adventure riders

my family was notorious for taking ridiculously long bike rides. we did the 50 mile NYC 5 boro bike tour during my middle school years. we rode the blue route the year it was built when they opened it up to bikers for a weekend. we did covered bridge tours all over chester county. it was a family thing. just like going to china year after year, just like collecting random items in hopes of someday "using" them, just like taking more pictures than humanly possible to ever look back through. there are certain family things that have been passed down. i recently remembered our long gone biker days when clint suggested we take the boys for their first trail ride. it marvelously winds along the river, in the shade of giant sycamores and boulders...it's newly paved, has benches every few yards and is scattered with pleasant walkers and bikers and folks of all ages. it might just be our new favorite family place. as we rode side by side, chatting about the squirrels and leaves and giant bark remnants along the trail, i reminisced of years gone by...about how much i loved our time as a family, even though i didn't always love biking 8 hours through New York City until my butt nearly fell off...i loved the memory of our family doing things together. and here we are, carrying on a similar tradition. and they love it. they want to go for a bike ride every. single. day. so, for the last week, we've gone almost every day. on friday night, clint threw the boys in the car for an impromptu ride while i stayed home to vedge in front of the computer clean. only 15 minuets into their ride, a freak thunder/lightening/downpour arrived and literally drenched them from top to bottom. foster gleamed with joy at such a turn of events, only adding to his adventure. rowan (on the other hand) sobbed uncontrollably with fear as clint drug him and his bike back to the car. ever since, rowan pleads "it's not going to rain today, is it?"  i fear he is slightly scarred.

the boys are missing their daddy terribly. he's gone for work all this week and all next week in NC...you know, the two weeks before we leave for china for nearly 2 weeks. uhg. poor daddy. not fun for a guy who loves loves loves to spend time with his kids. it's torture. and for 2 boys who love love love to spend time with their daddy...well, it's torture on this end too.
at the same time, we are thankful. not for the travel schedule of late, but for a job. a great job with an amazing employer. we know the pangs of unemployment. it's rough. so we don't complain. we just miss each other.

yesterday, we ventured just the three of us. i didn't even bother changing them out of their comfy pj's. it was that kind of morning. peaceful. chatty. breezy. and we missed daddy.
me and this little guy were bike buddies.

this guy was leading pack as mr. adventure. when we stopped for lunch, he decided lunch wasn't a priority.  i've never seen a peanut butter and blueberry jam sandwich down the hatch quite so quickly.

"lunch is boring."

foster loves to bike. rowan bikes for snacks.

clint found my bike circa 1995 in storage. it has flypaper hand grips. i have no idea why i thought they were so cool back then.

but this little guy thinks they are still awesome. he wants flypaper handgrips and flypaper brake handles.

and then something truly beautiful happened. we came home, and i headed to the backyard with foster to practice with no training wheels in the grass. clint has practiced with him two or three times in the past few weeks, but today, something clicked. something truly amazing. all of the sudden, he could do it! i ran beside him 5 or 6 times, ready to jump in and catch him, but his confidence grew so quickly, before i knew it, he was up and down the driveway 50 times.

it was neccisary to make these:

old socks +

deconstructed uncomfortable knee/elbow pads =

makeshift protection.

 i had planned on an early to bed night...but there's no way i could send my newly un-training wheels kid to bed. so we rode for 2 hours. "i'm so proud of myself mom!" he exclaimed as he came down the driveway. it was delightful watching him ride and ride and ride. at 9:30pm, he collapsed into bed with the biggest smile on his face. "i'm so happy mom! i really love my green bike. and i really miss daddy."