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 part 5 - shopping & the park

Well, I guess I should get back to sharing our Idahoan vacation with you.  My parents were here visiting last week, so I didn't spend much time at the computer.  I'll share a few favorite moments from their visi,t at some point, but let's get through our vacation first.  


Picking up where I left off...


The day after the 4th of July brought us girls a treat.

Tiffany and I headed out to a few local thrift stores ALONE.

Shopping without Callan by my side is rare, but shopping with a girlfriend is like finding a diamond in a cereal box.  It just doesn't happen.  So, needless to say, I was thankful for this time.   I'm always in "mom mode", so to let go of that for just a few hours was refreshing.  We left the house around 10 am and were back by 1 pm.  It was a beautiful 3 hours spent browsing 2 fantastic antique/thrift stores.  And I couldn't have asked for better company.  

Once Tiffany and I got back to the house, Travis and Phil headed out to a local shooting range for a little guy time.  The kids went down for naps, so we enjoyed some quiet time.  After the guys got back, we had dinner, and then decided to walk down to the park at the end of the street.  

Q'emlin Park is a beautiful, little park with a beach front, playground, picnic areas, hiking trails, rock climbing, and fishing spots.  

98% sure that these are huckleberries.

I just LOVE towering pine trees.
I'd live in a little cottage nestled in a grove of them, if I could.

This dandelion was, seriously, the size of a grapefruit.

No, I didn't blow it.

But I totally should have.

Little miss being a brave explorer.

Callan, almost always with one something in one hand, and another something in the other.

He makes me smile.so.big.

We enjoyed some time on the swings before heading back up to the house for the night.

Swinging with his pinecone, of course.

His stick was in the stroller, ya know, for safety reasons.

It was an enjoyable, low-key day.

I'd love to wrap up every day exploring a park just like this one.

Good company, beautiful surroundings, a chill in the air.

Darn near perfect.

vacation part 3 - Farragut State Park & Sandpoint

Day 2 of vacation was more fun.  There's just something so exciting about exploring new places!

We started out the day by driving up to Farragut State Park, about 30 miles north of Coeur d'Alene.  The park used to be the world's second largest naval training facility.  Today it is a 4,000 acre park on the shores of Lake Pend Orielle, with 5 camp grounds, day use areas, picturesque picnic spots, and lots and lots of trees.

It is gorgeous.

We walked through the Brig museum - a structure that served as a prison from 1942-1946, during WWII.

In the courtyard of the museum, there was a wonderful wooden wall in front of which both families took pictures.  These are my new favorite family pictures. 

Just outside of the museum, in the Memorial Plaza, is a giant bust of a US sailor that is representative of the recruits that trained at Farragut.  It is a bold statue, solemn, celebratory and commemorative.

Walking the path to the statue.

Callan loves his Aunt Tiff.

After the museum, we drove through the park until we came across a day use area where we stopped for a picnic lunch, and a beautiful, brief thunderstorm.  Hail included.  It was pretty spectacular.

Once finished with lunch, and a little exploring on the guys' part, and before it started to rain again (it looked quite promising that it would), we quickly loaded into the car and headed out of the park and  further north to Sandpoint, ID.  Sandpoint is a beautiful little town on Lake Pend Orielle, full of fun shops and restaurants.

First stop was for the boys - a local brewery for some beer tasting.

Laughing Dog was it's name - the beer is not recommended. 

After the brewery, we drove to the downtown section of Sandpoint.

We spent some time walking through this treasure-filled antique store.  Slightly over-priced, but lots of goodies to look at on each of the three floors!

Out back, of the antique store, was this fun, old light-up sign leaning against a building.  Callan had absolutely no interest in looking at the camera.  I could have gotten some, potentially, cute pictures, but this is the best I could get.

Oh well.

Still cute in the not-even-close-to-looking-at-the-camera kind of way.

From the antique store, we headed down the road, on foot.

We passed this ginormous chair that screamed "photo op".

This place had fantastic coffee.  Just the thing we needed to take the chill off.

No joke.

I loved the fact that I was wearing a sweater in July.

Yum in a cup.

"Campfire Mocha".

Exploring Farragut and Sandpoint took up the majority of the day, so after coffee (and a quick stop at a gun store), we headed back to the house for some delicious, homemade pizza.  

The good thing about activity-filled vacation days is that you sleep really good at night.