a visit from my parents

Two weeks ago, my parents arrived for a, nearly, week-long visit.  They drove from New Jersey with a car, chock-full of special treasures for me and our home.  2 desks, 2 (mini) chairs, some artwork, a cooler, a rooster, a coffee table, a quilt from when I was a little girl...just to name a few.  I'm not kidding when I say it was like Christmas when we were unloading the car.  I might have squealed a time or two.

We had a really nice week.  We spent lots of time just playing with Callan and enjoying being together.   

Here are a few moments from their visit.

Callan and my Dad trying a Deere on for size, on our way out of Lowe's.

iPad games.

Our garage, cleared out for the delivery of the storm shelter that my parents bought for us.

I can't thank them enough for the peace of mind and safety that they've given us with the new shelter.

Here are the guys delivering, and unloading it off the trailer.

More on the storm shelter in a later post.

Callan loves to be in the driver's seat.

Chocolate chip cookies on the sofa.

Post cookie face, plus a sticker on the chin.

My parents brought Callan a blow-up turtle pool.

We took turns getting that puppy turtle blown up.

He had so much fun splashing in the pool throughout the week!  

He didn't mind sharing with our feet.

Playing cars on Callan's new rug.

Ask him where the helicopter goes, and he'll point right to the helipad.

That boy loves his helicopters.

"Take the key and lock him up..."

Sharing ice cream.

Saluting the flag.

My parents brought us a nice, new flag from Costco.

Every morning, my dad and Callan would take the flag out of the coat closet, hang it outside, and salute it.

Every evening, they'd go outside, salute the flag, roll it up, and put it back in the closet until morning.

Cutest ritual, ever.

Swinging at the park.

Driving a tractor on grandpa's head - he does love those wide, open roads.

Cowboy hats, for a fraction of a second.

Silly boy.

During some down-time, I made my mom a wreath out of Pottery Barn catalog pages.

I also made these lemon-blueberry-cheesecake bars while they were here.

Seriously delicious.

A perfect summertime treat.

It's always hard to watch my parents leave, but the memories we make together are so worth it.

I can't wait to see them again when Callan and I head back east in September!

oh, to be...

Camping.

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vacation thrift store finds

I'm pretty sure this is the last post that is vacation related.

Whew.

Sorry if I dragged it all out.

But not only do I post all this to share with you, but to document it for myself.

It's like my very own electronic scrapbook.

Anyways,  here's the last of it...

I wanted to share my Idahoan thrift store finds!

I found this teal and ivory zig zag afghan in an antique store in downtown Coeur d'Alene for only $4.50!  You can't buy the yarn to make one for that cheap.  Total steal.

I picked up these two vintage quilt blocks at an antique store in Sandpoint, ID, for about $6.50 a piece.  I love that every time I look at them, I will be reminded of the beautiful, little city on gorgeous Lake Pend Orielle.  They are soooo soft, and hand quilted.  They've already been washed and sewn into pillow covers for our bed; I just need to pick up some 16x16 pillow inserts.  They might be my favorite find of the trip.

I found some really great vintage-y pillow cases at a Hospice Thrift Store in Post Falls - two of the golden stripe (for $1.50) and one blue floral (for $.50).   One of the striped pillow cases was sacrificed for the back of the quilt squares to make the pillow covers.  They look pretty darn cute.

A perfect little mug for twenty-three cents.

All of my finds look so pretty together.

Callan got lots of books on this trip.  He got this (nearly complete) set of books from Goodwill, in Post Falls.  Both Travis and I had these as kids, so, clearly, our kiddo needs to have them, too.  :)

And you can't go wrong with $2 Dr. Seuss books (antique store prices), The Stinky Cheese Man for $3 (hardcover, antique store price), and a random $.10 book for when he's a bit older (thrift store price).

And I picked up a sweater, plaid, button-down shirt, and zip-up hoodie for Callan.  All in great shape.

The thrift store prices were pretty fantastic and hard to beat.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be craving a return trip to each of these stores in a month or two.
But I certainly won't be craving the 1630 mile road trip to get there.

vacation, down-time

Here are a few more pictures from our vacation...down time around the house.

I'm not sure where they fit in throughout the week, so here they are, at random.

Good times.