Fermentation Question

I'm sure that I'm just being impatient, but my first batch of homebrew has been fermenting for two weeks now, and I'm curious when to bottle it. The activity seemed to have stopped a couple days ago. There were no more bubbles on the surface, so I took off the stopper, pulled some out and did a hydrometer reading. I figured if it was the same the next day I was probably ready. When I went to check on it a day later, there were some bubbles returning, and now that it's been two days, the whole surface is bubbling away again.

Is this normal? Was it because of the air that got in when I took the stopper off to check it? Should I continue to wait until it dies back down again?

Also is there any benefit to the flavor of the beer if you keep it in the carboy for any period of time after the active fermentation has stopped?

Thanks - Graham

If you take gravity reading that stay constant for three days in a row then you are ready to bottle. As for extra time, patience will pay off.

You did sanitize before you used whatever to take a reading right? And no off smells (like sickly sweet smells)?

Yeah, I sanitized everything that touched the wort and there are no new smells...Do I still test three days in a row and bottle if there are visible signs?

I wouldn't test "three days in a row" - I'd test twice, three days apart, if I was trying to rush the batch into bottles.

I usually let the batch sit in the primary for four weeks, then bottle. I'll chech the gravity at that time for information purposes, but not really to see if it's done.