Cat in the Hat Baby Blanket | Ruff Ruminations

I made this cute Cat in the Hat chenille baby blanket for one of the many new babies on the way that we know. It was my first time trying the chenille technique and I really love the way it turned out, although it was A LOT of work. But worth it!

Close up of the chenille. Basically you sew a bunch of diagonal rows 1/2 inch apart through 3 layers of flannel then slice the tops two layers between your channels.

The person this is for (they still don't know :D) wanted a taggy blanket so I added some ribbon on the top and bottom edges. Can you see the channel I forgot to slice?

 I used the same panel as the backing since the whole story is written out and you can't read any of the text. I didn't chenille the cat because I was worried that he wouldn't turn out. Next time I am going to try a smaller  panel to see how the picture turns out once it is chenille.

Sparwood World's Biggest Truck - Must Stop w/ a 3y/o Boy! | Ruff Ruminations

We took a different route home from Montana than the one we took out there, it is the one we usually do so we knew what to expect from the roads. It also takes us through Sparwood BC. And this year Grady was awake so we HAD to stop and check out the World's Biggest Truck!

He loved it, the only thing that would have made it better was if you could climb up to the driver's cabin.

I'm aniticipating we will be stopping here annually on our trip to and from Montana! Next time we need to do it on a day that the info booth is open.

Penguin Plunge at the Calgary Zoo! | Ruff Ruminations

Now that the Penguin Plunge at the Calgary Zoo is finally open to the public I can share with you our photos from the members preview. It was lots of fun and I can't wait to go back again and again with various people who come to visit.

The outdoor part doesn't open until the spring but it looks like it is going to be a cool place to watch the penguins in addition to their awesome exhibit inside.

So neat to see the penguins swimming right past you, like you were in the water with them!

There are 42 penguins in all representing 4 different species so you get quite a variety of looks and behaviours.

I could not get over how close you can get! This guy really liked standing over everyone's heads and then diving into the water splashing us all.

I didn't know it would be such a challenge to catch a penguin and a smile in the same shot!

But I got it!

This port hole was really neat, big enough that most kids could climb right in for an even more up close experience with the penguins

Those suckers can swim fast! Hard to get an in focus shot with my little point and shoot. So as you can see well worth a visit to the Calgary Zoo to check out the newest addition!

We also popped over to the hippos and I just had to share this series of photos so you know how hard it is to get a pic of Grady to share! Silly guy loves to move just as I click, he thinks its hilarious!

I have to admit we do get some pretty interesting pictures as a result

I think out of focus ought to be the new trend in photography :D