What a weekend! It was glorious....gorgeous weather (70's), sunny except briefly early Sat. A.M., and the sky was a beautiful blue. The leaves have burst forth on the trees with that pretty spring green color; my tulips are blooming, and small green shoots are poking up from seeds that my youngest and I planted. Our chives are ready for salad tonite!

On Friday evening, my oldest went to the Youth Center to hang out with her friends. The Youth Center at church, just opened for Friday evenings, twice a month, for the teens and some adult leaders to hang out, listen to music, play games, shoot pool, play ping-pong...just be teens. This is not a formal coffeehouse nite or life::group nite. It is meant to be a time to get them out with each other for purely social reasons. I think it is great that we have young adult leaders willing to give up a Friday nite to hang and chat with the teens. It is open for senior high only (grades 9-12).
Claire and I watched a movie together....she was very tired so went straight to bed when it was done. Dave and I discussed our upcoming vacation to NYC for Memorial Weekend....I'll be posting more on that later!

Saturday brought a bit of rain so I did some housework inside while Dave checked the kayak rack website and placed an order for his roof rack so the kayaks can be transported well. Courtney slept in. After lunch, Dave and I decided on a spontaneous hiking trip to check out some ponds at a nearby state park (Grafton State Park....not the best one in this part of the state (we have several excellent ones!) but very close to us so....a good place to go with the kayaks when we don't wanna use the gas for a longer ride to the better state parks!). This pic is of Shaver Pond which is the more remote pond; it is separated from the main part of the park, which is nice. That park tends to get alot of "party-ers" from the local technical college, RPI, as well as from the nearby city. Ick. It is also a state park that allows topless sunbathing....so...guess who doesn't bring her girls to that pond to swim? (thank goodness the one pictured here doesn't allow swimming).

Here is my husband gazing out across the pond. He thinks this will be a nice place to put in the kayaks. We would put in on the other side though as the trail from where we parked the car is a bit long for me to haul a kayak...I just don't have the strength to hike and carry a long ways. Plus, the trails here are unkempt. I was not at all impressed by the rockiness and debris that is on the trail...makes it difficult to carry a boat down. The pond itself is pretty.
After walking around a bit and exploring some more trails, we decided to head back for some dinner and in the evening we sat around the dining room table playing Clue with the girls. We needed a family game nite....Claire loved it even though Daddy won. Again. How come I can never win this game???!
Sunday was a chilly day compared to Saturday but it was still sunny.
I had to "work" (volunteer) at the Welcome Desk in the Youth Center for the 9 a.m. service.
We all went. Dave helped out as we were down on staff due to a death in the teen worship leader's family. His wife is the Youth Coordinator so she wasn't there either.
Then I took Claire to SS, Courtney stayed in Youth Center and Dave and I attended the 11 a.m. service. Then it was home for relaxing, eating, and I made a quick run to JCP for a couple of things that were on sale that we needed.

This week is not too busy. Yet. Just going to work/school; we need to decide which hotel to stay in for Memorial Day weekend...we plan on staying 2 nites although I really just wanna stay for one. I also have to schedule my hair color for end of week and finish my Bible study questions as I have small group next week! No special events for the kids this week, thank the Lord. Claire will be busy with dance at her lessons though as now the academy is in full rehearsal mode for the end of the year Dance Show.
I am going over some new recipes for the week.....I need to get a bit more organized with my menu planning again...I have not done too well in last couple of weeks and when that happens I end up spending more money! At least I know what we are having at our house tonite: Soft Beef Tacos and Fruit Salad.
Time for laundry and overseeing homework......do you have a busy week or is yours kinda normal like mine (hopefully) will be?