Family Mellmann

Katherine is forever trying to hide from the camera. When is she going to figure that she can't hide from the shutterbug?!

We stopped in Hancock Vermont for a little lunch. Bikers were everywhere, but most of the riders were either single riders or double adults. Katherine was, without a doubt, the youngest rider we saw all day. After lunch, before we hit the road, Joerg spent a few minutes reviewing the map to chart our route back to the world of cell phone service...I mean the route back home.

Our first rest stop at a scenic overlook. We kept trying to get Katherine to hold still for a picture, but this is the best we could do.

It's the first weekend day that we have had both good weather (warm and sunny) and little to no wind. That means we are going for a day-long ride through the Green Mountains!  Everybody is now officially equipped with properly fitting gear; helmets, coats of armor, gloves, and boots.  We have rain gear, too, but it won't be needed today.

Well, it used to be called "tinkering".  Apparently, like so many other things these days, it's been given a new cooler name; "wrenching".  That sounds a little too close to "retching" for my taste, and you definitely wouldn't want to get them confused.  You see, "wrenching" is simply tinkering when it involves a motorcycle. Retching, on the other hand, involves revisiting what you had for lunch...ick. Now that we have a complete set; a BMW R1150R (that's mine) and a BMW R1150GS (that's his) the motorcycle tinkering can begin.  Oh, wait, sorry.  Let the "wrenching" begin.  But first we have to order a bunch of stuff; filters, spark plugs, battery, oils, and tools.  We mustn't forget the tools.  Tinkering is a waste of time if you don't have tools. Joerg spent a couple of hours this weekend in the garage getting things neat and tidy.  Then he installed suspended shop lights over the area where he parks his car...

...between two points...no longer matters. The bikes are out, the gear is ready, and the riders are psyched. That means that a twelve minute trip to Panera for lunch now takes upwards of twenty-five minutes, and may cover MANY (arguably unnecessary) miles. *grin

Today is our last official day of Spring Break (no, I don't count the weekends).  Our final Boredom Buster is tie-dying. For me, this is journey into the unknown; I've been curious about it, but have never tried it. Patrick has tie-dyed as part of some summer camp or other so he just jumped right in and started squirting. Katherine, who just enjoys squirting stuff and making messes, also jumped right in. It will be interesting to see how their works of art turn out. Katherine did a swirl pattern like the one I found on Pinterest , but the rest of their dyeing is random and should prove to be quite colorful. We may still do another activity today, but my organized program is officially finished. Next week they can go back to school and I can feel good about the fact that I did some real "intentional parenting" this week (and had some fun with them, too).

Our little Pinterest-spurred flower project is over. This is the end result of our white roses stem-dyed in multiple colors. We have been watching them change color since Monday, but now the stems are closing up and the flowers are starting to die. Can can't decide which one is my favorite. I like the top right one because is just turned out so delicate and pretty, I like the bottom right one because the two colors that we used (blue and green) blend to create such a pretty effect. And I like the two on the left because they show how the multiple colors get absorbed into the pedals of the rose. They didn't turn out as intense in color as the Pinterest inspiration, but it was still a fun project.

I surprised the kids with an unannounced trip to a local bowling alley. Patrick called his friend, Calvin, to join us. When we pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley the kids started to whine (my kids - Calvin enjoys bowling). Katherine, who has never been bowling in her life, yells "I *HATE* BOWLING". I ignored them all and went straight into the building where I met up with the rest of the surprise. Another Trinity family - with kids/friends in both Patrick's and Katherine's classes - plus a few more Trinity kids were already there playing. It suddenly went from the "worst day ever" to the best day of [Katherine's] life, and both kids got all excited and happy to be there. One of these days maybe they'll just learn to trust me when I say I have a fun surprise for them...or not.

Today we used another Pinterest find. Katherine, who loves to paint, got into it pretty quickly, but wasn't too interested in using the glue (a surprise given her usual over-use of the stuff). Patrick had trouble getting into it at all, but I think it was mostly because I made him get off the Xbox to do it. What he doesn't seem to get is that I was going to kick him off the Xbox for awhile anyway. They both came up with some artwork that suits them (I'll try to post pictures later), and I will have some artwork to hang on the wall above their computers. :)

Today's Spring Break fun involves five friends and two homes.  Patrick and Katherine will be getting together with friends, first at the home of one of the friends then at our house. There is nothing better to combat boredom than friends.

Ever since Patrick was in First Grade, I determined to plan some activities for those vacations (other than summer) when he was out of school for more than a day or two.  Now that both kids are in school, I continue this "tradition". For Christmas break it was gingerbread construction, Christmas cookie making and decorating, and stuff like that.  For our Winter Break in February, we went on a dive vacation.  You get the idea. So now it's Spring Break.  Monday's Boredom Buster was to stem-dye some white roses.  My inspiration came from something I found on Pinterest .  I'm not sure that ours will come out quite as vibrant as theirs, but it's still fun to watch how each one pulls in the different colors.  So far I don't see any three color roses (despite having a couple of them in there), but I am pleasantly surprised by the vibrancy of the colors - at first it wasn't looking like they would get very intense. I'll try to post a picture at the e...

Today, Patrick and Katherine's classes combined to deliver a concert to the residents of Pillsbury Manor nursing home. They sang several songs and hymns, recited memorized Bible verses, and presented each resident in attendance with a goodie bag filled with homemade treats and gifts hand made by the children. One gentleman I talked to, in tears said, "I enjoyed it all - every part. You just have to love their glowing faces."