A walk in the park

Yesterday we decided to hike instead of boat (gasp!)  I know an odd occurrence.  With the lake only minutes away you would think boating our main priority.  True we have been boating every weekend since we moved in, but why ruin a good thing?  There was much grumbling and rumbling buy some, OK all of my children.  And I think the decision may have caused John physical pain.  Despite all of this we went anyway.  

We took off for the Three Rivers Greenway.  This is a paved trail about 3.2 miles in length that runs along the Congaree river in Columbia.  It was a beautiful trail with lots of trees, water, rocks and did I say trees?  The trees here amaze me.  Perhaps I have just been away from them to long.  

The trees make a lovely canopy for walking this trail.  They also provide tons of climbing and hanging structures.  The Kudzu and other forms of Ivy are quite prolific here, making numerous vines to hang and swing from.  (Hopefully none of the vines are poison ivy.)

As you can see no one had any fun and we just should have stayed home. 

 The park runs right along the Congaree River and there are many opportunities for throwing sticks, rocks and other  items into the river. 

 The city of Columbia is rich with American history.  There were many signs along the way marking farms, ferries, shipping ports and the like.  The trail lead us under many bridges which cross the river and into downtown Columbia.  

The right side of this picture is mural painted on the bridge supports and the left side, behind Mark is the river.  I love the fact that this mural blends into the scenery.  It was a beautiful day and even though the boat did not accompany us we all had a good time.  Never fear, out look for next weekend...Boating.

Service

Mark is taking a service learning class as part of the curriculum here in Lexington.  The class teaches the importance of giving service to one's community. The class has various volunteer activities and requirements to meet throughout the quarter.  One of those requirements it to volunteer at least 3 hours of your time at the facility of your choice.  Mark chose to do his volunteering at one of the no kill local animal shelters.  We thought we would share some of the dogs he helped this weekend.  Many of the dogs were abandoned, abused or left for dead.  The stories are all heart wrenching.  Even John who accompanied Mark came home with his "favorites".  The sounded like very sweet animals.

This is Linus.

4 month old pup 

Lazarus who was literally raised from his death by the crew at Pets Inc.

Eski who was beaten and malnourished when she was found.

A Ginger look-a-like puppy.  

Azaleas!

Spring is definitely in the air.  In the for of pollen, mostly.  When I take a step outside it is more that evident why the pollen count is so high.  Flowers are everywhere.  While the sight of trees alone overwhelms me the quantity of flowers is amazing!  Wild wisteria vines cover everything making purple dots all over the landscapes.  The Pear trees are done blooming and the crab apples have just started.  I am amazed at the number and size of the azaleas.  They grow so large here it is hard to imagine them as the same bushes I once had in Ohio.  Ginger and I went for a walk today at one of the parks and took along my camera to try and capture the beauty.  While their full bloom was last weekend their beauty is still evident in the purples, whites, reds and pinks.

Easter Happenings

Okay.  I am a little behind but here are some Easter Pictures I wanted to share.
The kids started out with egg coloring.  It used to be so much easier to color eggs.  Now everyone wants multicolored eggs.  Trying to get each half to be a different color leads to a lot of multicolored fingers and a lot of dropped eggs.

Then they switched to dying the entire egg in 3 different colors.  And we ended up with many swamp colored eggs.  Notice the series of swamp green eggs on the left side of the picture.  I was very frustrated.  This in combination with The Masters being on TV and Mark leaving with a cup of dye in his hands to watch TV made for a very aggravated mama.

Our Final results.

The Easter bunny came and left clues for the kids to find their baskets.  See if you did as well as they did.

Clue 1 (hidden in jelly beans on the stove)

An Easter hunt. What fun!  What fun!

3 new baskets, when all is done.

A bed, a desk, a cage, a box

for person and dog but not a fox.

Clue 2 (taped to dog cage)

Sometimes hot, Sometimes cold

Trees grow up, So I'm told.

Papers, trash and Items Sold

Mail, flyers and letters I hold.

Clue 3 (mailbox)

This is a place to cook your meat

A table and chairs for your seat

Cheeseburgers, hot dogs and occasionally fish

Might cook a chicken but not the dish.

Clue 4 (grill)

You are tired, so you say.

One more clue for you today.

I am soapy, clean and wet

You don't like to take them, I bet.

Scrub your hair, face and feet,

And you will have lots of candy to eat.

Yep, Baskets in the shower.  Good Job!

After consuming our weight in Jelly-beans, Cinnamon rolls and Kisses, we forced the kids to sit still through a mass that was 2 hours long.  Perhaps we should have rethought that.  Surprisingly, they did quite well.  Afterward we went to brunch at the Crab Shack.  They had a wonderful brunch with yummy southern dishes.

Grammy & Papa came in for the Holiday.  Here they are after Easter Brunch.  

Hope your Easter went as well as ours.  Happy Easter (a few days late)

Meet Audrey

Meet Audrey Anne Hendricks. She was born 4/11/09.  She is the daughter of John's niece Sarah.  

Making me...old.  No, actually I am now officially a great aunt. With Audrey's birth I thought I would pass on my words of wisdom to Sarah.  She may not get around to reading my blog until Audrey enters kindergarten, nevertheless, I feel it my duty as an older, and perhaps wiser mother of three.

1. Relax.

(the dishes will still be dirty tomorrow.  But Audrey will only be this size today. Tomorrow she will be bigger, stronger and smarter.)

2. Enjoy.

(Babies need to be spoiled. When she is older she will learn.)

3. Remember.

(no matter what advice you are given, you are Audrey's mom and it is your decision.)

4. Rest.

(You need to take care of You.)

5. Love.

(Daddy's need love too.)

6. Trust.

(mother's instincts.)

7. Pray.

(When you are at the end of your rope, pray)

Good Question.

Last week, sometime, we were driving around and the kids started discussing what they "want" in the new house.   Other than the obvious, my own room, my own phone, my own TV, there were real features such as a basement, a toy room, 3 bathrooms etc.   I got a chuckle out of listening to them.  The will even bring me fliers from houses that are for sale and say, "What about this one?"  They really have an honest interest in where we live next.  As Emma was tallying her list, she decided on 6 bedrooms.  "One for me, one for Mom, One for Dad.." and so on.  She even included one for Ginger.  Mark, always bursting her Great ideas said, "Emma we only need 5 bedrooms because Mom and Dad share a bedroom."  This gave her cause for thought.  "Mom?"  She asked in the small voice of a 7 year old. "Do you sleep with Dad because you want to? or because you're married and you have to?"  heehee:)

A Wonderful Lady

I apologize for not blogging sooner.  I honestly don't know where last week went.  I remember Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are a blur.  I suspect illness, allergies and general craziness are to blame, both mine and other members of this house hold.  Saturday I do remember.  Saturday is the day that John's Grandmother passed.  We knew it was coming, but somehow it was still a shock to hear it.  She has been saying, "I won't be around much longer." for at least the last 25 years.  It was the standing joke among her family.  Even the Priest at the service joked that she had been anointed at least 30 times thinking each one would be her last.  The last 2 years were the roughest for her.  She was always an active and strong lady.  The loss of her sight and hearing, as well as several strokes left her depending on others, something I know caused her great remorse.  She would have turned 102 this July and had her first great-great grandchild in just a few weeks.  She touched so many lives.  It was a true testament to her personality to see the church packed at her service.  She was truly was a wonderful lady.  She will undoubtedly be missed.