Bikes

We've been bike riding fools lately. I guess it started with Warner learning to ride without training wheels this past spring, followed by Maren mastering her "big girl bike" with training wheels this summer. In August I reclaimed my bike that Kevin's sister had borrowed while I was busy having children. Then a few weeks ago Kevin bought a friend's old mountain bike so he could join the fun. So now we all have a set of wheels. And we're crazy about riding around on them.

Last Saturday was one of the best days our little family has enjoyed. After Warner's soccer game, we loaded up all four bikes in the van (side note: I am sort of over having a minivan. Well I was actually never a huge fan to begin with, but am happy we had one when our kids were small. However, now that I know we can fit all four bikes in the back of our van, AND the van is paid for, I'm thinking it's a pretty great automobile. So perhaps I'll be a minivan momma for a while longer still). We drove to Newport on the Levee and after having gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches at Tom + Chee (wow, that probably deserves a whole blog post itself - YUM), we hopped on our bikes and headed for the Purple People Bridge. 

We rode over the river and headed to Sawyer Point to play. The kids did the playground thing for a while, then we hopped on our bikes again and hit up a bit of the trails along the river, then headed back over the bridge and called it a day. The kids did awesome. I had to help Maren up the hill of the bridge on the Ohio side of the river, but other than that, the kids rode without assistance. They were safe on the sidewalks near cars, and thought riding over the river was the coolest ever (me too!).

And this happened on the way back home:

Kevin has also taken to mountain biking with his new set of wheels. Turns out we have an amazing park just minutes from our home that has miles and miles of mountain biking trails. He has gone out a few times with friends and then talked me into joining him yesterday. 

We were actually child-less Friday night and Saturday morning. Our good friends had Warner and Maren over for a sleepover with their kids. Everyone had a blast - well, perhaps everyone but our friends who were up with four children ages 3 to 6 at 6:15am Saturday morning. 

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed mountain biking! Other than fearing for my life a few times (this is why I run; less chance of head injury), it was great. The trails were much more narrow than I had imagined and extra bumpy. But really fun.

Warner constantly rides his bike in the grass and "off roads" any chance he gets, so I am confident he will join Kevin on the trails as soon as he's old enough. I've always believed - perhaps from my own childhood - that families that play together stay together (cheesy, I know).  I'm hopeful that biking will be one of the activities we enjoy together for many years to come.