While the person above is not anyone from our immediate family, we thought that it captures the spirit and freedom of a child that is on the eve of a whole week off from school.  And if the children are planning on spending some of the break from school with their grandparents, it might even capture the youthful spirit of the parents!

 Early in the week, the free time afforded us the opportunity to tie up some loose ends from the Christmas season. One of those loose ends was baking a batch of snowflake cookies. The ingredients came as a Christmas gift, pre-measured and ready to use. Both of our boys always enjoy an invitation into the kitchen. They will be great cooks some day.

On Sunday afternoon, Stephanie had the wonderful occasion of catching up with old friends Susie, Lura and Kelly, on the occasion of Lura’s baby shower.

On Tuesday, it was a trip into the city for Stephanie and the boys for two doctors appointments. We will spare you the pictures of Nathan’s trip to the dermatologist.

The anticipation of Wednesday, by far, was one of the high points of the week for all. The plan was to meet Grandpa at Denny’s in Herkimer at 11:30am. Which would require a departure time of 9:30am from Geneva. If you could see us at 10:20 on Sunday mornings trying to get out the door for 10:30 church you would understand the concern and stress with this itinerary. Apparently the boys look more forward to a few days with Grandma and Grandpa than to church, because they were ready to go out the door by 9:15, and arrived in the parking lot of Denny’s at 11:23…early! After a bite to eat for lunch, the kids were on their way to Saratoga, and Steve headed west to rendezvous with Stephanie for dinner. With time to spare, he had a wonderful visit with his Mom and Dad which coincidentally extended beyond 3:33pm.

Steve and Stephanie had a great time relaxing over dinner at Emile’s, a wonderful restaurant at the margin of Geneva and Waterloo to kick off their 4 day and 3 night long date.

You probably don’t have to guess what we did when we got home …

yep, unrestricted, uninterupted …

access to the the Nintendo Wii.

Needless to say, Steve won again.

The boys stayed in Saratoga until early Saturday morning. Apparently they really look forward to basketball at the YMCA because they managed to get to Denny’s at 8am. And Steve and Stephanie were eager to be reunited with them too, as they arrived at 8:04. After a quick cup of coffee and a few french toast sticks, we returned to Geneva in plenty of time (10:25)for basketball at 10:30.

Now we are all back to the normal routine of school… well, not exactly… Nathan developed a rash over the weekend and we ended up scheduling a trip to the pediatrician this morning just to have it checked out. Maybe tomorrow will be a routine day…