Rhinebeck in pictures now, description soon.....

Yes, Rhinebeck was SO MUCH FUN! I should start out by saying, every year for the past three years I have wanted to go. But sickness, a baby and weather, it just never worked out! This year it did! Started out Jamie and I awoke at 3am. Got the van all loaded up with the packed lunches~which were really fun to make, felt like a field trip for school, 12 brown bags and all, snacks, drinks, change of cloths for we carried all the children out of bed straight out to the van in their jammies, so by 420ish we were off! So we were driving along, I think we were on, oh gosh, cannot remember what road, a 4 lane highway when a deer nearly ran into us, blink of an eye it turned back, the most frightening thing yet in the van. Did not like that! We still forged on, daybreak came, we stopped at Starbucks. Jamie and I got our much needed coffee's and we dressed the children. Uh oh, the day before, Aspen decided to wash off this boots, with the garden hose, we dried them in the dryer, but forgot them there! So, off to Wal-Mart to buy Aspen a pair of shoes, and Sawyer a shirt, he swore he packed one, but nope, no shirt was ever found in the van! Onward, we made it there by 10ish......the children were so excited! It was far less crowded than I expected, we decided to part ways, I went off shopping and Jamie took the gang to watch the Alpaca/Llamas jumping show. I was overwhelmed by everything, so much to the point, I merely bought 4 skeins of Sanguine Gryphon, a sheepskin{which I have ALWAYS wanted one since Ryder was a baby to photograph on, FINALLY got me one for this babe!} apple cider doughnuts, maple cotton candy{blew me away how good this was} Aspen and Maeve the color work hats{LOVED them and have tried color work only to realize I need to take a class or buy a really good book to "get it"}. Just so much yarny goodness and the atmosphere was amazing, the children even felt it and really would like to come back again next year! I was amazed at how wonderful this festival was and how they picked up on that vibe! So, I met some pretty amazing Ravelry friends too......I totally had a preggo brain moment and forgot all about the Madelinetosh meet-up{that went on right when we got there, so I think maybe that is why I forgot, the excitement of being there and all!} how mad was I when I realized this! The funniest and greatest moment was when we were all sitting there eating our lunch in the parking lot, found a clearing and were just enjoying the moment when Jody from Raverly pulled up in her car and asked if I was Nicole, she actually found us here, it was AWESOME! Again I was late in putting two and two together, till after she left of which knitter she was on Ravelry and missed the opportunity to tell her what a inspiring knitter she is to me! Her work, and color choices ;), are astounding! Maybe next year my mind will be in a better mind frame? We meet up with the Yarn Hoars group at around 2ish, oh what a blast those women are! I really would love do the weekend with them next year, we will see how it goes! They all are such a inspiration and were so kind to us in their compliments about the children, the sweaters I handknit them all and were wearing! I have to thank Jeannine for the pictures she snapped of us, silly me and my preggo brain did not snap any of us with our camera, even though we had it along{btw, Eve is deserving of all the credit for the photos we do have, thanks Eve dear!} So we left a little after 3 and really, I am not bothering to ruin this story about the drive home{traffic, construction and congestion} Lets just say, the children were TROOPERS and stayed home from school the next day, Griffen and Dawson however, wanted to go and did so! It was a terrific trip and on the agenda for next year......hope to see you there!

Yes, Rhinebeck was SO MUCH FUN! I should start out by saying, every year for the past three years I have wanted to go. But sickness, a baby and weather, it just never worked out! This year it did! Started out Jamie and I awoke at 3am. Got the van all loaded up with the packed lunches~which were really fun to make, felt like a field trip for school, 12 brown bags and all, snacks, drinks, change of cloths for we carried all the children out of bed straight out to the van in their jammies