Stitches, Weddings, and Biking

So kinda an eclectic title, especially as the stitches had nothing to do with biking (no injuries on that one...probably because we kept Kelly in a the kid backpack). So, it starts last weekend when we wanted to have an end of the year Cub Scout party, so we went bowling...what's the worst that could happen. Well, the first game went great. The kids had a blast due to the bumpers and Kelly (due to the kid bowling ramp and some great aiming from her father) even won. However about midway through the second, as she carried her ball up, she tripped and landed with her chin on the bowling ball. Chin is definitely not stronger than bowling ball and after a trip to the ER she emerged with her first two stitches (her Uncle Mike is so proud that she is following in his footsteps). But all is ok. She did great (handling things much better than her mother who skipped the trip). All week she ran up to anybody she saw and tipped her head back to show off her stitches, which are hidden just under the chin.

A little less drama was had yesterday as we went up to West Virginia for a wedding. We spent Friday night in Hitton, WV at a nice little hotel. Saturday morning after a healthy breakfast at Mickey D's (kids choice) we headed out for a hike in the mountains (beautiful) followed by swimming at the hotel pool. Kelly did take a little fall coming down the mountain, but no harm done this time. Then it was off to the wedding in the afternoon. It was outdoors and the light rain from the morning cleared up and everything was great. It was definitely one of the best weddings I have been to. The farm was beautiful and everything was pretty low-key, but well done. The message was one of the better ones I have heard at weddings. After the ceremony the reception was outside at the farmhouse with dancing on the driveway. It was just a blast to hang out, have all the families around, and see an amazing couple get married.

We headed back down last night to have a last Sunday at our church here before heading to north later this week. The message was outstanding and, as often seems to be the case, was just what I needed to hear. Later we headed out for some biking. It was raining on the drive out, but we stopped for lunch and it cleared up for our bike ride along the Lake Murray Dam. The ride was great, although Kelly missed most of it as she fell asleep in the back pack. We stopped for ice cream before turning around. All of us were quite tired by the time we got back as we rode a little over 9 miles and quite a few good hills in there. Brian and Allie did great, but all are were pretty tired tonight.

So a good start to our last week down here for the summer. Looking forward to heading north and seeing friends and family.

Done...for now

We just submitted the final for our last class of the semester. That feels good. It's a strange combination of feelings. We both love our classes and it is great to go, yet it also is nice for them to end. I am done with my Greek series though. Two years of Tuesday's evenings have been devoted to the language and I can finally say I'm done. That one for sure is one that has the mix of feelings. It was awesome to learn and I've gained some great insights. This semester alone was truly amazing as we studied Luke, a book my professor has spent his entire life studying (that and Acts). Just listening to his insights each week was astounding. So, it looks like just one year left and I'll be done for good!

These past two weekends have been fun as we've had some visitors from Michigan. Ray came down two weekends ago. Saw "the sight" of Columbia and got interviewed for the news (learned they like to put their own twists on what you say...although I didn't make the cut as only Allie and Ray were on TV...and I thought Kelly sitting on my shoulders would have given me extra points). We celebrated Kelly's birthday on Friday and Ray was quite gracious to join us at Chucky Cheese, much for all in the end I think as they had some good games there. We also had some board game action, introducing Ray to Settlers.

Last weekend my sis came into town, she's doing an internship in DC this summer. We also took her to "the sight", but she wanted to do some hiking with Zuke (Laura's Great Dane for those of you who didn't know), so we went to Harbison State Forest and would probably about 5 miles through the woods. It was a blast. Kelly loved "walking" Zuke. Not sure what would have happened if he had decided to take off while she was holding the leash...we told her to let go, but we kept a close eye on it. Brian was running all over the place, but got a little tired at the end as Laura and I ended up going ahead to get the car and come back to get the rest. A great time overall, the only downside for us was the bugs and Zuke did not enjoy the heat. The neighborhood kids got a kick out of seeing Zuke, they had never seen a dog so big. Sunday we had a lunch picnic (some great food from Fatz Cafe) which was cut a little short by a thunderstorm. We thought we were good under a pavilion until the wind got so strong that it was blowing the rain sideways even under the entire pavilion. So we made a mad dash for the car and were thoroughly soaked, but had a great time. The only sad part of the weekends was watching people go. It was great to see them, but difficult to say goodbye.

Hopefully we'll see everyone when we come up to Michigan in a few weeks.