Baby Shower Weekend (T)

Well- I spent all last week resting and trying to rid myself of that cold and then we were off to Pennsylvania for a 2nd Baby Shower held at my daughter in-law's parent's home.

As you can see with the cake the science theme was carried on!

 The day was quite perfect- low humidity and clear skies.  It was a bit warm but they had fans running inside the tent which helped a great deal.

Little party favors in cute boxes.

 There was macaroni and cheese, baked beans, roast beef with gravy, pulled pork with buns, coleslaw, a mixed salad with strawberries and a platter full of grilled vegetables.

A great selection of desserts including cherry crumb pie that I brought.  

The fruit tray was loaded with wedges of watermelon, strawberries and blue berries.  The cherry crumb pie is on the right.  Key lime dessert, brownies and the cake that was lemon with a strawberry layer filling that was scrumptious!

Lots of cute clothing and gifts.  A wonderful day for all :-)

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The next morning we met for brunch at the Kimberton Inn - circa 1796.  Pennsylvania is loaded with great places like this.

 We were one of the first groups to arrive (reservation only) at 11 so I snapped a few shots before it was busy.  There is an impressive amount of period furniture- notice all the Windsor back chairs.

 The lighting was dim but this is full of blue and white porcelain pieces.

 This was our table

 Another view from across the table.  Loved this cabinet and how it was set up.

I loved that my food came on this antique plate.  I wanted to turn it over to see who made it but I didn't dare since the Inn had really filled up.

I felt frumpy that day but I was overly tired and still dealing with the cold I had.  Overall we had a great time and I'm glad we made the trip.  

We drove home that day and witnessed a gorgeous sunset.  A perfect ending to the weekend.

While I Was Gone

We hit the 94-95 deg. and things really moved along.

 When we left last Friday to be gone for a few days these pink peonies were happily blooming.  I didn't stake them this year- just let them be natural.

While we were gone they finished and the white ones bloomed but they fell onto the hardy geraniums. 

My white ones are the strongest in smell!

Some lilies started blooming

I like their orange color next to the orange marmalade hosta.

This is a red version of my peonies.  I've been really lazy this year about this garden bed.  It takes care of itself but I feel bad that I didn't help the peonies stand up a bit better.

Tiny Bee Asiatic Lily blooming and soon the butterfly weed next to it will be blooming!

This red shrub rose surprises me each year.  The blue spruce is growing larger and larger and it's going to cover it up before long.  Poor thing gets neglected but keeps thriving.

The Stella d'oro day-lilies are just starting. 

Those are coreopsis all along the front. It's going to look magnificent when they bloom!

 These magic fountain delphiniums are just starting to bloom.  I just love them.  They get taller and make quite a show.

The Lemon Princess spirea on the end of the island are blooming and have bees all over them. 

The hydrangeas bulked up in size and I'm delighted they are full of blooms. The left side are Limelight Hydrangeas and the right side are Endless Summer Hydrangeas.

Once they get blooming it's going to be a great display.  Last year I had about 3 flowers.  Last fall I tied them up to help them take the snow load better and I didn't cut them shorter like I usually do.  Our winter wasn't quite as severe either so it looks like a good year for these.

On the deck I planted two of these with morning glories with a small trellis.  I've had bad luck with them in the past hardly blooming because where I had them there just wasn't enough sun.  My plan is that they will grab onto the railing and spread out- should be fun to watch them grow and pretty in the mornings once they start blooming!  Some little green caterpillars have been munching on them and the hydrangeas.

 The Annabelle Hydrangea really grew and has begun shading the fairy garden a lot.  I'm still waiting for the 2nd cottage I ordered.  The red bike is sitting on the pad I made for it.   Notice the green light hanging over the garden?  It looks real cute at night.  I'll have to take some pictures at night and show you!

The pink dianthus suddenly started blooming too!  Everything got larger in the fairy garden!

 This is a gold flame spirea.  I really cut it down last fall so I wasn't sure if I'd even seen blooms but it's starting to look pretty.

I'm so happy that I've seen a lot more butterflies this year than I have in a while.  Last year it seemed like I hardly saw any.  We also have had a lot of dragon flies and they seemed early this year.  Must be something to do with the temperatures.

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (missing part of a wing)

Well- you all have a great upcoming weekend!

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Baby Shower on Father's Day (T)

I'm back from a busy weekend.

We had a baby shower for our son and daughter in-law at my Mother's home.  The kids flew in from Oregon.  The plan was to not be flying in her third trimester so we did this a bit earlier than most baby showers.

Linda from Life and Linda created this for me!  She's so talented and I want to thank her again!  

I blotted out some of the info for privacy. 

In the center of the table my sister Jen (the truly creative one in the family) created a theme partially based on the shower invitation with the little baby coming in on space ship.  She volunteered to do the decorating and I can't thank her enough because it wouldn't have been this cute if it was left to me!

See the cute little space ship she made with the yellow ring.  That is a little frisbee.  She took apart a clear Christmas ornament and used it to make the top of the space ship.  It also had a little pinwheel glued to the top for power (which you can see below)!  The legs were little dowel pieces and a wood bead.  The little white guy has a pacifier- too cute!

She added the "table of elements" blocks for the scientific aspect (Angela's mother is a science teacher and our son is a Metallurgical Engineer) and some little toys like slinkys, play-doh and cars.  The diaper cake had a host of useful baby items like teething rings and toddlers spoons and forks. 

We removed the square coffee table from the room and set up another table for guests.  I put out chex mix (which I added M & M's and peanuts to) and mints.  

We brought two big folding tables and I pushed the coffee table off the the corner and put one table right over it and an ottoman got hidden underneath too.  I had the food catered by a local restaurant (which we picked up) and I set up a lemonade dispenser and a clear bucket with different drinks to choose from.  My husband and son did the legwork of bringing the food in and starting the sterno burners and ice for the cold food while we played the games.  I used the empty aluminum roasting pan for the ice for the salad and the other one for the dinner rolls.

Outside is a gazebo and the I had the guys hang out there.  They had two fans running and their own choice of beer/and other drinks if they wanted and a tray of cheese, sausage and crackers which I didn't take a picture of.  It was incredibly hot (94-95) the whole weekend.  

I was trying to keep the traffic out of the kitchen because it's so small and it always causes a traffic jam so I only used the table for the cake and gifts.  Since the kids had to fly I had given everyone a heads up about not giving the usual gifts because they couldn't take them on a plane.  Everyone gave gift cards and or had already sent gifts to their home since they were registered at a couple of places.

My niece Jessica made the cake.  It was delicious!

My daughter set up three games that we played and we all had a good time with them.

When we played the nursery rhyme game the gang broke out in song on a few- it was cute and heartwarming.

Two of my sisters, Donna and Sherry.  

The shower was small- just my sisters, their kids and husbands.  A couple of people couldn't make it but as it turned out we had just enough tables and chairs for the ones that did come.  I treated it as a shower and family get together.  We had three identical gifts for the winners of the game.  In this picture one of the winners is just opening hers.  

I set up two tv trays with chairs for Ryan and Angela to open gifts.  This one was funny- a pacifier with a mustache and a tuxedo bib!  By now I expect you figured out they are having a boy!

I was so busy I kept forgetting to take pictures.  This was later after we had already devoured some of the food.  The lemonade was a big hit.  The cooler on the right had a lot more drinks in it to fill the clear bucket I had on the table. We had chicken and beef tenderloin skewers (that both had sauces on them), macaroni and cheese, pasta primavera, yummy bread rolls, a salad with pine nuts, crumbled blue cheese, onion and a raspberry maple vinaigrette.  I also had a tray of fresh veges with dip, and cold fruit.

My mom is 93- soon to be 94 (She's in love with her flowered tennis shoes!).  We gathered for a group picture.  Audra is our 3 1/2 yr. old grand-niece- great grand-daughter.  She added a lot of smiles to the day.  My sisters and I look like we coordinated our colors but it was truly just coincidental!

One of my nieces brought a bean bag toss game that a few played with.  Audra loved playing too.  I wish I had her energy!

The next morning we put the coffee table back and I arranged the table.  Mom has had these pewter candlesticks on here since the 90's.  I found some white candles in the drawer so I decided to go with that for a summer look and I swapped the center out with a crystal vase to keep it light and add some sparkle. 

We took the kids to the airport and headed north to go home.  We needed a break so we slipped off to Frankenmuth and had a nice dinner at Zehnders.  It was so beautiful there that evening.  The hydrangeas were close to blooming and I could smell the flowers in their planters.

The temp was dropping as it was early evening and it felt great.  Everything is set up with a bavarian look- some call it Michigan's Little Bavaria.

I am suffering from what seems to be a summer cold that I started over the weekend.  I think I got it from the in and out from air conditioning and extreme heat.   I'm foggy brained from taking meds to help.  I'm not able to visit many blogs because of it so I apologize now for that.  We're supposed to be in Pennsylvania this coming weekend and I need to get better quickly!  Send up your prayers!

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