Spring Break--Charons Visit

Here's lots of photos from Spring Break, when Barbara and her children came to see us.  Riley, above, is standing by his chalk drawing.  It was a rainy day and we let them create art all over our garage floor.

Keagan is working on her drawing.  Top Secret, she says.

She let us see it when it was all done: That's me, then Keagan in the middle, and Dave on the end.  I loved both the drawings!

Strawberries over my lemon "castle" pound cake for dessert.  The sun's come out now, and stayed for the rest of the visit.

Maddy helps me with the dishes.  They have a knickname for her at their house: Backpack, because she likes to wear them all the time.  And she does.

The next day we start in on small quilts.  Keagan arranges her pieces on the wall, and uses my reducing glass to get a good look at it.

While Keagan and I work, Riley reads books with his Mom, and Maddy (below) watches Pingu on Netlix on the computer.

Or plays with my buttons.

Maddy wants to look at what she's arranged on the pinwall.

Looks great, Maddy!

Now it's Riley's turn to use the reducing glass.

Keagan with her completed quilt top.

Maddy's quilt up on the wall. (Keagan helped her.)

After baths, Maddy writes notes with Grandpa.

 Here she's modeling her backpack.  I wanted to take a photo of her face, but she said, "No" and turned around to show me her backpack. I obeyed.  She was happy.

I worked hard after dinner and got Keagan's quilt done.  Here's the front.

And here's the back.

We pulled some cars and trucks and airplanes and spaceship fabrics for Riley.

He cascaded one piece down the stairs.  I remember once when Keagan was this age and I took some fabrics up to Barbara's in Flagstaff so she could sew skirts for her girls.  Keagan took the fabric and laid it out in tiles on the floor, covering nearly every bit of the carpet in the living room.  It appears there's a fascination with what fabric can "do," and covering things is one of them.

Grandpa's tradition is squeezing orange juice.  The extra effort shows in their expressions.

Keagan's turn.

Keagan showed me her bed all made up with her regular quilt (I'd made for her when she was a baby), the small doll quilt on that, her scarf draped across her pillow and her new Easter hat on top of all that.

Riley with his airplane quilt that I made for him as a baby.  I'm glad to see these quilts get used--fun for me!

We head back into the quilt studio and Maddy is still designing.

But Keagan holds up her quilt top, all stitched together.

We can't get Maddy to stand still long enough to show how it looks.

Quickly snapped a shot.

Riley is starting in on his.

Maddy is checking it all out by using the reducing glass.

And Keagan mans the iron.  This is a group effort, for sure.

Pause. . . while we make Grandpa's birthday cards for tonight.  Stickers and paper and markers make wonderful cards.

Riley's quilt done.  This is for his action figures, he says.

The back.

Maddy shows off her quilt, front and back.

That night it's Happy Birthday night, and we celebrate with a homemade angel food cake and presents.

Like an iPad.  What a suprise!

A hug from a sweet little dancer.

And the next morning, more orange juicing.

But this time, Keagan is wearing her Easter hat--looks great!

Thanks, Barbara, for coming and seeing us!