In this moment, I am content.

It's been a busy couple of weeks  shuttling a couple of grandsons to some summer activities. I love spending time with the kids even if it is in the car. Earlier this week we spent three full days in Rockford, Illinois, since one grandson was attending an activity there. It was too far to go home after delivering him and then returning to pick him up so we only made the trip once a day. We had no trouble filling our days between drop-off and pickup.

We spent the first morning at Klehm Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. There were storms the night before and Rockford had some flash flooding. Although Klehm didn't have severe damage from the flooding, they were doing lots of cleanup  as a result of the heavy rains and winds. 

I didn't take a lot of pictures but I did love the color of this Clematis

and this coneflower.

In the afternoon, we headed to Belvidere, Illinois where we both grew up. They have a gorgeous park that we haven't visited for years. That very murky water is a result of the storms mentions above.

There were lots of geese and goslings. When Ray decided to take a photo, they all ran toward him. Evidently lots of people must feed them.

I love the different statues in the river. This is a group of children. 

Day 2 found us at Anderson Japanese Gardens. They had lots of storm damage and were closed on Monday due to extensive flood damage.  We could only tour parts of the gardens on Tuesday since cleanup and repair was still going on. This first photo is in the traditional gardens.

I loved this Japanese iris.

When we paid to enter the gardens, we were each give a sticker to wear. We were told that it is Japanese and means "In this moment, I am content". It is very easy to be content when you are enjoying these gardens. 

We ended the day by having a leisurely lunch with my youngest brother and his wife.

Day 3 began with heavy rains, not what Rockford needed. We decided to spend a little time reading and then met some friends for lunch and a lengthy visit.

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I found a little time here and there to work with the rest of the Dream Weaver blocks. There were 16 blocks left. However when I put them on the board, there were 19! I know there were 16 because I counted them three different times when I was designing this next quilt. Now I know that the scraps in my studio are multiplying!

So I changed my original idea and decided on this.

Then I began adding more of the blue background. It still needs blue borders on the sides. 

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This morning we headed to northern Wisconsin. I love this lake and the fact that two of my brothers live here. We'll spend time with lots of family - next week many are coming to enjoy the lake and each other.

For the first time, we are not staying with one of my brothers. They will both be inundated with the next generation in the next few days as families arrive. We have a rental close by giving us some relaxing, quiet time. This was our view earlier this evening.

It is quiet and serene here on the lake. In this moment, I am content.