossed with little pieces of fresh mozzarella and basil. Our garden is about 4 feet high with weeds instead of veggies this year, but I still managed to plant basil... it's a summer necessity!

We are looking forward to seeing Colleen again in just a few weeks when we travel out East. It was super fun having her here for some undivided Mae time! The weekend was very relaxing, since Dan and I both got a bit of a break while Colleen was playing with Mae. Thanks for visiting, Aunt Coll!

julia cardigan

Another sewing project completed! This is the Julia Cardigan by Mouse House Creations in a light gray Robert Kaufman laguna cotton jersey. I made the doubled-over version of the collar and finished the seams with my serger after basting with a zig-zag stitch on the sewing machine. Construction was easy, though I did encounter a few learning opportunities. I rethreaded my serger for the first time (which I had been dreading), and it was super easy. I also unpicked a serged seam which was not nearly as time-consuming as I had been lead to believe.

All-in-all, a success! I have already worn this to work several times and will definitely need to make a few more in different colors!