Most of Monday afternoon included storm watching beginner basket making, and Happy Hour Fellowship Time.

Monday evening we played a game with the youth conference.  They had to collect candy (in actuality, balloons) from four different spots around the front yard and then get it safely back to Brookfield.  Of course, also in the front yard were Oompa loompas (the youth leaders, several of the young adults and a hoard of little kids) hoping to pop these balloons before they were safe at Brookfield.  Tony and I stood out by the pier.  I made the kids answer Isles of Shoals trivia for balloons.  They do not know much about our islands.  Other than getting bug bitten, it was kind of fun.

Our evening activity was Trivial Pursuit in the snack bar.

 Tuesday brought blue skies and clouds.  It also brought Robby’s schedule.  We were invited to attend any or all the activities that Robby planned for his day.

I went to chapel Tuesday morning, so I had to scurry to catch up with the group as they left for the Billy Goat Walk.

Not having grown up on the island, I am not sure I have ever done a billy goat walk.  You must walk around the entire island without stepping on grass.  This means a lot of climbing up over, jumping across, and lowering oneself down. It took us about an hour to traverse the mile or so of rocky island, but it was worth it to say I had done it.

The afternoon included more crafty time.  I worked on a new dishcloth and two baskets.

Tuesday evening was gorgeous, and I took pictures during the clam bake to prove it.

Part of the fun of being out on the island is spending time with old friends (and their offspring).  This summer Robby and Kris were the only ones with kids, so those little boys had many “aunts” and “uncles” to keep them busy and safe. There was no end to the entertainment those boys (one big, two little) provided.

And of course, the evening ended, once again, with Trivial Pursuit in the snack bar.

In the car, I finished my star dishcloth.  I am not very impressed with it in variegated colors, so I won’t do that again.  I like the coloring of the denim blue though.  I better, I have a whole cone of it.

The drive was quiet.  Both kids were occupied with cellphones and MP3s.  (No, we didn’t suddenly have two children, we drove 2 of the youth from our church).  It rained nearly the whole way, sometimes hard, sometimes sprinkly.  I hoped it didn’t bode badly for the week.  When we finally hit Rye it was so rainy and foggy we couldn’t see the islands off the coast the way we have been able to the last two years.

We got to the dock just after the first boat left and about an hour before our own.  It was rainy and muddy, but it smelled like the ocean and that was all I needed.  We saw several friends as we waited under a tent.  (Most of our group was on the first boat.)  Gameboy (who came in our car, since his family didn’t come this year) fit right in immediately.  He remembered kids from the last few years and they introduced him around.  How different from my first year in Youth when I didn’t know a soul other than Sarah.  I am so proud of him.  He started to change right before our eyes.

We checked in and greeted people on the porch.  We were in one of the cottages for the first time.  I didn’t take any more pictures until we hit our room.  Second floor, decent sized room.  2 beds of course.  I took shots of the room and out the windows.  I laid down on my bed and fell almost immediately to sleep.

We were 30 minutes late for dinner and sat at a table of people who looked familiar and a green dot (new) and her daughter.  After dinner we talked to our friends for a while and then went to our room to use the bathroom and change clothes to something warmer.  I fell asleep again and at 9:00 decided I better just go to bed.  Whoo-hoo party animals. Not much really goes on the first night.  I am not even sure our friends did anything either.

I still haven’t even downloaded my pictures yet.  I think I took well over 400.  It was such a nice week.  We had good weather several days and some rain and fog other days.  We were just enough busy to feel like we were doing something, but had plenty of time for doing nothing.  I had planned to post day for day (so today I would have posted about last Monday), but I am not pulled together yet.  Hopefully, tomorrow.

Feet toward the storm, originally uploaded by Lady Strathconn.

1. The Eiffel Tower
2. Ayars Rock
3. The Great Pyramids
4. The Rockies
5. Grand Canyon
6. A female president
7. My own baby

1889 – The Eiffel Tower is inaugurated.

1949 – The first automatic street light was installed in New Milford, Conn..