Balance Bikes

So, a friend of mine commented on Daniel's ability to ride a bike at age 3. She asked if he was just advanced for his age...as great as I think my child is, he is not advanced...he just got potty trained for goodness sake. We used this European method which starts young kids out on a balance bike.

We didn't buy a special balance bike, we just took the pedals off of a small bike and let Daniel learn to balance on that. We let him "ride" the balance bike for about a month and then we put the pedals back on. He basically just took off with the bike. Little running along side or behind him was required. It was painless for us parents...probably the first painless-for-the-parents experience of his life.

I was so excited for him when he took off. As I was cheering him on, he looked at me, and his look said it all. His look said...

"Mom, ain't no thang!"

He actually verbally says that now. It cracks me up.

A Little Piece of Earth

Ever since we moved into our house, we've been talking about planting a garden. Our yard is not very garden-friendly...half of it is boulders, the other half is shaded by 87687785 maple trees that each have about 6753487634598702 leaves on them that we rake each fall, and the land is sloped. I was giving up on the dream of picking ripe, warm tomatoes and eating them there on the spot until my neighbor mentioned the community garden.

So, miracle of miracles, we got the last piece of earth...plot B-14, and now we have 400sq ft of already tilled earth to plant whatever we want. Well, not whatever we want. The contract we signed said we would not plant

• potatoes
• illegal plants

We had to pay $20 for B-14. If only we paid $20 per 400sq feet of our house and land. Maybe we will sell this house and build a little cabin on B-14.

And He's Off

We are so proud of the lil' guy

Summer Was Here Today

We had our first +900 weather of the year today (I know all my friend in the TX/AZ area are already in the 1100's). So, we did what any logical person would do...packed up our bags and headed to the beach. James LOVED the water. Daniel had fun in the sand. Our kite flew easily. My only mistake was I forgot the camera...not that you wanted to see our pastey white skin.

We stopped at the beach front ice cream stand on the way home with some friends. Daniel opted for the rich "Death by Chocolate" dip while James and I shared a more refreshing "Lime Sorbet". The ice cream, friends, and salt water smelling breeze was perfect.

Dinner consisted of popcorn and smoothies served on a blanket outside. I was a little distracted sprinkling the salt on the popcorn...it tasted like the ocean.

A Beautiful Day

Still Working In the Yard

Paul Bunyan and his men (and woman) are still hard at work in the yard. We got the chainsaws in a buy-one-get-one-free deal from some friends who were moving. We payed $100 for the one Daniel is using and they threw in the other one for free.

A Letter in the Mail

I just got summoned to jury duty. I hope I don't get picked. Maybe I'll take James with me.

Bunyan Business

Are you familiar with the Paul Bunyan story? The strong lad and his pet ox shape the landscape of the United States. They clear all the trees in the Midwest, build the Rocky Mountains, carve the Grand Canyon, etc. Well, some Bunyan business has been going on over here. First we felled all the "little"trees and dug their roots out so we can extend our grass. Then, Christian so Bunyan-like did this little number...


We had 3 dead trees that needed to be cut down. After getting a quote of $1500 to have them professionally removed, Christian suited up in his rock climbing gear with chainsaw in tow and saved us $1457 (we had to rent a 40ft extension ladder). Renting the ladder was a story in and of itself. The rental store is a half mile from our house. We don't have a vehicle capable of transporting such a ladder, so we carried it. It was hilarious. Daniel was on his bike and James in the stroller. I had one end of the ladder and Christian the other. The funniest part was seeing drivers faces as we crossed the street. The ladder extended across the whole street. The crossing guard stopped traffic for us...bless her.

So, after we get the trees all chopped up, Paul Bunyan needs to work on the Rocky Mountains.


We don't know how we got so many boulders in our yard. I think we were the rock graveyard for the neighborhood.

Happy Mother's Day

Father/Sons Campout

Friday night was the Father/sons campout. I didn't tell Daniel he was going camping until Friday morning because I knew he would be too excited. When Daniel is excited, he talks, and talks, and talks.

Taking matters into his own hands.
Daniel loaded the car himself because we were doddling.

"Where are this kids shoes? Where is his mother? Is this child in charge of that whole bag of candy?"

Joys of a Yard

Since we went sailing two weekends ago, we had to work this weekend. We worked real hard.

James' First Corn on the Cob

He hammed up for the camera, but it was so funny watching him try and eat the slippery, buttery corn.