Biker Chick

Tuesday night I came home to find Dadam and Cecilia playing in the front yard, both of them looking mischievous as I greeted them. We were going to grab some dinner and it was getting late, so I wanted to get everyone hustled into the van. But where was Ruby?

And then she came racing toward me, riding her bike like a maniac. WITH NO TRAINING WHEELS!

Dadam has been wanting to take them off for a few weeks now, but I was convinced it was too soon and that she would need the summer to work on her balance. It had nothing to do with not wanting her to grow up. Honest. I swear. But he waited until I was gone and they took off those training wheels in a covert operation.

Nevertheless, she's taken to it like a duck to water, and yesterday the girls and I even biked to Target and back to pick up some groceries. It will be fun to do some biking together as a family this summer, but I'm also a little heartsick about how fast this whole "childhood" business is going.

Reunited & It Feels So Good

The girls are back on their home turf and we've just wrapped up another busy summer weekend. Thursday we left for Wisconsin and got to our girls (and Door County) around dinner time. The weekend was full of activity, most notably two triathlons completed by mother and daughter (one each). Cecilia competed in a kids' triathlon and did a marvelous job on her 100 yard swim, 1 mile bike, and 1/3 mile run. She finished in the top half (after being one of the last kids in the pool), and now has a nifty little medal to add to her collection. She makes us very proud.


Yesterday we made the long trip home and even managed to make it to the park for some Frisbee before calling it a day. It feels pretty darn good to be together under the same roof again.

7.9

This is Ruby's final week at daycare, so Cecilia and I have had the rare opportunity for some one-on-one mother/daughter time now that she's on summer vacation. Today over breakfast we agreed that we'd go for a long bike ride, and Cecilia said she wanted to go at least 5 miles. So after grocery shopping and some tidying up around the house, we set off on our bikes.

We decided to head towards the river for the scenery and because it seemed like the right distance, and our first couple of miles were pretty uneventful. When we got to the river we biked out halfway over the bridge to a bench where you can take in the view, and Cecilia turned to me and said, "It's SO beautiful!" The sun was shining with the beautiful Minneapolis skyline in the background and the river was all sparkly -- she could not have been more right.

Then we traveled the River Road south to Summit Avenue, and near St. Thomas she asked if we could stop and look at the pretty flowers in one of the public gardens. We did, and we filled up our water bottle and set off once again.

We took a couple more water breaks, but by the end Cecilia was getting pretty tuckered out and needed some encouragement for the last mile or so. When we got home I mapped out our route to see how far we biked, and it was an incredible 7.9 miles! Considering she also has softball practice tonight, I think someone's going to sleep pretty hard.

It was an awesome way to spend the afternoon.

An Eventful Day

We managed to cram a lot of activity into one day, in part to make the most of the incredible weather. Here's a quick recap:

• Surprised Grandma & Grandpa K at the airport during their layover early this morning (Aloha!);
• School, work, and daycare, respectively;
  
• Played outside to soak up the 65 degree sunshine after work/school;
• 
• Dinner and then swim class where Cecilia passed her current level with flying colors;
• Topped it all off with celebratory ice cream at Izzy's.

I think everyone is a little tired now, but all in all it was a very busy but satisfying day!

Wait For It.

Tonight after dinner Cici and I went for a bike ride together. We rode across a wooden footbridge near our house, down some old bike ramps and then walked up and down a freight railway.

A little while ago, while I was tucking her in and saying good night, we shared the following magical conversation:

Dadam: Thanks for going on that bike ride with me today, Cici. It was the best part of my day.

Cici [sweetly]: It was the best part of mine, too, Dad. [pause] Because we didn't really do anything else.