Equipped Explorer

The birthday week continues.  I finished this bag for Eli today.  I had wanted to get it done before his birthday but didn't and thought a few days later would be okay.  One night last week I thought of staying up past midnight to finish it but couldn't quite muster up the energy.  As it was I squeezed in getting it done.  A little bit here and a little bit there.

As I went to wrap it tonight I thought, "Oh dear, I don't think he'll like this.  Maybe I should have found some cool patch and not done embroidery."  But guess what?  He loved it.  Of course it came with all kinds of little goodies that Emily and I had picked out.  A compass/whistle container, mini pens, notepad, small watercolor pad I made, watercolors and a few other things.  He started a journal in the notepad and wrote a title on the watercolor pad.  He's ready for exploring. He tried it on and the length fit perfectly.  I got this pattern from the book Rhythm of the Family by Amanda Soule of soulemama.  I have some fabric left and was thinking of making a bag out of it for myself.  It's really soft yet durable.

Northern Coast

We drove to the Northern Coast.  Way up and out on the Peninsula.  Out by dairy farms and grazing cows and nursing calves and small deer.  The sun shone brillantly and we stayed until the fog rolled in.  Loving the fresh air and warm sunshine, the roar of the ocean and blowing of the light house horn. 

The next day we found ourselves exploring another part of the coast.  We hiked up through a woodland area and as we came out to the sea we found a sturdy rope swing on a huge eucalyptus tree.  After much urging from the rope swing owners some of us gave it a try.  Seemingly swinging out over the Pacific Ocean.  Lovely.  We continued on to spend the day on a long stretch of beach where we watched the sun change colors and the shadows stretch long and we raced the light heading back out of there.