Anniversary Ride

What better way to celebrate our marriage than a family bike ride!

Rest break in the marsh.

Family Ride

We made it down to Fredericksburg for a family rail trail ride.

 Bridge crossing.

 Daniel powered up for about 8 miles of riding.

 Chasing down mommy.

 Ellen calling for more speed.

He's a true cyclist... helmet hair.

Hike at the Park

We headed to Wooster Memorial Park for a hike this afternoon.

Bridge pose.

Found a cool salamander.

Daniel had the same one on his shirt.

Flipping rocks, looking for creatures.

A quick learner, just like mommy.

Merry Christmas 2012!

Merry Christmas from the North Pole!

Daniel and the Makeup Bag

So here's a good story...

KT and I were sitting at the kitchen table when Daniel disappeared back the hallway.  Mommy instincts kicked in a short time later and she went to investigate.  "Daniel what are you doing!?  You know to stay out of my makeup bag!"

I head some small feet running in my direction.  Daniel came up to me at the table and showed me his painted toes.  Nice.  I explained that boys don't paint their toes, and KT also explained that makeup is for girls.  Okay, ha-ha, he painted his toes, no big deal.

 Of course he picked blue.  And why is

he wearing Santa PJs in September?

A short time later, after we all went about our business, KT went back to Ellen's room where she had been left laying on the bed.  "DANIEL!  What did you do to your sister!?"

Ellen's first makeup, courtesy big brother Daniel.

I came running back to find that Daniel had learned and applied the lesson.  "Mommy, you said makeup is for girls so I put some on Ellen."  We laughed hard.

Fair Time!

Daniel was absolutely loving the fair this year...

 We "drove" quite a few tractors this year.  Daniel

insisted upon buckling the seat belt on each one.

 Scooping up mommy.

 637 pounds?  I can't believe my eyes!

 Jeepin' on a carnie ride.

KT learned some new chicken care techniques.  I don't expect

to find her brushing our chicken's teeth anytime soon.

Michigan Vacation #2

It's a nice routine.  Head out on the boat after breakfast with Daniel, play around the water in the morning, mountain bike ride while kids sleep, back to lake after dinner.

We drove a little south to a unique coffee and doughnut shop called Cops & Doughnuts.  Yes, it was amusing and they were all about the merchandise.  Cops & Doughnuts hats, t-shirts, and more.  We stuck with the doughnuts.

 The boy likes blue.

 That's right, bacon covered creamsticks.

One of the highlights of the week was getting Daniel out on his first mountain bike ride!  The trail was mellow enough I figured this was the perfect opportunity for our first father and son trail ride.  Daniel was pretty excited to "go mountain bikin' with daddy".  Good times, good times.

 Daniel happy to roll off road.

 Through a fern section.

After Daniel and I finished our ride I hit the loop on my own.  Daniel continued on his bike too, riding on one of the hiking trails with mommy and Ellen.

 The powerline "climb".

 Riding towards a blinking camera on self timer.

 Ellen looking very... munchkin?

It was a very nice week on the lake.  I think we will be back.

Sunset by the dock.

Michigan Vacation

We are staying in a cottage at Budd Lake in Michigan for a week.  Should be an enjoyable time.

Daniel enjoyed cruising the lake in the boat.

Mr. Serious on the dock.

 

Fake fishing, but having fun.

 

There's a twisty mountain bike trail about 5 miles down the road.

 

It's a fun trail.  What it lacks in elevation changes it makes

up for in twists and turns.

It's a good place for me to work on less braking and more flow.

 

Ellen having a good nap.

MTB with the KTs

KT, our friend Katie and I went down to Mohican for a ride.  We considered it a nice activity at the tail end of our vacation week.  The truck was loaded up with my bike in the bed and the girl's bikes on the rack.  I drove to the second mountain bike trail head, dropped them off, and drove to the primary trail head.  While Katie and KT were starting their ride into the fern forest I was chugging up SR97 on the road.

Eventually I caught up to the ladies between mile marker 19 and 20.  We rode to the main trail head where the truck was waiting.  It was nice day for a ride.

Katie truckin' down the trail.

Vacation at the Beach!

We packed up the car for a week of vacation and drove to our first stop, Toledo, for a trip to the zoo with Poppy.  Despite temperatures in the mid 90's, Daniel enjoyed seeing all the animals.

Seals and a sea turtle on display.

Daniel likes the fish, probably because

they are always on the move... just like Daniel.

This Meerkat knew it was hot out.

Poppy, Daniel, Daddy.

We headed north from Toledo to South Haven, Michigan for a several days at the beach on Lake Michigan.  Thanks to some friends of ours, Daniel had a DVD player to use in the car.  He found it very amusing to be watching Elmo in the car.

 "Elmo in car, Elmo in car!"

 Flying a kite with mommy.

The beach was nice, complete with a light house.

At the hotel Daniel went swimming for the first time

ever and enjoyed the water.  He also liked his swim suit.

 We dug lots of holes on the beach.

 It was a nice vacation at the beach!

Mohican Quickie

KT and I made a Friday plan that ended up working so well, we hope it can be soon repeated.  It went something like this:

• I left work promptly and was home by 4:30.
• KT had loaded our bikes onto the car rack, packed most of our gear, and made some PB&J sandwiches.
• The night before we asked my parents about having Daniel down for dinner, and the grandparents were onboard with the plan as well.
• By 5:15 we had dropped off Daniel and were continuing to Loudonville on SR3.
• Despite the slog of Memorial Day trucks and campers, we were at the mountain bike parking area by 5:45 and riding to the trail head shortly thereafter.
• We rode the short loop.  KT did a good job of testing but not crossing her limits as we pedaled the course.  She did a log crossing and a couple technical sections too.  By her own admission, she had a death grip on the bars for most of the ride and says it will be a goal to loosen up and relax more the next time.
• After a short wade in the river we were back in the car and headed to my parents.  We reached their house around 7:30.
• Back home, Daniel had his bath and was off to bed by about 8:30, right on time.

And now, some blurry cell phone pictures...

Muddy MTB Break-in

Today we did our first trail ride on the new bikes.  KT's mother made the day possible by coming down to watch Daniel while we headed off to Findley State Park with Ryan and KT's friend Katie.

A 45 minute drive from our house, Findley State Park has an 8 mile mountain bike trail described as appropriate for beginners.  We found the trail head and headed into the woods, soon learning the biggest, constant obstacle of the day would be mud.  Though it hasn't rained for several days there were many puddles along the course and one section was closed.

We had plenty of riding to get a feel for our bikes.  Ryan showed us how to take charge in several places, and we followed behind walking our bikes.  KT and Katie did a good job sliding around the mud and decided they were hardcore, if for no other reasons, based on their muddy appearance.  KT had a stunt-ful flop sideways over a log, resulting in a rear end to ground impact.  She declined the opportunity for a blog picture of this particular bruise. 

 The after-party: cleaning muddy bikes in the front yard.

Katie had us puzzled when riding a section of road between trail sections.  She successfully drug her foot down a hill to stop her bike and herself before riding into a lake.  Turns out her brake ceased to function but Ryan had her fixed up in short order to continue riding, and braking without shoe soles.

AA's new bike, post de-muddin'.

Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the bikes in their mud covered state.  After arriving home we did a bike washing session in the front yard.  Of course Daniel was in on the action and did his best to be helpful, only occasionally spraying people instead of bikes.

Look out, 22 month old on the hose!

It's KT's birthday today and she declares the day a fun, successful experience on her new bike.  We're looking forward to getting them dirty again!