Labor Day Adventures

There is no doubt about it, we are definitely keeping busy. On Monday, Andy and I both had the day off so we decided to spend the majority of the day out on the mountain. Last week we tried biking up the mountain but after about 1/4 mile of huffing and puffing (clearly we are not as in shape and acclimated to the altitude as may have thought we were) we decided to turn back and take a ride around town instead. So, on Monday we bought day lift tickets for the Gondola and decided to ride down the mountain. What a rush! The first trail we took began as a nice winding road-fairly wide and predictable. We definitely built up some crazy speed and some confidence. Soon, we made our way onto a smaller trail that wound around trees and over some crazy bumps and roots. Let's just say...it was a good thing Andy bought me a new helmet this past weekend! Don't worry, nobody sustained any serious injuries or anything. We both made it off the mountain at the end of the day in one piece. Our bikes made it through too though the brakes were quite warm to the touch. Andy commented more than once that it would have been really bad if one of our chains broke during our descent. (He kept thinking back to the time that his chain broke and he had to walk his bike a couple of miles out of the woods when he went biking with our friend Mitch this past June.) All in all, we had a great morning/afternoon on the mountain. We explored 4 or 5 trails throughout the day and even had lunch at the "top" of the mountain. Great fun!
After our biking adventure, I made a quick wardrobe change and made my way to a park about 15 miles to the west. Hooray for meeting new people and playing volleyball! The young adult group at church held a volleyball and bbq get-together on Monday afternoon/evening. We had a great 4 on 4 volleyball game. Our team considered the first game a warm-up and came back to win the second game. After a great game we made our way over to church and fired up the grill. While the meat was cooking outside in the rain, we entertained ourselves with the rockband video game. For those that are not familiar with the game, Rockband utilizes a playstation system, a microphone and specially created guitar and drum set. You work as a team to play/sing a chosen song and rack up points for accuracy. I had never played the game before but had heard lots about it. We had so much fun! I am definitely looking forward to playing again in the future!
So...biking, volleyball, bbq, rockband...well that basically sums up the events of Monday. The rest of the week was relatively normal. Andy went to work, I went to school. For the record, school is going really well. We are finishing up a volleyball unit this afternoon. It has been really neat to see the kids' skills improve over the last 2 weeks. Now I just need to figure out what kind of unit to start next week...any ideas??? The after school program has grown in the last couple of weeks. We are having a great time and I am really excited for the opportunity to get to know a couple of kids a little bit better. Working in the preschool room has also been a blessing. I have really enjoyed working with the Tuesday/Thursday class for the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure how long this opportunity will last as I am considered a substitute at this time but I have made it very clear to many people that I love working with the preschoolers and would not be opposed to making it a permanent position. We'll see.
Well, I think that's all for now. Oh wait, I thought of one more thing! I'm coming to Michigan!! We booked the flight this past week! We don't have school the first few days of October so I'm coming home to see the people I love so much! So, if you will be around the Holland/Zeeland area Oct 1-5, we should get together and catch up!
Lots of love,
Christine