Farewell to Mimi

Our family has been most fortunate to have had 17 wonderful, blissful years with our dog, Mimi.

Formally known as Marley Chihuahua Wagner, had passed the week before Thanksgiving.

Eva has written a biography.  We are all getting through.  But the house seems empty.  It is just not the same.

The Land of Yarn People

Whenever the wind changes direction, Eva begins a new project or craft.  She has a little of her mother in her, as that doesn't necessarily means she finishes what she begins.  

Recently, she finished, Esperanza Rising, at school.  In the book the little girl makes dolls out of yarn.  Naturally, this meant Eva had to try and also perfect the art of yarn doll making.  

She made one or more for us; then she moved on to cousins.  Then she was into it so much, I suggested she make one for each child in her classroom for Christmas.  We went to the store, she picked out funky new yarn.

Funny.  I haven't seen one yarn doll since.

Camping in Autumn

I love camping!  Being complete procrastinators, we were not able to book Labor day the weekend before.  Therefore, we waited until Columbus Day weekend.  It was awesome!.

On the way down, we first went to Griffith's Sculpture Park, one of our favorites!  Then we headed to our secret gemstone campground.

We had stayed at this place before....when we arrived our neighbors were in our cabin using our oven.  There was an older lady standing in our driveway waiting for us to arrive. Their oven was apparently broken. 
Dyleva was a little unsettled by this, but whatever.  The more the merrier!  At least our cabin was cozy warm when we arrived.

We set out to explore.  Dyleva and I went to the playground.  
Jeff went out to get firewood.  

When he returned, we set up our site, organized and had an awesome pudgie pie dinner.  

It ended with a nice campfire and a killer game of Rummy.  Dyleva are card sharks!








The next morning, it was slow, but we had a big breakfast, and then eased ourselves into a three mile hike.  It was a lovely path; not too hard.  We were looking for an apparent rumoured wasp's nest, but never found.  Instead at one point, we heard a wailing.   Everyone froze. We were in bear country.  I thought it highly unlikely but the noise freaked us out.  Eventually, we realized it was the sound of two trees rubbing together.  Sounds strange, but had us slightly petrified for a second!  

At one point, Jeff found a shady knoll for a nap, and Dyleva and I went to the creek and put our feet in the water.  They were almost frozen!  The water was so cold!  The water was invigorating.  Dyleva climbed through the almost frozen creek in their bare feet, from rock to rock.  I took some awesome shots of Eva striking yoga poses!

Frozen foot

It was a beautiful weekend!  This is the first time we have camped in the autumn.  It was wonderful.  Next up, camping in the winter.....

Go Bulls!!

Throughout all these years, we have never been to a UB Bulls football game.  I mean, I did financially support them for a decade.  So we randomly picked a date, and just went.  

Ironically, we picked alumni week.

It was mobbed!

People came from all over.

We walked 20 minutes just to get to the stadium from parking.  It was awesome!  It was a bright, brisk, sunny afternoon.  It got chilly as the sun went down but it truly was a beautiful day.  

We had great seats, and got to see a lot of the action close up.  We did leave a bit before it ended, but what a great day it was!

Playing in the Light

I was devastated to hear that our art gallery would be closing for about two years, until I heard what they were doing!  I am so excited for the new design and the amount of artwork that will now be displayed.  They currently showcase 2% of their collection.  That is crazy.

So I had to take Dyleva once more before it closed.  I called up a chum and we met her one Friday night.
It was hopping!  We walked the grounds just trying to find a parking spot.  

It was worth it.  The art alone is always amazing, but the museum was featuring an exhibition of light.  Dyleva ran and jumped in front of the beams.  Played with the mirrors, and the moving path.

After, we moved to the amplitheatre where they just happen to have a Latin band playing in honor of Hispanic Celebration Month.

It was a lovely evening!