Wild Wheels

Most afternoons in the Winter we can be found outside, doing what boys do best.  I want to remember what it is like out there.  Wild and dangerous!  If it has wheels or bounces, they are going to give it a go!

It is exhausting work being out there with these guys, but I love it!

I am trying to think of a good caption for this picture…The Suspicious Six?  Help me!

Watch where you’re going!

Jackson is a huge fan of his skateboard these days.  he is always out there trying to learn new tricks.  Another love of his is Epic fail videos.  If you don’t know what Epic fail videos are you must Google them!  {Be prepared for a lot of fools hurting themselves!}

Se he combined his two loves and asked me to video him doing his skateboard tricks {don’t blink or you might not see them} and one of his versions of an epic fail!

He also insisted that I title this video, “Watch where you’re going”

So here you have it!

Watch Where You’re Going!

St. Jude’s Trike A Thon Bahamas

The St. Jude’s Trike A Thon has a really special place in my heart.  First of all St. Jude’s is an amazing organization.  In the 50 years it has been open the research and treatments that they have developed have taken the cure rate for childhood cancers from 20% to 80%.  Just think about that.  Now imagine when I was born the chance for me to live, had I been diagnosed with cancer, would have been about 25%.  Now it is 80%  That is impressive!

The Trike A Thon has been happening here in the Bahamas for 4 years.  Remember the first year?  {I still chuckle about that!}  Each year the children are even more excited about it and look forward to it all year long. 

Thursday the boys woke up and told me it was Trike A Thon Eve!  How cute is that!

Last year the boys’ school was able to raise over $10,000 for St. Jude’s by teaching the children the importance of charity and giving.  I love that!  Hopefully this year they can harness the excitement to do even more for St. Jude’s.

I don’t have any pictures of Miller doing the Trike A Thon because he was off like a shot.  The announcer kept saying, “Look at that kid on the scooter, he’s beating all the kids on bikes!”  Yep that was my baby!  He did slow down at the finish line because they were playing one of his favorite songs and he had to bust a move.  Typical Miller!  After the race lap he did pause for some face painting.  Can’t say I loved it!

But I do love him, even when he wants to be a zombie skeleton!

Jackson was thrilled to be able to participate this year again.  He loves the Trike A Thon!

If you would like to help us in our efforts to raise money for St. Jude’s, this year there is a website where you can go and make a secure donation!  If you can’t donate right now that’s ok, but do the next best thing and spread the word…

Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

St. Jude’s Trike A Thon

This year was the 3rd year that our school has participated in the St. Jude’s Trike A Thon.  They do a fantastic job of getting the children excited to do something for the children at St. Jude’s, and have a good time in the process. 

This year they took the Trike A Thon to the parking lot of the new sports stadium.  It had outgrown our neighborhood.  The set up was so much improved. 

Sandals Foundation sponsors it and does such a great job of making it fun for the children.  They had food, drinks, bounce houses and even a DJ.

The boys had so much fun that Jackson is already lamenting the fact that he will not be participating again next year.

Introducing Margarita

You know how I love my bike?  Well my love never faltered.  Yes, the Lilly Pulitzer bike of my dreams made me feel a twinge of the wants, but really, Trusty Rusty is the best. Almost…

Rust is a fact of life here.  There was a fatal rust spot that happened to Trusty.  In the seat.  It would have been easy enough to replace the seat if the seat stem and bolts were not rusted to the frame.
After the second day of having to sit in a very uncomfortable position on my bike seat, I just faced reality{I’m not going into details but there is no ladylike way to ride a bike when half the seat is not attached!}
When I say I faced reality, I mean that no less than three of my friends came out of their houses as I was working on getting the rusted seat off my bike and told me that it was time.  I kind of felt like I was putting my dog to sleep.
The boys and I scooted over to the bike store and I only had 4 choices.  It wasn’t that hard of a decision to make, so I went with the Sun Bike.
I had them add the pink water bottle holder and I strapped on my basket from my old bike…customized! Since the bottom is rotted off this basket a new one has been ordered and it is on its way.
Without further adieu I present to you Margarita!

She’s a looker, right?
Besides being a lovely lime green and white combo, she was bought on National Margarita Day.  Didn’t know there was such a “holiday”, but it is so!

So I did end up getting my own version of a Lilly Pulitzer bike. after all!

My Ride

Last Spring I showed you my commute.  Today I think you should see my ride.  I named it. 

Do you name vehicles?  My family does.  We name lots of things.  Allen thinks that is silly.  He calls his vehicles “the Honda, the pickup or the Tahoe”.  He’s so practical, right? 

My family also gives animals people names.  We had one dog named Daisy.  The rest were people names: Chloe, Clementine, Toby, Frances, Samantha…Is that normal?  Yes, I know we are not normal, so I’ll just get back to my topic.

Anyway this is my ride, Trusty Rusty.  It used to be Trusty Red.  However as we have lived here for a while and rust is a fact of life.

To be fair it looks so quaint there against the picket fence.  Which is why I took the picture.  You really can’t see how rusty the top of the handlebars and fenders are.  Trust me there is hardly any chrome visible.  And the chain…  there are some things WD-40 can not change.  {Have you ever Googled all the uses for WD-40?  It has some unbelievable uses!}

Trusty Rusty and I are excellent companions. He takes me to the school and back at least twice a day and never complains.  In return I don’t trade him in for a newer model despite his clicking, grinding and popping noises.  I’m hoping we can make it to the end of our time here on the island. 

I did have to apologize to him for throwing him in the bushes and saying some nasty words when the tire AND the chain fell off at the same time.  It was totally my fault.  Who knew you needed to tighten the wheels on with a wrench and not just your fingers.  Allen did.  That’s who!  After he fixed that, we were back on good terms again.

Recently I had a friend remark, “Your bike is really rusty.”  At first I was a little unsure if it was an insult, but the more I thought about it, I realized that my bike is rusty because I use it several times a day and it is never put away.  I think I’ll take it as a compliment.  Who needs a shiny bike?

Since I have a little love affair with my bike going on, I thought I’d show you this.  I saw it last year.

It’s on my sofa right now!

When we leave I’ll have to see if there is anything left at all to take back to the U.S. I kind of hope there isn’t. I’d like to ride it until it’s dust!

When we get back, I’ll shop for a nice new, shiny bike.  Like these!

Until then, I’m sticking with my Trusty Rusty!

What our afternoons look like

Now that we are back in the swing of things as far as school goes, we are making new routines for other parts of our day.
Directly after school or activities, I make Jackson do his home work, so he is free to do the fun stuff.  1st Grade is no joke and he has about 45 minutes of homework a night.  Ugh!
As soon as that is complete we usually head outside where boys of all sizes gather to ride any thing with wheels.

Because Miller wants to be out there, I have to be out there, and I’ve {unfortunately} fallen into the role of traffic cop out there. 
The day I took these pictures wasn’t that busy of a day. { Which is why I could step inside and grab my camera.}  Typically there are between 7 and 10 kids out there in the afternoons.

The role of traffic cop is to look for cars, then yell “CAR!” when one comes barreling down the street or over the bridge.  At that time, I am met with a mixture of indifference or rebellion from boys who just don’t want to share the road with cars.

This means I can’t really fix dinner or go potty if I need to, but it is so worth it. 

The boys are learning far more than how to pedal bikes and push scooters.
One of my favorite things about our neighborhood is that most of the kids are good kids.

While none of these boys wear helmets on their own bikes, I tell them that our rule is that they need helmets to ride our Rip Riders.  They do it.  I keep waiting on the back talk, it hasn’t come {yet}!
So thankful that my guys have good older kids around them to look up to.  Let’s hope it stays that way!

New Ride

Remember this? 

It seems like yesterday!  Then a year and a half later he was doing this!

Yep, he kind of looked like a giant on a minibike

It was time.  He needed a new bike, so we went and got him one.  It’s about an inch too big so he has some trouble getting started since his feet don’t quite touch the ground when he’s on the seat. But an inch is nothing for this guy.  He may do that in the next week!

It’s lime green.  He likes green.  A lot!

The handlebars are padded.  I like that!

It’s a Cruiser, cause we live at the beach and all!

It’s also got some kind of special treatment to keep it from rusting.  Cause we live…
Oh sorry for rubbing that in!

It also makes him look really big.  I don’t know if I like that.

Now can you stop growing up?

He did it!

This weekend was the weekend we were going to try taking off the training wheels.  We had tried a couple of other times, but as soon as he fell once he wanted them back on. My expectation that it was going to be a couple of weeks of wailing, crashing and me having to hold firm that he was ready to take off the training wheels.

As it turns out he was so ready.

Like I ran behind him for about 15 steps and then let go and he went about 20 feet.

The hardest part was starting.  He was used to getting on and pedaling.  He quickly figured out that he has to keep a foot on the ground and push off as he pedals.

 

Having Aunt Chele here was so helpful.  She gets right in there and helps out when we need her.

We have a big flat empty parking lot near our house that is perfect for riding bikes.

The hardest part was keeping him away from the 3 light posts in the parking lot.  He was like a magnet.

He looks so big on that bike.  We told him we would get him a new bigger bike when he learns to ride a two wheeler.  My smart sister realized that learning to ride a bike on a small bike would be easier than riding a bigger bike.

Looks like someone else needs a bigger bike too.  Just kidding.  That’s impressive.

Miller took this picture.  He kept telling us to sat cheese.  As in “say cheese clouds” then he’d take a picture of the clouds.

Someone turned two and a half on Sunday.

Now he is working on his skids.  Lord help us!