Long Weekend

Luke took Friday off so we could go blueberry picking together. We thought we were going to get rained out but the day turned out to be really nice and we had a great time. We went to the same orchard as last year and got another large batch of yummy berries.

Later that afternoon we decided to take a bike ride. We attached the toddler bike seat to Luke's bike for Lily and headed to a bike trail. It was a nice easy ride through the woods on an old railroad line that was converted to bike/hiking trails. It was a lot of fun and something we will take advantage of more often. (I didn't bring my camera but got some good pictures when we went again Sunday afternoon.) As soon as we got home we heard a clap of thunder and then the rain came. Perfect timing!

We then headed out to Noah's last basketball game. We signed him up for SmarStart basketball with the city's rec department. It's an instructional program but the last two weeks they had scrimmages. Noah had fun but he spent most of his time watching the clock and exclaiming at how fast the numbers moved and plugging his ears in prep for the loud buzzer. I think we'll wait a while before signing him up for any more organized sports...

The lighting in the gym was really bad so the pictures didn't turn out very well.



Saturday Noah was invited to his first Chuck E. Cheese birthday party where he was so excited to play in the arcade that he hardly spoke two words to the other kids (thought it was pretty loud in there preventing much conversation anyway) and ran off to play as soon as he got his tokens. Each boy went off in his own direction and the mothers each followed their own kid so it really wasn't much of a social event. He had loads of fun though.

This was also the weekend for Becky and Charlie's annual BBQ, which we've attended every year except for the one year our trip to the 'burgh happened to fall on the same weekend (of course that's the year we will never live down). It's always a great time with friends and family and really great food.

Then Sunday we headed back to the bike trail.We took a break near a waterfall that we could only hear from the trail. We picked our way down an embankment and found this really beautiful site.
And this was a really funky fungus I spotted on the trail and thought it deserved a picture.Even though it was busy it was still relaxing and just really enjoyable hanging out and having fun as a family.

Update(with tongue firmly placed in cheek): I neglected to mention what proved to be the highlight of the whole weekend! It occurred Friday and I'm sure changed the course and tone of the next two days. I spoke with my beloved eldest sister on the phone. This is a rare occurrence (as neither of us deign to speak much on the phone) and all the more special for it. Our witty dialogue touched on many thrilling topics but mostly delved into the merit of certain family photos and the shear artistry contained therein. It was most enlightening and I will forever be grateful that we were able to have such a wonderful long-distance melding of the minds...

How was that, Meliss?