The Weekend

It’s hard to believe it’s been four months since Christmas. A quarter of the year has gone by already. It’s also hard to believe that it’s been four months since the entire family has been able to be together. Strange, but the four months since Christmas seems to have flown by, while the four months since we’ve all been together feels  much, much longer.

But we were all together this past weekend, albeit in our staggered, yet thankfully overlapping schedules.

I took a number of photos over the weekend. Here are just a few...

This is photo of the train Rachael rode in on. It's not a particularly good photo and it doesn't really mean much, beyond being a memory - which I guess is true of all photos.

There are often so-called every day memories from when I was I kid that I wish I had photos of. One of those memories is of taking the trains down to North Carolina. In my mind, I remember what it was like, I remember the look and the feel and the smells, but I sure wish I had some photos, as well.

This photo isn't likely to mean much, if anything, in years to come. But then again, it might. And that's reason enough to have taken it.

On Sunday morning, we went for a walk to the tower. Here's a photo taken on the way up to the tower...

 And here's one taken on the way down...

In between, I think it was Jake who spotted some flowers which I had never noticed before...

I guess these are pretty plentiful but like I said, I never noticed them. I'm not sure if these are Wood Anemones (as first thought) or Liverwort flowers - or maybe those two are one in the same? I have no idea. You can read about them here. Let me know what you find out.

Here's a photo taken at the top of the hill, near the tower. Notice that some of us are standing away from the slippery, rocky edge, the wisely recommended (by me) fifty feet... and some of us are not. I'll wait while you contemplate this for awhile. 

By Sunday afternoon, after we headed back home, we were one Jake short (since he headed back to his apartment), but we gained a Helaina. After Helaina opened her Easter basket, we went on another walk, this time to the College. 

This is one of several photos taken of Rachael giving Helaina a piggyback. I'll have a little more to say about this another time. Maybe.

Back at home once again, we managed to squeeze in the Dying of the Easter Eggs ritual - thank goodness. I would hate to think that I wasted my time hard boiling two dozen eggs - for nothing. 

It's been a while since we've dyed eggs, because it's been a while since we were all home for Easter (though, as it turned out, Jake conveniently had to leave). I'm not sure why I thought this, but I thought some of the kids thought this was fun. Now, I'm not too sure. It almost seemed like it might have been an ordeal. 

Obviously, at least one person isn't happy about the smell. Is it the smell of the eggs that's so offensive or is it the smell of the vinegar needed for the dye? My guess is, yes (to both).

Helaina left on Sunday night, and on Monday, I brought Rachael to the bus station. Now, for better or worse, it's back to the usual quiet of the house, leaving little to do but more laundry and more dishes - and to contemplate what in the world I will do with two dozen colorful, hard boiled eggs.