Two-wheelin'

Buttercup has been wanting to ride her bike without training wheels ever since Oliver learned how to do it a year and a half ago. The problem was, she wouldn't let me help her, because she insisted that she could do it by herself.  :-)  Then she would try, but would get frustrated with herself because she couldn't do it without my help, so that was the end of that for a while.  

Then a couple of weeks ago, she decided that she wanted to try again. This time, it worked out a lot better! She listened when I told her what she needed to do, let me help her a little bit, and then she figured out how to do it on her own!

Great job, Tootie! 



  

Running with my big boy

Yesterday afternoon the weather was so nice (cool, sunny, light breeze, beautiful blue sky). I normally don't run on Sundays, but after a harrowing morning with the diva, I felt like I needed a short run to clear my head. Oliver had just gotten a new bike for his birthday and since he doesn't nap anymore, I thought he might like to go with me to the trail! 

I figured we would go about 3 or 4 miles at his pace, but we ended up going at my pace, with him zooming ahead at times, and ended up with a total of 5 miles. He wanted to go more, but my legs were definitely done after a hard run Friday and a long run Saturday, so we stopped at 5!  

The whole bike ride/run was such a blessing to me . . . we had so much fun talking and laughing while I was running and he was riding his bike, and I could tell that he felt so big, riding his bike next to me like that. I am so thankful for him, and I am so thankful for that sweet, precious time with the sweet big boy God has given to us. He is such a blessing. 

(And thankfully, our middle blessing had a good nap and was an absolute angel for the rest of the day. ;-)  

Here are some pictures of Oliver riding while I was running (I know you're jealous of my awesome photography skills, ha ha).

We had to stop and get him a sandwich after his ride, he was starving!

Going "camping"

Lately, Oliver has been very interested in going camping. So it wasn’t all-too-surprising the other day when Oliver announced after dinner, “I’m going camping!” And he proceeded to pack his backpack with all sorts of things that he would need for his trip: binoculars, a race medal, a stuffed dinosaur, a comb, a stuffed frog, a Black & Decker flash light, a pair of crab sunglasses, a necktie.















We decided to go “camping” at the playground, so we all got our bikes ready to ride. Biking to a shady playground seems almost like the perfect way to spend the two hours between dinner time and bedtime, right?















Well, it didn't quite go that way! First, Buttercup fought wearing her bike helmet (as usual). Then Oliver fell off of his bike and skinned his palms. Then my bicycle chain started clicking every time I pedaled faster. By the time we got to the end of our neighborhood (a little longer than 1/4 mile), Buttercup was whimpering, Oliver was in tears, and the chain had totally fallen off of my bike. Not to mention that we were all sweating buckets because it was hot and the bike ride was taking much longer than we had anticipated. Oops!

So Dennis and Oliver rode ahead to the playground while I put the chain back on my bike, then I coasted down the sidewalk to the playground. Things could have been a lot better, but they also could have been a lot worse. And that's just what happens sometimes! Gotta go with the flow. In the end, everyone had a great time, and I'm glad we got to do this as a family!