Oscar Stew

This Tour de Utah review is going on and on like we were on vacay for months! I told you it was a busy-cation! Its okay, we only have like…well a lot of stops left on this tour, but many life-changing events needed to be documented! For example: 

It was only a matter of time for Kristy to submit to peer pressure and become a woman of the cloth just like her mom and sisters:

She may have thought quilting was just this cutesy boring thing that old hens did while playing canasta. Truth be told, it’s quite a dirty sport!

So Kristy, have you enjoyed cutting large pieces of fabric into small pieces and sewing them back together?

I couldn’t quite hear you over the roar of the quilting machines…could you say that again?

There’s no need to make an excuse for being vain while on vacation, right Brinley?!  

Color selected, feet soaked, ready for pedi, paint, & polish. Can the nail guy make your legs longer?

Probably not, but he can swindle you into getting logo-toes!

Don’t mind the man in the mask, he’s just gonna file off your claws while you deliberate…

What’s it like not to have toe-jam anymore?

Apparently it’s an uplifting experience! The nail guy made Kristy’s feet float!

I thought the nail guy was supposed to get rid of the toe-jam?

We received specific instructions not to wiggle our toes or let anything touch our new shiny nails for awhile. So we were real careful while we worked on another hobby of ours…

So Brinley, how was your day? Was it great? Was it awesome? Don’t be a flip-flopper!

I know this might come as a shock to you, but I love fabric. I love the colors, the texture, and knowing that I can create something that never existed before. So, when the fabric makers of the world came to Salt Lake to strut their stuff, I had to be there. I couldn’t just stand on the shore in this ocean of fashion and wait for whatever the tide would bring in; I had to drown in this sea of creativity!

Now I couldn’t show up to the International Quilt Market looking like a rookie. I just happen to have the coolest Aunt in the world that runs the best quilt shop in the industry. I picked up the supplies for this bag over a year ago, and I knew I would find plenty of treasure to haul back home, so I finally made this monster of a carry-on for my voyage through the threads… I call her Beatrice; she is so big she deserves a name!

Kelsey and I aren’t giddy with excitement. Nope. Not even a little.

Everyone is gonna think we’re full-on fabric freaks! Quick, do something that’ll disguise who we really are! This spy act is fooling everybody! See, nobody is noticing a thing! Nobody at all…

Uh-oh, something tells me we’re gonna get stuck in this quagmire of quilts all day! Let me in! Let me in!

Ok, so we got there way early. Can you blame us? We felt like a couple of 5 year-olds on a field trip!

Once we finally made it in, there was awesomeness and inspiration at every turn!

Meeting some of my favorite companies & designers was so much fun!! If only I hadn’t been so camera shy…I only snagged pics of empty booths, to save myself the embarrassment of looking like a groupie.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that my friend Joel stole the show. I wish I had been brave enough to take a picture of the whole booth….but in my defence, the show was packed! There was never a right time to take a picture!

After the show we were quite exhausted. Kelsey wanted to nap…I couldn’t wait to dig into my bag of goodies!

This is just some of the lovelies that we snagged along the way.

The day after the show I got to hang out with my mom & all my sisters. I present to you: the Johnson girls of the present and future! I would say past, but for now that would only be me…and only my purse is in this picture. Pretty good lookin’ bunch, eh?!

After spending 4 hours at IKEA you can’t go wrong with some fro-yo and a place to put your feet up for a while!

On Day 3 of my vacation from motherhood (thanks Ryan!) we spent the day hangin’ at Jenna’s place enjoying the three F’s: food, fabric, and friendship! 

Even if we weren’t feeling like friends first thing in the morning, a whip cream topped scone always does the trick!

What would a weekend at the Quilt Market be if we didn’t quilt? Remember what they say about idle hands?

Johnson girls don’t get together without cooking either. This time we tried our hand at homemade tomato soup…

The ingredient list was extensive. The stems you ask!? They pack some serious flavor!

This quilt ain’t too shabby either. Thanks Joel!

The only thing that could have made this soup even better, was a grilled cheese sandwich. Then we’d really be 5 year olds!

What is letterboxing, you ask? Aside from solving clues to locate a hand-carved stamp, it’s an activity that has taken us to all kinds of really cool parks, trails, businesses (etc), that we didn’t even knew existed. It’s been really fun to become more familiar and discover something new in all the different cities and places we’ve been.

We don’t run into wildlife too often while on the trail. That may be because we bring the wildlife with us, right Rowan?!

How’s it going? No complaints from the senior explorers. That means Daddy will push them to find “just” one more box before a bathroom break…

Turns out the bathroom break should’ve come first. Sorry Rowan, it’s not your fault; here kids, eat these homemade suckers as an apology for bladder discomfort! 

It was going to happen sooner or later:

I’m not sure how sanitary this was, but it made the princess happy. Can’t you see him smiling?

6 boxes in one day! Nice work troops! Let’s stop by the mess hall for a messy treat!

Make…sure…you get…every…last…drop…

New day, new adventure. We’re standing at the birthplace of the cheeseburger! It seems unlikely to me that the restaurant that once stood here was really the first to think of putting cheese on a patty, but the sign says that this was where it was trademarked! Looks like Nellie is waiting for one to fall from the sky…

You might call this slackboxing. This letterbox is always in the same spot, but the stamp changes every month. I guess that’s why it’s called the Box of the Month?

What would a letterboxing adventure be without breaking the law?

That’s not exactly what I meant by pull up, Drew. C’mon Binnie, do it like a girl! Raarrrr!

Cheater cheater!

Nice job Rowan, see ya later!

When you have multiple (b)rats to help sniff out the cheese they insist that every rat get the same number of finds…

Good work Roastie! Sometimes the hardest part of finding a box is deciphering the difficult clues…

…and when it takes too long, this mini-explorer’s display of impatience is downright unholy. (face cropped to maintain G rating status)

Awww, what a nice big sister! Will a kiss and playtime in the sand make it all better?

Looks like it’s a formula for success!

‘Nother afternoon, ‘nother round of boxes. This time we’re going urban! There’s a lot of different kinds of balls in the world, and this shrine has most of them on display…

Zoom in for close up. Rowan’s running the bases while D&B get a quick summary of Rockies baseball history…

Keep checkin’ our 6 Drew, there might be somebody following us! Like that lady with the camera…she looks suspicious!

No need to worry with Rowan on our side. While we were stamping there was like a killer bee that tried to sting her nose. And when 50 ninjas attacked her, she had to defeat them. And she did, and then they were all crying. And that was after she destroyed the giant meteor and received the key to the city!

The statues in the city are so life-like! They move and even make obnoxious noises!

Hey Drew, if Denver floods, what are you going to do? Well, that’s one idea…

Glad to see Ellie is still enjoying the adventure. Even more glad to see Amy’s face on the blog! 

Swing time! Just what the doctor ordered…

…And it so happens to be the location of the last letterbox for today! Whaddya think about that Elle?!

FYI: if you move side to side to keep yourself in front of your kid while she swings, it makes her laugh till she’s hiccupping nonstop.

This is not your Daddy’s tire swing. Who cares?