We spent the weekend dodging rain drops. I know that April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, but we are about done with the rain! On Friday we were spoiled with over 80 degree temperatures and sun, so Benjamin and I spent a large part of the day cleaning up leaves in the backyard. There were SO many that we didn't even finish, but the job is a little more manageable for the next nice day that we are home. Benjamin has been attending a preschool class on Fridays called "Alphabet Express." It is through our Community Education program and he just LOVES it. The teachers are fabulous and the activities they do are just so awesome. One component of the class is cooking so every week they make a food that corresponds to the letter they are working on. This week's letter was T, so they made apple tarts, which thankfully had no eggs so Benjamin could enjoy them. I have to admit, they were really really good! He is always so proud of what he's made and cannot wait to eat the goods he brings home - sometimes we don't even make it out of the parking lot before he's begun to dig in.

Saturday morning Mike did his regular long run with the Rochester Track Club's training group and Benjamin and I got up early to volunteer to man 2 waterstops for the group. We keep discovering reasons to love our new Rondo, but Saturday morning took the cake. We were able to hide from the cold temps, wind and possible rain in the back of the car while watching movies thanks to the outlet in the trunk. SO awesome. Benjamin was all cozy under a blanket in the warm car watching Curious George while I filled up cups of Gatorade and water and got out our special treat for the runners: M&M's. The only downside was that pretty soon after we arrived and set everything up, Benjamin had to go to the bathroom. He's still not proficient at doing that kind of thing outside, so after a couple of tries we had to give up and wait until Mike could bring him to a bathroom after the run. Because we had all been up so early in the morning, we spent the afternoon napping, relaxing, wine tasting and dining out at Whistle Binkies, which was perfect!

Everyone was up early again on Sunday. Mike and Benjamin headed out to Oronoco to volunteer for the Winter Begone Duathlon and I went to church so I could lector for a morning mass. It was another cold, rainy day with scattered thunderstorms and the race actually was shortened for the safety of the runners. Benjamin and Mike braved the elements though and helped out at a transition area and the finish line. They had a great time and Mike was able to see first hand how those kinds of things work in preparation for his upcoming first triathlon in June. The rest of the day for us was pretty uneventful as we wanted to just hang out at home and stay warm and dry.

Today Benjamin and I are taking it easy at home. The weather is still pretty chilly and just generally yucky. It rained ALL night last night, but the good thing is that the grass is very green and the tree buds are opening up.

We played around in the kitchen for our lunch and ended up making a fabulous veggie sauce for our whole wheat spaghetti, which we both loved. I had the camera sitting near by so I snapped a couple of shots of the meal. Mine with my all-important Diet Coke and Benjamin's with a big glass of milk.He's totally a Schmitt; in every picture I took of him today his eyes were 1/2 open. We are all very excited for this weekend. Mike and I are escaping to a B&B for a night and Benjamin is going to spend the weekend with Grandpa Ed and Grandma Chris. He keeps asking if he's going there "tomorrow." He has absolutely no concept of time! Silly boy!!