Family Fun

We had big-time, family-style fun today. There are lots of us in our immediate family. The current count is eleven if we are all present, but it will be twelve come October (thanks Joe & Mindy!). How do you transport eleven and a half people on a family excursion? Well, it helps to have a brother who's in a band and whose band has a big van for tours.

We stopped in Tampa to have lunch at Chipotle. Yum. Unfortunately, we don't have one here in Lakeland, so eating there is a real treat. Then we all walked across the street to the cupcake shop. I don't remember what it was called, but know this: all the boys ordered the Guinness and chocolate flavor. Andrew had a s'mores one with freshly-torched marshmallows on top and Emma got a pina colada one. Me? Well, I didn't get one. They didn't have any vegan ones. Dang allergies.
Then we headed over to Channelside in Tampa to watch "Up." It was really a sweet little movie. I definitely enjoyed the story, but I thought the score was really striking. It sounded so classically Disney - magical and swooping, sweet and sparkling.
It's such a blessing to have our family close by and to be able to do things like that together. I think it has made a world of difference in the raising of our children.

On another note, I don't know if you noticed the little progress meter over there on the side, but my mom's birthday (February was a long time ago!) shawl is finally finished! It's so soft and beautiful that I wanted to keep it for myself. But I didn't. She has waited patiently and I think she likes it.



In case you were wondering (and you all know you were), the pattern is the Japanese Feather Stole by Anne Hanson of knitspot.com. It was a pretty easy pattern, even though I'm not by any stretch an experienced knitter. It came together smoothly and beautifully and my fingers really loved the 100% cashmere yarn, too.

Daily Bliss: laughing so much my face hurts
Wake-up Playlist: My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges