Penn State Chics Dig Nerds

Last night, Brady, Jesse, and I took advantage of the opportunity to ride the mountain biking trails at Raystown Lake.  While the girls are at Bible School, we ride bike together! The Allegrippis Trails are some of the best on the east coast.   There are 30+ miles of trails and we may have been the only people riding on this evening!  We didn't see anyone on the trails or in the parking lot. Brady took us down Osprey and onto the black diamond rated trail called Hydro Loop.  I had never been on that trail before.  This trails start on top of Allegrippis Ridge and descend the whole way down to the edge of the water.  Of course, we had to ascend the trail to get back to our car, which wasn't nearly as fun as the exhilarating ride down!  Eight and a half miles later, we barely made it back to town in time to pick the girls up.  It was a great ride!

 After the swim meet, we had a fire pit meal with the Ruckers.  Even though the swim meet was so cold, it was a few degrees warmer here, and perfect for playing outside.  It was so wonderful to visit with them again.  Everyone had so much fun and it was very apparent in the kids play.  They joyfully played soccer, four square, and basketball (multiple times).  After I took a few pictures and videos, I played basketball, too.

 Once again this year, the Menoher Swim Club swim meet was freezing.  It didn't rain much this time other than a mist.  But, 52 degrees is cold for a June swim meet!  I was shivering and I wasn't even in the water.  You can imagine how cold the kids were.  At least we came prepared with a lot of blankets, towels, and clothing (except for Brady who did not heed the multiple warnings). Brady "wasn't cold" Relay group: Will, Brady, Natalee, and Catherine. Amie's relay group huddled together under blankets at the seeding area. Amie had a long wait in between events.  So, we stripped off her wet suit, dried off, and layered up. Natalee was so cold that she wanted to scratch all of her events-- but thankfully the coaches would not let her.  We are building character :) Natalee's freestyle Brady now has to swim with the big kids.  Here, he lined up beside Will. Brady's breaststroke

 Brady needed a family project for his Boy Scout family life merit badge.  We decided that it would be a great time to replace the living room carpet.  The carpet was very stretched and bumpy in places.  Plus, we could not ever move our couch because the carpet underneath looked like new. We all pitched in to help in some way.  I picked some hickory wood.  This time, they are a bit wider than in the dining room.  Brady and Jesse did a lot of the floor, but the girls, my dad, and I pitched in, too.  This is how we spent segments of our time Memorial Day weekend. Before: During:   It went much faster this time than when we put flooring in the dining room. The boards were wider for one thing.  Additionally, we learned tricks last time that made the process go much more smoothly. After: I'm pretty sure Brady is laying behind a "prominent piece."  Every piece I liked when in the "prominent pile" to put in a good location.  The boys ...