Bike Riding, Again!

The kids are just starting to get old enough to do real activities together away from home.  Going on walks or to the playground used to be about our only options, but we have added bike rides to the list, and now that they are becoming more interested in sports, I'm sure we will have fun with that as well.


There is a really nice pathway behind the softball fields in our small city.  It is long and relatively flat, and usually we are the only ones using it.

It is really peaceful.  The kids seem to always feel carefree and happy when we come here.  

Usually by the time we make it to the park, the sun is low in the sky and casts a gorgeous golden light over everything.  If you look at the river when the sun hits at just the right time, it flows like luminous gold, as though you could dip your hand in and pull back out a lustrous, molten glove.

We've come to this place several times over the past few weeks and I feel treated each time.

Like I've said before, Ashley is queen of the balance bike.  She loves it.  I've tried to time how long she can glide along without putting her feet back on the ground, and I've gotten well above twenty seconds.  She is amazing.

William really loves to get moving on this scooter, and he can work up quite a speed.  The poor guy has banged his head a few times when he watches the road and not where he is going, but he is not worse for the wear and still looks forward to his next ride.

One of our favorite features of the pathway is this gorgeous willow tree.

The path stretches casually along a little river and is visible for quite a distance, so I feel comfortable letting Everett ride ahead of us.

He loves it.  He was nervous to learn to ride a bike with no training wheels, but he caught on extremely quickly and even learned to start and stop on his own.  His steering has been great from the start.  And he has really learned to love feeling the wind in his face as he works up to hair-raising speeds (hair-raising to me, anyway).

William sometimes takes a break to push James in the stroller.  I am including this picture because I snapped it a split second before William decided it was a great idea to hang on the handles of the stroller.  Over backward it went, and William smacked his head on the asphalt, the poor guy.  It is amazing we have never had to take him in for stitches or a busted noggin. 

James is content to watch the kids zoom around him.  He is always pretty calm in the stroller and it is nice to have a way to bring him happily a long with us on these outings.

I am not very good about taking videos of my kids, so I decided to remedy that.  The subject matter is not very exciting, but that's how it goes!  And, if anyone can tell me how to fix the wretched noise my camera's autofocus feature makes, I would really appreciate it.  

Password for both: bikes