This has been an absolutely perfect weekend. I know I haven't written in a while, because we've just been so busy with the start of summer and camps and all, but this weekend was really notable for me.
It started around 4pm on Friday when I left with my friend Andrea. We got pedicures, went to dinner, and then out for the evening to a painting class. It was at this place in Raleigh, where you are led by an artist to paint your own painting. I painted a 16x20 canvas of a martini glass. It was really stressful, because I've never painted before, but it was also a lot of fun. And after I got it home and saw it the next morning, I didn't think it was too bad. It did suffer by comparison to the original, but on it's own it's kinda funky. I'll take a picture and post it sometime.
Saturday morning we all slept in, got up and went to our friends' house to swim in their pool. We played lots of diving and water games, and had a great time. Then we came home, regrouped, and went out to dinner with another set of friends. Our good friend Pam was visiting from California, so we got together with her and her pals at a restaurant we'd been wanting to try for a long time. The company was terrific, the food was OK. ;-) Then we left from dinner to go to Koka Booth Amphitheatre where the symphony was playing along with the Wizard of Oz movie. This is our second year getting summer symphony tickets and I enjoy it so much more than the winter series we did one year. They play in an outdoor amphitheatre in Cary and we take wine and dinner and snacks, and picnic while they play. Saturday night was a special event with the movie, and we met friends there for a great time in the hot Carolina night. Alek had been invited to his friend's birthday party sleep over, so it was just us and Ben.
Now on to Sunday! We started with brunch with Pam around 11, which was at our new favorite hamburger place (Alek was dissappointed that he didn't get to go) but Ben had fun with the grownups once again. After brunch we came home and met Alek at our house - he had a great time at his friend's sleep over. Then Pam left, and I did a little laundry. Then it was time to drop Ben off. Ben is at an all-week science camp at NC State. He doesn't sleep over, he will come home each night, but he is there for 11 hours each day. It's going to be an intense week for him! It's a big camp for grade schoolers, and so they are broken down into small groups of 10-11 each. The boys in his group seem very nice, and we got to meet his Lego Robotics instructor. How fortuitous! He lives here in Apex and teaches grade school & middle school teams, and runs the Lego Robotics camp in Cary Parks & Rec - which I had been intending to sign Alek up for. However, Alek may be out of camp opportunities for this year because we are on the verge of our busiest weeks of the summer.
Anyway, part of my new job at IBM is managing our global K-12 outreach efforts which include camps for girls and boys. I'm the global manager, and there are local managers around the world who run the local camps - I coordinate and provide financing, oversight, business controls, etc. Anyway, this guy knows the guy who just retired and whose job I took over. Small world! Anyway, the meeting may be fortuitous for both of us.
So now I'm folding laundry, Alek vacuumed the upstairs (!), and in a few minutes we leave again to go pick Ben up.
It's gonna be a busy week! Hope you're all having fun!
The cousins on a hike in Zion:
Alek and Ben at the tip of a trail at the highest elevation in Bryce:
The cousins on a trail at Bryce:
Horseback riding into Bryce Canyon (Alek is in the grey sweatshirt):
Mema and Papa came early, Thursday evening, so they could see Alek's baseball practice. They got to see him play and pitch.
Gary, Ben and Papa on the bench watching Alek's practice.
On Friday morning they got to come to the Retirement Community next to the school to see Ben's recorder club perform. Here we are in the lobby waiting for Ben and the club to arrive.
Ben, playing the flute, in the recorder club.
My sister and her kids arrived on Friday night, and then we went gem mining on Saturday. Very fun and very dirty!
On Sunday we picked some of my hydrangeas and made a bouquet.
Here is Papa with all the kids, watching TV in the play room.
And here is Papa hard at work making pancakes for everyone ...
For lunch on Sunday, we went to Tribecca Tavern for BIG hamburgers, and the kids were hanging out. We got to sit outside, it was such a lovely day.
My sister and my youngest niece ...
Mema and Papa ...
The whole Smith side of the family (except for Andrea's husband, who had to stay home and work ... so sad)
We picked some of my hydrangeas, and they were huge. They made a nice bouquet in the kitchen. I love the pink one!
Gary took the boys to the batting cages this afternoon, and I went shopping. Now, it looks like rain! Hurray ... we'll stay inside and maybe watch a movie, although I have lots of clean laundry to fold. Guess it's time to get on that!
