April Spring Days

It most certainly was a tale of two weekends. From a blizzard to sunburns in seven days. Last weekend, the temperature got close to 70 and Fiona was pretty sure that summer was here. We spent as much time as possible outside, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.

I took a chance on Sunday, washing and putting away the snowpants and winter coats. That's a surefire way to jinx things - so they are still easily accessible if needed. Mike took a chance on Sunday and took the training wheels off of two bikes! Fiona had mastered the training wheel free life last year ... and then we bought her a bigger bike and she couldn't touch the ground. And it's hard to ride a bike when you can't reach to get on or off it. She had gained the inch or so that she needed over the winter to reach the ground with her tippy-toes.

Even with the ability to touch the ground, she needed some practice to get started, to stop, and to ride (and steer) confidently. Fiona is often our child who will give up when she isn't immediately perfect. She gets very frustrated with "failure." But let me tell you, that child was determined to figure out her bike. She set her chin and practiced for hours. Hours, I tell you. I spent most of my day standing in the cul-de-sac so that short Vannestes could ride bikes. I was there for so long that one of our neighbors brought me a beer. Another one brought me a chair. My neighbors are awesome.

Quinn also mastered her bike without training wheels, although she desperately needs a new bigger bike as well. Hopefully we will get one in the next couple weeks and fingers crossed, she can reach the ground. Otherwise it will be a bit of a repeat of history around here. She was so proud and will enjoy the improved speed that a big bike will afford her.

Declan asked Mike to remove his training wheels as well - and he did fairly well. But his need for speed won out and the training wheels returned. It's just way more fun to ride circles with the big kids than to work on balance and not falling.

By late afternoon, there was quite the bike and scooter gang of children on the road - and a delightfully fun gang of adults hanging out as well. We had so much fun visiting with everyone. Apparently beautiful weather brings people out even more than blizzards ...

We killed the fun at dinner time because there were no words to describe how dirty the kids were - so showers were non-negotiable. But we ended the weekend with lungs full of fresh air and tired legs and backs. The more translucent of us (Quinn and me) even had our first sunburn of the season.