Annual summer visit

My parents have been here for the last week for their annual July visit...it is always part-project and part-relaxation, and we enjoy every minute of being together!  I didn't take many pictures, so visit my mom's blog posts here and here to see more pictures. :)

This is a typical evening...my dad being goofy, Abigail giggling, my mom knitting!

 Bruce & I went on a "date"...a benefit event with one of his clients. We enjoyed the evening together and the kids enjoyed having the grandparents all to themselves!

 I finished another quilt for Quilts for Kids.  My mom and I each got one and finished the tops when I was in Florida in June.  I also got to quilt it on her short-arm quilter...click on the pictures to see the quilting detail up close.  I finished handsewing the binding and got it in the mail this past week.

 The cats, after a little prerequisite posturing, settled into friendliness.

 We enjoyed pool time, too.

 My parents headed home today (and made it safe and sound)...it's always sad to say goodbye, but we had a wonderful week together and I have all sorts of happy things around my house to make me smile...Abigail's revamped room, fabric for a new quilt, a yard that has been touched with my dad's magic, and a washing machine that actually spins at the end of the wash cycle (thanks, Dad), just to name a few!

My cats were tired out after the visit from their "fur cousins", as my mother calls them. :)  They took a long nap together!

 And the crowning moment of today: tonight was Abigail's chance to christen her new "princess bed" (her room is also the guest room!).  I bought the headboard/footboard at a garage sale two summers ago and it has been waiting for its moment of glory!  My mom and I put in a LOT of elbow grease...we took it apart (to undo someone else's attempt at reinforcing it), sanded it, put it back together and added real reinforcement, then painted it.  We also sewed the bedskirt and created the "princess canopy" with yards of tulle, a hula hoop, and fishing line (flower garland to be added when I find the right one).  Abigail was so very excited to sleep in it...she "oohed" and "aahed" and just glowed!