Crafts and Games with Locke

This rather frightening looking rattle snake started out as a man's tie.  Grandson Locke and I stuffed the snake with fiber fill, inserted a small plastic bottle with some beans for the rattle in the tail, and then I hand-stitched the head and tail openings closed.  Next we cut a forked tongue from red felt and sewed on some googly eye buttons for his eyes.
As you can see, the scary snake is actually a pretty nice stuffed critter with which to cuddle while watching TV!

More cuddly, though, than the snake is another crafting project we completed.  Locke has quite an assortment of Ugly Dolls at home, but I thought it would be fun for him to make one.  First, he sketched what he wanted OX to look like.  I then enlarged the pattern, and we cut out front and back from bright green fleece.  Locke was eager to try his hand at sewing on the little sewing machine that is actually is sister Lia's.  So he sewed on a pink oval for the inside of one ear.  I finished up with the other ear and the body.  Then Locke stuffed Ox with more fiberfill.  I attached a button and a gray circle for one eye, and the X is his second eye, which I embroidered with perle cotton.  The finishing touch was the brown felt cookie, with "chocolate chips" inked on with a Sharpie pen.

(The sword was one of our purchases at the Mayborn Museum.)

Probably more hours were spent, however, playing games than swimming, museum-going, or crafting!  First of all, there was the marathon Monopoly game, which first Locke's Mommy played with him, and then Granddaddy took over after she left.  This game lasted for three or four days, and eventually, Locke was the victor!    Here Locke shows off his trophy, and the huge stack of money that was left after Granddaddy went totally broke.  After new friend Riley introduced us to Uno, that became the game of choice.  Only this afternoon have we completed an extended game of Uno, with once again, Locke as champ, racking up 534 points to Grandmommy's paltry 315!  In this picture of a gleeful Locke, he is holding the score sheet and a few Uno cards!

Locke and New Friends in Waco

Grandson Locke, nearly 7, has spent a week with us in Waco.  While here, he made some great new friends!  Pictured above with Locke is Luke, one of the three brothers who first shared a cook-out meal with us and then invited us to their neighborhood's 4th of July parade.  In the other picture, big brother Micah was running a free lemonade stand.  Luke's bike was decorated with a sign that read "The Bike of Liberty."  We also had a great time swimming with the John's parents and brothers at the Country Club. 

Another new friend is Riley.  Riley's grandpa invited us to go out on Lake Waco in his boat.  Here Locke and Riley are in a rubber raft being pulled by the boat, sometimes super fast, "out of the wake," where the ride was as exciting as a roller coaster!  We also watched the fireworks with Riley at his grandparents, and Riley taught Locke a new game, which will figure in another posting!  Below Riley and Locke are enjoying the fantastic Lego exhibit at the Mayborn Museum. 

That evening we took Riley and his grandparents to a Japanese restaurant where the boys were mesmerized by the antics of the hibachi chef as he prepared our meal!  Grandpa Kerry seems to be enjoying the show, too!

Sadly, Riley had to return home to Austin, but another day Locke and Grandmommy went back to the Mayborn for a special "Knights and Ladies" festival.  Locke enjoyed decorating a shield and sword, throwing a lance, and jousting, just to name a few fun activities.  Locke swam in yet another place while in Waco--the indoor Baylor pool.   He loves going down this slide!