Kari At The Renaissance Faire

Wanting to spend as much time as possible with my family before the move (26 days)I took Lil Sis to the renaissance faire today. I managed to convince her to dress up, isn't she just the cutest little gypsy in the world?I was so impressed with how outgoing she was when we got there. Usually in unfamiliar places she kinda shuts down and hides. But when we got to the faire she didn't hide at all. Within the first hour she went on stage to help a performer with a magic trick...
Made time with Robin Hood (Whose outfit, this year, is WAY too revealing. Seriously, you can read the wrinkles in his dick those pants are so tight)
And got a picture and a KISS from the evil Lord High Sheriff of Bristol.
Here she is with Dirk Perfect, one of the Swordsmen.
Some freaky fawn thing that reminded me too much of Pan's Labyrinth. She wasn't too keen on getting close to him, he was a little creepy.
Here's her and Moonie, the greatest performer at Bristol.





Sorry for the shakiness of the videos and my loud laughing.
And for the knitters... the Spider Fairy, who spins wool into thread and then weaves a web around the fairy glen at the faire.

The Perfect Saturday

Hi! Welcome to the perfect Saturday! Feel free to look around...

We've got things to do. Make sure to lock up when you leave!

This Saturday's was forecast was just short of gorgeous. Warm, sunny, not too windy. I knew that staying inside would be just a crime against man and nature. So I loaded up my car with a book and my iPod and some knitting and headed out for a Grand Day Out.

Umm... not that grand of a day. I met up with Kari and Mommy Knit Wit at Lake Arlington, which is fairly close to my house. Isn't Mommy Knit Wit cute?

Kari, of course, is always cute. Those are her friends that showed up. Very cheeky little birds. Personally I think they were just hamming it up for all the pictures we kept taking of them.
It was pretty sunny, so I brought a hat with. Of course everyone had to try and copy my style...

It's hard to be a trend setter.

I got bored with my book and it was just too hot to knit, so I grabbed some of Kari's markers and doodled. On Mommy Knit Wit...
And Kari.She wasn't too happy with my artwork. It's hard to be a misunderstood artist.

Mommy Knit Wit and I were both listening to books on cd and enjoying the sun. I told her while we were lying there that it was almost TOO perfect of a day. I felt like there should be some price to pay for a beautiful day by the lake with my family.

Oh, I'm paying the price. By the way....

Have I introduced you to my new best friend?

Happy Birthday!

Have a tarantula!
I took Kari to the museum today to celebrate her birthday. 22 years old! This is the kid that no one thought would live to be 2 weeks old. We got there and there was this big table set up. With bugs alllll over it. And this very nice man who was holding a big giant spider and offering people a chance to hold it. Well Kari and I stood there and I kept telling Kari "You could hold that. Look at that little kid holding that spider. You could do that." and she kept looking at me as if I was sprouting a few extra heads.

The guy with the spider finally said "Well you can pet her if you like. She's very soft, like a bunny." So Kari reached out and touched her and next thing I know, she's got the spider in her hand. I was absolutely stunned. She was so calm, so unafraid. Let it never be said that she's afraid to try new things.

So then he takes the spider back and looks at me. "Your turn." To which I said "Oh no, I have a serious phobia. I'd drop her or something and I don't want to hurt her." But we didn't leave. Truth was... I WANTED to hold the spider. I really did. All these little kids were doing it.

So I took a deep breath, handed my cell phone off to someone to take a picture and...

I'd like to say that I laughed it off and strutted away like I owned the world, but the truth of the story is that I shook the whole time and a few steps away from the table my knees tried to give out.

But that didn't stop us both from going back to the table later in the day. Kari even held the spider a second time. I didn't get a chance (I really wanted to do it again) because there were so many kids lined up and I didn't want to stop someone from getting a first chance so that I could get a second.

The spider herself was very sweet. (Wow, there's a statement I never saw myself EVER thinking.) And the feeling of her on your skin is a little like when you're knitting and the yarn brushes very gently against your skin.

Aside from giant crawly spiders, we spent a nice day at the museum,. Had lunch at McDonald's, visited Sue, Kari's favorite dinosaur, and finished off by spending all my money in the gift shop. I promised her that I'd buy her anything she wanted for her birthday. She left with:

A Sue t-shirt.
A Sue keychain.
A Sue information guide.
A Butterflies Of The World poster
A funny notebook showing a slug evolving into a cow.
A Deadly Dinosaurs sticker book.
And other things that I'm forgetting.

Happy birthday lil' sis. You're my favorite sister in the whole wide world.

I Feel Better

First of all, thank you to everyone who left supportive comments or sent e-mails. I’m sorry if I scared anyone or left you with the impression that I was teetering on the brink of ultimate doom. I had simply reached my quota of stress and shut down.

But I feel better. And I feel productive too. I’ve been knitting constantly since I went AWOL.

My first Jaywalker sock is just a few inches away from being finished.


Sorry for the scary pale legs. But hey… at least I shaved before I took the photo.

Part of why I feel better might have something to do with the sheer amount of retail therapy that I allowed myself this past week.

2 skeins of Regia Nations (in Hufflepuff colors for the Hogwarts Sock Swap), 6 skeins of Koigu (I blame you Peeve! The addiction is contagious), 2 skeins of Lorna’s Laces and a skein of Tofutsies.

We won’t discuss the new fun stress of an empty bank account. I’m very happy with my denial, thank you!

I’m thinking of doing a 3x2 rib for my Hufflepuff socks. I figure it goes with the house theme of steady and strong. I just hope that my swap buddy doesn’t think I flaked out on the pattern, not doing something more… dramatic. I was thinking another pair of jaywalkers but I’m not sure.

I’ve also made some serious progress on my lace shawl (you know… the one with 624 cast on stitches). I’m actually through the first two charts. But it’s going to have to wait until I finish the socks for my Hogwarts buddy before it gets any more attention from me.

And, as if yarn and sock and shawl progress aren’t enough to cheer me up, I’ve got Kari this weekend for hockey, a museum trip and Disney guess words.

Weekend With Lil' Sis

Friday night Kari showed up on my doorstep, excited for a weekend out with her big sister. I was going to take her to the museum on Saturday and Sunday we went to the hockey game.

Trips to the museum with Kari are always great fun. She steals my digital camera and takes pictures of everything she sees. I love taking her because it's a nice trip, train ride, bus ride and a walk to the museum, and because it's educational and everytime she goes she seems to take something away.

This trip she took a whopping 176 photos with my camera. Here are a few of the best:





These pictures are from the Underground Adventure section, where you're shrunk down to less than an inch tall and go underground to explore the benefits of soil and all it does for us today.




It was so crazy foggy that day! I actually got lost heading back to the bus stop because I couldn't see where I was going. The above photo was taken less than half a block away from the museum.

Kari said the cutest thing on Saturday, when I decided to keep her for a second night.

"I guess this is a really good weekend for me! I get to be with my big sister for two nights!"

And before she left she wrote me a little note on the dry-erase board on my door.

"Kelly thank you for taking me to the museum on Saturday. You are the best big sister I ever had. Thanks Kelly I really love you. Love, Kari."

I'm such a lucky sister....

Kari's Special Post

Kari here with a review of Disney on Ice, Princess Wishes.

Yesterday me and Kelly went to All State Arena to go see Disney on Ice, Princess Wishes. And I really liked it.

Mickey and Minnie introduced the show. Then Tinkerbell came out and used her magic wand to start the show.

Aladdin, Genie and Jasmine started out the show. Aladdin spun Jasmine around by her feet! After they left Snow White came out and wished on her wishing well for true love. Then the prince came, then all the dwarves including Dopey and Grumpy (just like our dad!). Belle came out afterwards and sang Be Our Guest with Lumiere.

The Little Mermaid, Ariel, was the big star of the show. She sang Part of Your World and Sebastian sang Under the Sea, then there was an intermission. After they got back Ariel made a deal with Ursula to become human so she could marry her handsome prince Eric.

Mulan came next and taught everyone about balance and control. Sleeping Beauty's part was the coolest. Malificent (Kelly can't say that word, she always messes it up and then I laugh at her) turned into a giant dragon that set the ice on fire! But Prince Phillip killed her and woke up Sleeping Beauty and they lived happily every after.

Cinderella's ugly stepsisters came to the ball and they were really funny and REALLY UGLY. They kept falling down and trying to tackle the prince. When Cinderella came out they danced together and fell in love.

At the end of the show all the princesses came out and danced with their princes. Tinkerbell got to ride in Cinderella's carriage and there was fireworks. Mickey and Minnie and Goofy came out and asked us if we liked the show. I said YES!!



I bought a program that came with a pretty rose and Kelly bought me an snow cone in a Little Mermaid cup and a coloring book with all the princesses in it. After the show we went to IHOP and I had chocolate chip pancakes. Then we went home and went to bed because we were VERY tired.

So that was our weekend.

Love,
Kari

***Note From Kelly***
Show Tickets - $50
Parking - $11
Snowcone - $12
Coloring Book - $5
Popcorn - $6

That hug she gave me when the show started?

PRICELESS

Kids at Heart

A couple of weeks before Christmas the hockey arena started advertising for this:

I mentioned it to my sister, since we’re both dorky Disney fans, and promised her we could go. Fast forward to after the new year when I looked up tickets.

$70!!!!!!!! Each!

Ok, those are for the VIP premium-feel-the-spray-of-the-ice seats, but still. For Disney on Ice?

Kari’s not known for her great memory, so I figured I could just… not mention it and the performance would pass by. I know, I’m a horrible sister.

And karma doesn’t like bad sisters. This past Sunday while at the hockey game Kari turned around suddenly and informed me:

“I can’t wait for Disney on Ice. You’re the best sister in the whole wide world. I love you so much Kelly.” Then she gave me one of her rib-crushing hugs.

Crap.

So I spent about 2 hours on TicketMaster.com looking up seats. They kept offering me the same 2 seats, no matter how many times I searched. Right next to the stage, on the ice, where we’d have limited view of everything on the right half of the ice. And they wanted $25 a pop for them. Um… no?

Yesterday I drove my lazy arse all the way to the hockey-rink to buy tickets directly, so I could pick out our seats. $50 later I had seats here:

Center ice, on the aisle, 4 rows back from the ice.

Is it really dorky that I’m excited?

A Week With Lil Sis

My parents have been in Vegas since Saturday and I was more than happy to keep an eye on Kari while they were gone.

It’s almost always a good time when Kari and I get together to hang out. Saturday we went shopping for some clothes. I bought her a shirt, a sweater, knee-high socks and a new pair of shoes. What was she most excited about?

The pink teddy bear that I won for her out of the crane machine for fifty cents. Ok, a dollar, it took me two tries to get it. She was so excited that I won something for her. She played with it all the way home and this morning when I left for work she was sleeping with it. So cute!

Monday when we were winding down and getting ready to go to sleep she was trying to get the big dog, Riley, up into bed with me. I told her it didn’t matter and I just wanted to go to sleep, so she turned the light off, tucked me in and kissed my cheek. I could have cried, it was so sweet.

Tuesday we went out for dinner at Denny’s. We decided to split a carafe of apple juice and, as a joke, I challenged her to a race to see who could finish their juice first. I gave her a 10 second head start and she started guzzling it down. Then I started to laugh, which started her laughing.

Then apple juice began dripping gently from her nose. We both lost it. I was expecting the restaurant to throw us out, we were laughing so hard. I’m always teasing her by saying “Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if I made you laugh and ___ came out your nose?”

She keeps shooting me glares, shaking her head and saying “I can’t believe you did that to me!”

Tonight we’ll drive to the airport to pick mom and dad up. And then I get to sleep in my own bed! Without a dog lying on top of me. Or a cat deciding at 3am that he wants to be pet and the best way to let me know this is to stick his furry bum in my face until I sneeze myself awake.

I answered the phone “Good Murder, B.W. Olsin” yesterday. I think the Sherlock is going to my head…

Pictures of my knitting tomorrow, I promise.