We had perfect weather for a weekend full of fun. Storms rumbled through late Thursday night that washed the insane amounts of pollen away, leaving the weekend with crystal-clear air.
Watching Great Blue Herons at Crabtree Creek.
We followed up yesterday’s great day with more fun stuff today. Once again, the house windows were open to let in nature and we ate a somewhat-chilly-but-fun pancake breakfast on our screened porch. Then in the late morning we finally got motivated to do some bike riding on the greenways. We started at Atlantic Avenue and rode to Lassiter Mill Falls again, taking some time to practice skimming stones on the water.
Travis found a few shells from freshwater mollusks along the banks of Crabtree Creek. I thought that was interesting as I didn’t know Crabtree was clean enough to support this kind of aquatic life. Perhaps it’s cleaner than I thought (or the critters are hardier than I give them credit for)!
Sending one across
Hallie got a little frustrated with not yet being able to skip stones. I had a little chat with her, encouraging her to keep practicing. I told her it was years before I learned how to do it. She soon was back on her bike with the rest of us and enjoying the ride.
We were halfway home when we realized that Hallie left her water bottle at the falls. Rather than all of us trekking back to fetch it, I continued the ride with the kids while Kelly (who is training for a triathlon) volunteered to swing back and fetch it. The kids and I were settled back the car for perhaps 5 minutes before Kelly came racing up to us! She must have been really moving to make up as much time as she did!
Spotting a turtle
We had lunch on our screened porch and then Kelly and the kids went to the grocery store while I made a trip to REI to buy parts for my bike rack. I didn’t find what I needed there but picked up a few items at Target while I was nearby.
We again enjoyed another dinner on our porch. This was followed by an impromptu family soccer match: first with girls against boys, then Team Blue (Hallie and I) vs. Team Brown (Kelly and Travis). Even Rocket joined in the fun – we were using his dilapidated “soccer ball,” after all! We decided to aim to finish dinner earlier from now on so that we have more time to play together.
With this weekend’s perfect weather it was great seeing just how much we could take advantage of it. I think we managed pretty well!
What kind of bike rack?
It’s a Yakima. Last night I ordered the missing Q-Tower part and all should soon be well.