Our family went on an adventure this morning, and called upon our "Dutch roots" to inspire us. We piled three bikes into the back of our van, as the temperature was climbing into the 90's (by mid-morning!) and drove to Brackett Air Field, where the Bonelli Park Trail begins. Three bikes, you ask? Well, yes. I do not own a bike, so I was given the ever-so-wonderful task of sticking with the littlest one of the bunch, as he pushed those legs against the ground on his balance bike and tried to keep up with the "big kids." Needless to say, we all agreed it was a great kick-off to our weekend!
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| The biking trio - complete with baby Cinderella up front! |
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| He did great keeping up with Daddy in the beginning! |
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| Washed out by the sun, but needed to show I was there, too! |
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| About 7 minutes into the ride, Geoffrey decided we needed to raise his seat. ;) |
I have to put this next bit into writing because it needs to be documented that I RAN throughout many chunks of this outing (which lasted over an hour)! Me. Yes, me. I felt 100% like my own mother, running alongside the kids riding their bikes (and I say that because I know she is reading this), but I'm scared to say that I *might* have enjoyed it, too! It was easy for me to keep up with the crew by jogging alongside Geoffrey ---or sprinting, as he was beginning to lose control on his balance bike down a very big hill! I was
very pleased with the ease that came with the running for me, and I know my hard work at home attributed to that.
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| This was one of those moments when the littlest one began to fall behind. And I don't blame him! A balance bike can be a lot of work for those little legs! |
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| He thought maybe this way of riding would make it easier to climb the hill. :) |
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| Awkward face, but I was trying to capture that I was running (although you can't tell), while getting a glimpse of Geoffrey trying to push his way up the hill. I was amazed that he kept his spirits up the entire time! |
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| Eventually, Brant came walking down the hill and I told Geoffrey to see if he could get to Daddy first, before Daddy got to him --- it actually worked! ;) Geoffrey started pumping those legs to get to Daddy first! |
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| A vista point overlooking Puddingstone Reservoir. |
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| Family selfie with the phone -- but we all managed to squeeze in! |
After some debating, the kids convinced us we could keep going (we had been gone for 35 minutes at this point, but it was definitely getting hot). We went down a big hill - which is where my intense and sudden sprinting after Geoffrey commenced, and then Geoffrey decided to announce he was ready to go back. Sigh. So, Maddie and Brant went on a little further, while the littlest one and I began walking back up the hill.
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| We made it to the top of the hill! He remained in good spirits, but wasn't convinced he could ride the entire time, so we broke it up into small sections: walking (with mama holding the bike), followed by riding (and mama running alongside). That seemed to do the trick, and we managed to make it all the way back with zero complaints. He was a trooper. |
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| A HOT trooper, who insisted on helping me carry his bike. |
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| Maddie did an outstanding job, too -- for some reason, she kept repeating that she felt like we were "on TV because we were out in nature riding our bikes!" Hmm... |
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| Hot and happy! |
It was a fun morning, followed by a long swim in the pool, and relaxing afternoon -- nothing like weekend family time!!
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