What a wet weekend it has been! And Tom and Scott were off Whitewater Rafting with the Boy Scouts this past weekend. I guess if you are going to participate in a water sport, it shouldn't really matter if it is raining or not. But thunderstorming is whole 'nother thing.

Tom and Scott were busy packing up(with my supervision and recommendations) for their long weekend trip to the Ohiopyle-the river course south of Pittsburgh- about a 3.5hr drive from our house. Scott was off of school and Tom was off of work on Friday, so they had plenty of time to pack that morning. Tom had Scott volunteer to cook for the troop that weekend to get his camping basics requirement finished. He had to prepare two hot breakfasts, one hot dinner and two snacks. The river crew served lunch. They made french toast and egg Mcmuffin sandwiches for breakfast and SCott wanted spaghetti with meatballs for dinner. Of course snacks included marshmallows. It just isn't a whole lot of fun camping in the rain. And it is a whole lot tougher to cook. Tom found out he was not too impressed with this troops resources. He said they are not terribly organized and do not have a lot of supplies. Not like his old troop. He also had to give the older scout boys a lecture about helping the younger boys. Yes I know, it is a Scout run activity. But like Tom and I finally agree on, someone has to first show the younger boys how everything is done and do a little supervising. The older boys kicked back and were going to let Scott's group struggle. Tom decided he'd better step in.

Tom also thought he and Scott could tent together but I told him it was a scout no no. I am pretty up to date on scouting rules since I have been running Allison's troop now for 6 years. Tom had picked up a new 4 person tent anyhow. When he found out he couldn't sleep with Scott in our tent, he bunked with another Dad and the boys were in together. The boys tent leaked of course and one of Scott's classmates cried all night long during a pretty nasty thunderstorm while their sleeping bags got soaked. Tom said lightening struck the camp not too far from their tents. Oh joy.

I actually think Tom enjoyed the rafting the most between the boys. But he said it was 7 miles of nonstop paddling around huge boulders. He figures he'll be sore for weeks. Even Scott had to paddle which I think made it more difficult!

So Scott has been to both camping extremes so far-freezing and drowning. The Scout Leaders swear it doesn't get any worse than it has! I don't know about that.

While Tom and SCott were getting wet, Allison and I had our share of water too. We had to take our boy scout safety swim test on Sunday morning. We each had to swim 4 laps non stop and then tread water for 1 min. I was a bit out of breath! But we passed so now we can join the boys on any water adventures-like camping at Chincoteague island this fall(with the wild ponies).

The boys got back Sunday afternoon and I spent the rest of the day washing very wet and muddy clothes. I also ran out and got the grass cut in between rain showers, raked leaves, cut tree branches and pulled weeds. I think I am as sore as Tom!

Since it was so nice and quiet here at our house on Saturday, I spent the day catching up with my blogs. I know some of you have been busy reading! Allison was working and the boys were off paddling. I would have been mowing the lawn, but too much rain.

Allison also had off on Friday-midterms- so she was scheduled to work. Tom dropped her off at the skating rink while shopping for camp food since I had a class to go to at work all afternoon. At least I got off in time to pick her up. Allison and I also ran some errands Saturday night. We both wanted to go see the new Disney film Big CAts, but for some reason it has left the Maryland movie theaters. It was posted in the newspaper, but was not showing at the movie theaters. I knew I should have insisted they take me to that movie on Mothers Day!

On Friday night it was Girls Night Out as I joined my neighbor at Houlihan's restaurant to celebrate her birthday. Turns out one of her friends is a newish transplant from Michigan. Her husband is a civil engineer and had to look for work outside the Detroit area from Rochester Hills. She was so excited to meet another Michigander that knows how to play euchre and Michigan Rummy(another polish catholic girl too) and that is familiar with terms like Fudgie. We were both crying over the Red Wings loss. We also closed down the restaurant that night!

Tom and I have been busy trying to keep up with the hockey games during the Stanley Cup finals. Now we are all out of teams to cheer for-both the CApitals and the Wings are out. Too bad.

We were pretty busy during the week too(surprise)-

Tom and I had to rely on neighbors to help pick up and drop off the kids last week since I signed both Tom and I up for a class on How to Teach Your Teen to Drive. That was actually a birthday present from Allison to Tom(cuts down on yelling we hope during up and coming driving lessons). Anyhow, the guidelines to get your permit and driver's license have changed since Tom and I were in high school. Now they really don't expect the kids to learn to drive from Driver's Ed, but they actually expect the real training to come from the parents. And we are supposed to prove that we spent 60 hours out on the road with our teen before they can apply for their drivers license. Even after they get their license, they are still under probation for two years.

I thought it was a good class.The instructor gave some good tips on how to provide our new driver with recommendations for safe driving and how parents can provide a better experience to their teens while teaching them the safe methods. They covered learning styles and how to incorporate all the different styles into learning to drive. WE also can keep track of our progress of the different skills Allison masters on the computer and print out a form to take to the MVA when we have reached our 60 hours. The class was two nights for 2 hours each night. We even managed to get a quick date out of it and went to dinner at Outback.

Unfortunately the class ran right into Scott's boy scout meeting on Tuesday night and Allison's field hockey camp on Thursday night. We were able to get one of the scout families to take Scott and bring him home. We were able to drop Allison off at Field Hockey, but I had to ask a neighbor to pick her up. The neighbor even let Scott come over while Allison was gone for a play date with her son. It all worked out great. And Allison was so proud of herself as she scored two goals in their scrimmage! In the two years she has played as a goalie she has never had the chance to score a goal!

ON Weds night I had to run Allison up to school for an Open House put on by this years Interns. They were showcasing their research projects-kinda like a science fair. We wanted to get some research ideas for Allison's internship program next year at Resurrection as a teacher's aide.

So that was enough activity for one week. Now I am busy trying to drop off forms for references for Allison for her application to the National HOnor Society. As much as they require for acceptance into the NHS, you would think she was running for president! And she has been busy taking practice tests for the upcoming High School Assessments scheduled for next week.

Wish her luck! And Good Luck to Eric Seitz who is currently taking a class in Delhi, India! My but hurts just thinking about that 15hr plane ride. Yuck!

Here are some more photos from Easter break. One of the neighbors at Mom and Dad Seitzs place in Florida thought this stone looked like a bunny, so they painted it for Easter-complete with a white cotton tail in the back! And to top it off, this bunny gave away free candy! Scott made many visits to that rock on Easter weekend. Amazingly, the Easter bunny also stopped by with some baskets for our family to hunt for on EAster Sunday(the TSA at the airport must think I am weird since I had quite a collection of Easter goodies in my suitcase-not the candy though! They did search my bag and left their calling card). I also sent of photo of Allison and Scott in their Easter best at church. And while we were visiting Busch Gardens Africa, Uncle Mark was experiencing the real thing! Hope your accommodations were better than this place Mark!