First Days in Ohio

Amelia and I arrived back in AK on Saturday (actually...Sunday), with our bags joining us the next day.  Since I will try to keep posts in order, I will talk about the journey home at the end and will  begin where we left off with the last post...heading South for the 7 hour journey to Ohio where Dad was waiting for us!

On our way down to Ohio we stopped for lunch at Fredonia State  to have lunch with my nephew Matt who is a freshman.  Unfortunately, we had to make it quick as Grammy was to meet us at the rental car place and they closed at 6pm.  We made it just in time.  We would be seeing Matt again as we planned to pick him up on our way back to NY in 10 days for a long weekend. 

Rob had just flown in to Columbus and we were all exhausted that night.  A good rest was in order as a family get together was planned for the next day complete with Amelia's first corn shucking  ... from the experts ... Great Uncle Dave, Dad and Great Auntie Joan who surprised everyone with a visit.  

Auntie Joan instructed her with preparing the guacamole...

and Grammy had her stirring the baked beans.

We were off to the Loudonville Fair the following day...

Rides and the duck pond were necessary...

but most importantly...pony rides!

Endless pony rides on one of the best pony rides ... ever.

After about 4 rides it was time to go.  She didn't put up too much of a fuss as she was coming back the next day...this time with Grandpa and Oma :)

Circus Party and Horses

I was so excited to finally be able to attend one of my niece's Olivia's birthday parties.  I had made the invites for the party back in August and brought a few decorations with me...couldn't have had a better day.  Here are a few pics from the circus...

A little over a year ago Amelia wouldn't dare feed a horse...what a change a year brings...

We paid a quick visit to the madly popular, Beak and Skiff on Sunday for a pony ride, Apple Wine and most importantly...apple fritters.  We opted out of the apple picking as we were limited on time and the lines were long and we knew we'd be back.

A jammed packed  3 days and now it was time to pack up the rental car and head south for 7 hours...Grammy was waiting. 

First Few Days in NY

It takes all night and most of the next day to travel the 4,000 miles from Alaska to New York.

We left the night before the 6.5 earthquake and arrived the day before they shut down Chicago airport due to a fire in the control tower....lucky us.  

Cousin Olivia joined us the next day for a day of fun.

We headed to the first of two football games we were planning to attend during our trip...this time it was high school...and cousin Aaron's football game!

Unfortunately, they lost...but Amelia got to enjoy her first snow cone!  And...a hotdog, popcorn and candy :P

We rested up that evening as the next day was cousin Olivia's 3rd birthday bash!  More on that next time!

Boxes

Since the boxes have been delivered to both my nieces, it is safe now to show them :)  

Here is what I began with.  Couple old boxes I had purchased over the years.

Sanded and ready to go.

Lots of sanding....and I left the holes where the clasp that did not fit properly...didn't want to put another on. 

I put a rub on coat of Tung oil on both the boxes, then I added the photos.  I ended up using the actual photo and modge podged...then a acrylic sealer over that.  The gel medium technique made the photos too dark on the cedar box and I lost a lot of the colors in the photos.  I had tried all the methods on a piece of scrap board and then did Liz box first when I decided to start over with the color photo. 

I then roughed them up with a bit of sandpaper (before I applied the sealer).

The above is Andrea's box and below is Liz'.

Added a bit of faux polar bear fur and done!

Have one more cedar box to do and will post on that when done.  It is the project 3 in the line of projects...so not sure when you will see that on here!