Crafty Snargle

Huh.  Time really does fly, huh?  And now it’s the holiday season with Christmas in less than two weeks.  I’m really looking forward to the time in Colorado to hang out and chill with my family :).  But first, a little recap on the past few months…

Halloween:

For Halloween, Raley was a monkey.  I made her costume (one of my first sewing projects since moving to California!).  We went to a Halloween party at a local historic site, and took some pictures in the cactus garden:

Monkey in the Cactus

So long, monkey!

I get a “Where the Wild Things Are” vibe from those pictures, do you? And before you ask, no, I haven’t seen the movie yet. Haven’t seen very many movies in the past 21 months, actually!

Raley got to visit with three of her grandparents in California, as my father and Dan’s mother both had business trips out this way (well, northern California, but that’s close enough to justify a little side trip!), and Dan’s father tagged along.

Then in November we took off on our Thanksgiving vacation. We were planning to visit Dan’s brother Sam in Oxford, England, and fly direct from LAX. Those plans changed when Dan’s grandfather passed away the week before. It was a loss - 91-year-old WWII prisoner of war with a great sense of humor and some really funny stories. But we were able to change our flights to be via Chicago and got to be there for the funeral. So we got to spend some quality time with many family members, including Raley’s great-grandmother and great-uncle and both sets of grandparents and uncle Sam. Despite the sad circumstances, it was good to get together.

Then we flew over to England (on the same flight as Sam) and spent a lovely week touring the countryside. I think Dan and I are a bit more ambitious doing driving tours than many people… our biggest was the day that we visited Stonehenge and Tintern Abbey in Wales, driving through Bath enroute, starting and ending in Oxford. Raley was a good sport for most of the time, but she was kind of fed up with being in her car seat by the end of the trip. But I think she’s a future roadtripper anyway… got to start them young!

Here’s a few of the photos… you can see the entire set on flickr.

Stonehenge

Rollright Stones

Tintern Abbey

the Tiny Explorer tackles the hedge maze at Blenheim Palace

And finally, some gratuitous Raley:

Joe Cool!

Like my hat?

Peek-a-boo!

This is my frowny face.

Until next time! And maybe even some knitting…