Chasing the Mini Coopers: Randomness

This summer has been the summer of bike rides. That is what the kids want to do almost every evening. Maleah rides her own bike. Silas rides in a pull-behind cart on my bike. And Carissa rides with Jason. My brother has a tandem add-on that you just attach to your own bike to make it into a tandem. He loaned it to us and it is one of the best inventions ever. Carissa learned to balance very quickly on this - as in almost immediately. After a couple of weeks of riding with Dad, I put her on her own bike, sans training wheels, gave a little push, and off she went. It took her about 10 seconds to learn to ride a bike without training wheels. She still prefers to ride with Dad than ride her own bike but we are going to return the tandem soon so she won't have a choice. She does a really good job on her own bike. She just gets tired. Or hot. Or her butt hurts. Or she hit a rock. Or she needs to fix her shoe. Or her hair is in her eyes. Sigh.

Although Silas rides behind my bike on long bike rides, he can ride his little balance bike like nobody's business. A balance bike is a different way of teaching kids to ride a bike than with training wheels. His bike doesn't have training wheels or pedals. He pushes himself around with his feet and "glides." He has learned to balance extremely well and can ride pretty quickly all through the house or the neighborhood. I went on a three mile walk one evening and he rode his balance bike beside me the entire time. Most of the time, I am keeping up with him by speed walking or telling him to stop and wait on me. He is an amazing listener and direction follower. He is such a good boy. Now, we just need to teach him to pedal and he will be riding a big boy bike. This kid is so coordinated, I don't think it will be long.

A blur because he is so fast!

This bike goes all through the house at a 100 mph.

Speaking of big boys, Silas recently got a big boy bed. He loves it! The day he crawled out of his crib was the last time he slept in it. I had been waiting on him to do that. He had the ability to do it for a long time but was a good listener so whenever he had previously tried I had just told him "no, no" and he stopped. But one night he climbed out when I wasn't in the room and that was the end of it. He changed to his big boy bed and loved it!

Also in May, we went to the wedding of my cousin Josh Woods and his fiancee' Becky Sharar. It was one of the coolest weddings I have ever been to. The theme was "Movie in the Park" and they were married in an outdoor ceremony at Charley Brown Park. There were blankets to sit on as you would at a movie in a park, or there were chairs. The bridal party look was reminiscent of 1940's movie stars. The colors were red and black. They quoted famous movies during the ceremony. (I loved this part. I would love to live in a world where everyone spoke in movie quotes and song lyrics.) The reception was decorated in a movie theme too and the whole thing was just really cool. They put a lot of thought into it and that made it fun for everyone. They are a great couple and we are so happy for them. Congratulations Becky and Josh!

There is a new Japanese restaurant in Effingham and we went to check it out. It was our first time at a hibachi grill. It was fun. The kids were a little freaked out by the flames and Silas didn't want to sit still but overall it was worth it. Our food was great. The service was fantastic. And no one told us that we were being an ass. (See previous post about Mother's Day.) So that was a bonus.

Vivian turned thirteen! Our friends the Duquaines came over one evening and we celebrated Vivian's thirteenth birthday. Vivian was born on her Dad, Paul's, birthday so we also celebrated Paul's 29th birthday. Wait? Is that right?

We also went to Holiday World at the end of May, which is the perfect time to go. But don't spread that around. We are going back at the same time next year and I don't want it to be too crowded. We went on a Wednesday and there was not a crowd there at all. No lines = perfection. School wasn't out (unless you're homeschooled!) and most schools already had their field trips over and done with so there weren't a lot of big groups there. It was the least crowded that I had ever seen it. The weather was beautiful! Overcast, not hot, and the water even felt a little chilly. I took the girls and Deb took her boys. We left the husbands at home and I left Silas with Vivian, who didn't want to go. And here's a really cool thing: Guess who was there when we were? Jessi Hall! My BFF since 1984! She teaches high school in Pope County and she was there on a field trip with high schoolers. It was great to see her and visit for a bit. Carissa enjoyed the toddler area of the water park the most. It has a lot of small water slides that are perfect for her age and Maleah enjoyed the Watubi waterslide the most. It was a great day!