We are trying to squeeze in every last bit of enjoyment out of this incredible fall weather. So this past weekend we loaded the kids, bikes, fishing poles and dog into the car for a day trip up to Harriman State Park with Nanny and Papa.
The bike ride was a beautiful 7 miles, part of it single track and most of it quite bumpy and sandy. It was hard for the girls to get through, in fact, Paige just pretty much refused to go on for the second half. In her defense, she had the wrong kind of bike for this ride. I ended up putting her on my bike seat on the way back and Papa Red carried her (very heavy) bike while he rode his own bike. I peddled either standing or partially sitting on the very, very tip of my seat for a good 3+ miles while she rode holding on to me. Ouch - is all I have to say today. I think I've got bruises in places where the sun don't shine if you know what I mean.
Not only was Paige upset about the difficulty of the bike ride, she was yelling and screaming at me while I was hauling her back to the car, that I was only wearing a sports bra and that she was embarrassed (even though we never saw anyone else) and that I was being "inappropriate." I mean, I guess I don't blame her for being embarrassed, it's not like I
enjoy exposing my wrinkled, post-three-baby stomach with a herniated belly button (part of which she contributed to while in utero, mind you). What she forgot so easily was that the reason why I only had a sports bra on was because she had decided to walk across a stream and had gotten herself soaking wet and in the midst of her whining about being wet and cold, I took off my t-shirt and let her wear it in place of her own sopping wet one.
The Paige Saga went on, and on. I'll leave out the details about the potty situation that I helped her with but it involved running, gagging, wiping and lots of hand sanitizer. The things we do in the name of our children!
We stopped along the way to pet some horses. I can't believe how brave the kids are to just walk up and pet these huge animals!
It was hard to notice how the other two children were doing in the wake of Paige but we were really proud of Hailey and I think she was really proud of herself. It
was a difficult ride and she did do her fair share of complaining but in the end, she finished it all on her own.
Marianna (Nanny) is always talking about how kids gain self-esteem by what they "do." She and Red (Papa) are always creating situations for them to learn and accomplish things. When we got back to the car, Nanny traced out on the map how far we had gone and I could see the look of pride on Hailey's face. She took the map to school to show her friends how she had gone on a "7 mile bike ride!"
Crew did great, just riding along attached to the back of Jim's bike. I'm so glad we're getting so much use out of this purchase! Crew and I have been enjoying our own daily bike rides around the neighborhood with it.
I forget that at some point in life I must've liked spreading dirt all over myself too.
After the bike ride, we stopped to fish. I really shouldn't say "we" because I let everyone else go while I curled up in the car and listened to a book on my iPhone. I did get out at the end to snap a few shots though.
If you look closely, you can see Jim's shoes are filled with moss.
No one caught anything, not even Indie.
After fishing, Nanny and Papa took us all out to a delicious dinner where we sat and watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.
