Guns'n Roses

Did I grab your attention!? Good, cuz I wanted to share with you some of the fun things I got to do with my Uncle and Aunt while visiting them! 

While I was visiting, my Uncle asked me if I'd like to go to the shooting range with him. 

I, having never even touched a real gun before, let alone shot one was a bit apprehensive but replied with an excited yes!

So the next day when my Aunt had a meeting she had to be at, Uncle D sat me down and went over all the parts of my Aunt's Ruger and gun safety & handling and shooting range etiquette. 

Then we drove on over to the range and had some fun while wearing our Mickey Mouse ears! It was kind of nice because no one else was there, so it took some of the nerves out of it both from the loudness stand point and the no one will be watching stand point.

 I was really nervous taking that 1st shot, mainly because I didn't know what to expect in terms of the kick back but after about 10 seconds of standing there, arms up, gun pointed straight ahead I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. 

Hmm, not as big a kick back as I thought. Actually it was pretty cool! My Aunt's gun was really easy to handle and I did pretty well hitting the target after I warmed up to how to best handle and aim the gun. 

I shot at 3 targets and went through probably 200 shells at least. It was a fun way to spend time with my Uncle and also try something new that I'd kind of always wanted to try. My Dad and brother go to the shooting range every so often but have never invited me. You can bet next time they go I'll be insisting I get to come along. 

My brother seemed pretty proud of me as I was texting him my targets. This was my last and best target... well until I tried pulling and aiming lefty... then they were all over the sheet :)

The other thing I did while visiting was help my Aunt with learning how to crochet! 

She had mentioned when we were talking about my coming to visit that she'd like to learn how to make hats and I was like "Hey! I'm good at making hats! I'd be happy to teach you!" 

 We spent several afternoons and evenings just sitting on the couch chatting as I taught her how to crochet a circle and start a hat. And she told me about my great grand mother who was a master seamstress and also very talented crocheter and knitter. It was so fun to see how well she took to it and kept at it even when she felt like she wasn't doing so great. 

While she worked on hers I sat next to her and crocheted a little new born hat. 

 And then added a flower. 

And here is my Aunt J's 1st finished hat! She did such a good job with a little help from me and a lot of persistence. And it was such a joy to see how proud of herself she was! 

I suggested she purchase the Stitch'n Bitch books for both crochet: The Happy Hooker and knitting: Knit Happens! Ha, I just love the names but also I found those books to be so helpful and written in laymen's terms with great diagrams so that I could understand what they were teaching me. She ordered them used on Amazon so I can't wait to chat with her about what projects she is working on when she gets them and we can work on the same projects together over the phone and via texting pictures!