{Friends and an Alpaca}

This weekend the cubs and I all packed into the MomMobile and headed south to a little town far smaller than CornHole (but so much cuter, and less smelly!) to attend the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival.

Better than that - We finally got to put a body to the words of one of my dearest friends, Pam. It sounds weird to say things like that because we'd never "met," but it really is true. We chat almost everyday, offer advice and harangue each other on almost daily.
We pulled into the festival at about the same time. She came with her bestie Kir* and Kir's son MrShepherd. I saw her out of the corner of my eye, but convinced myself that it wasn't her because this woman had long curly hair. It couldn't be her. She wasn't sure if it was me either because I was hiding behind my "hollywood sunglasses."

As soon as we figured it out, I was wrapped in the biggest, warmest, most sincere hug! Seriously, it was totally worth the wait - and I am so glad we finally got to meet.

We wandered around the little fest, letting the kids watch the sheep and alpacas. MrShepherd did a great job of herding PrincessZ, and then decided he liked it enough that he wanted to start his own herd and kept asking his mom for a baby sheep. It was really sweet!

I fell in love with these guys:
The owner was really sweet. He showed MrShepherd how to spin alpaca yarn and told us all about raising alpacas. I could just swim in those eyes! So expressive and sweet. This beauty is "Shocking Black" and that's her bud "Emily" behind her. Apparently Shock has a sister that competes with her "Awesome Black." Get it? "Shock and Awe" !!! Too funny!

Anyway, Kir talked us into experiencing GodFather's Taco Pizza. Yes, that's right - I took both kids to a restaurant on my own! I did it! And honestly, they did great! They are 2 and 1 - they make a mess and can be loud - but we made it through without meltdowns and too much trouble. I have to remind myself that they are little. Sometimes I expect too much from them - and both Kir and Pam told me that they didn't do a single thing that 2 and 1 year old aren't supposed to be doing! Heh. Thanks ladies! There was a hall with local fiber vendors - tons and tons of squishy rovings and whatnot. I love, love, love handspun yarn - and maybe one day I can learn how to do it - but right now I need another hobby like I need another hole in my head! But guess who got sucked in? Kir! She picked up a spindle and a beautiful ball of sparkly fluffy stuff! Maybe she'll blog it... it's totally fabulous.

I picked up a neat little gizmo to hold your dpns when you want to set them down, and a hank of handpainted sock yarn. I felt a little guilty about it, buying a house and all - but it'll be something to work on for the 5 or 6 days we're without our stuff. It was all Pam's fault! So... as her punishment, I am challenging her to find me a sock pattern for it. Something toe up, with an easy but interesting pattern, a nice heel and a comfy toe. Are you up for it, Pam? Maybe I'll even do them 2 at a time on one circ. Will my fancy new holdery thing work with that too?

The cubs enjoyed the day, and crashed hard as soon as we got home. PrincessZ kept saying "oh NO! my Pamda went byebye, and boy too! Soooo sad."

I made a great new friend. Kir is wonderful. She's so warm and funny. Anyone who appreciates my bad jokes and random tossing of movie/tv quotes is good in my book! And her MrShepherd is one great kid!

* be sure to click over to Kir's blog. Pam and I are giving her a hard time for never updating, so maybe this will get her going.

Stay tuned. I will have a guest blogger soon and be revealing the super secret project.