First Solo Bike Ride

So I went on my first solo ride on my road bike today. I've always been nervous to go alone. At first it was because of intersections..I think I can handle those now. Then it was because of lack of road route knowledge...I get nervous about getting lost on back roads. But I figured I can't be that dumb. And finally, I didn't want to blow a tire or break something b/c I have no knowledge of how to repair it yet. I need some lessons on that. But I got up the courage, left my daughter with a neighbor and went out to ride. I'm happy to report, I got through the intersections just fine. Also, no crashes or falls. I'm also happy to report, I didn't get lost. Also, I didn't blow a tire. I road a total of 9.4 miles all on my own and would've gone further if not for one unfortunate mishap...My chain came off the front cog when I was going up a rather steep hill. All of the sudden, I was free spinning and going no where but over fast. Luckily, I quickly unclipped in time to put my foot down. I tried to put the chain back on but having no knowledge of how, I winged it. In the process, I think I screwed up something else because the rest of the way home (luckily only half a mile) the derailleur wasn't moving the chain properly as I shifted. But I MADE IT HOME. Whew. I had a feeling about this solo ride thing, I'll tell ya. I should've checked out this website before going I guess. I'll have to have my husband and neighbor fix it for me and show me how tonight. I just signed up for a mini triathlon for next Saturday. A 400 meter swim, a 9 mile bike ride, and a 5k. WhooWho!

My bike

So, I mentioned getting a road bike. Well here it is. It's a women's road bike. I couldn't fit on any men's bikes b/c I'm too short and if I went on a men's frame that was small enough the tires would go down in size too. So I got a 2007 TREK 1600 WSD 47cm. It's comfy and a great fit. We added blue speedplay X5 pedals when we bought it. They are really nice...give a lot of float on the pedal. My Auntie Mo wanted me to post pictures of the improved version of it...(we replaced the black grip tape with blue last night).
So when I first started riding, it'd been at least 15 or more years since I'd even gotten on a bike and that bike was a Huffy with a banana seat. I'd never had a bike with hand brakes, adjustable speeds let alone being clipped into pedals. So, I still never have fallen WHILE riding. I fell ALOT when stopping (at first). I'd clip out of one pedal and then try to subconciously put the other foot down (but it was still clipped in) and OVER I'd go. Too bad I bruise VERY easily. So every time I rode in the beginning, I'd always end up bruised and scraped. But happily that is happening less and less b/c I figured out I need to put my left foot down first instead of my right. Anyway, hopefully I'll continue to stay upright. Wish me luck!
Can't wait for my next ride! :-)

A Dog for a Day

Actually, it was a week...

My husband found an add on Craig's List from a family needing someone to watch their 5 month old lab mix for a week while they were at a family camp in the mountains. He's been wanting to get a dog so I agreed that this was the perfect opportunity for everyone in the house to try one out and get paid a bit to do it.

Maile (the dog) arrived a week ago Saturday. Our oldest son was terrified of the dog at first but we were able to get him used to her eventually. Our 6 year old absolutely loved her every second (except once when she accidentally scratched his cheek). It was so wonderful to see his confidence and ability with her. He's usually painfully shy and quiet. But with the dog, he was able to raise his voice loud enough to give her commands. He felt especially proud to be able to walk her. Our daughter loved the dog too. I got up and ran with her every morning but twice to get her hyperactivity under control for the rest of the day. My husband walked her the other 2 days. I made sure he knew before we took the dog that it'd be his job to clean up poop too. I've done enough diapers in my life...I'm not adding dog poop scooping to the list.




So, in conclusion, my husband says it was nice to have someone pay us to figure out he doesn't really want a dog. He's mentioned before he wanted one so that he could have "someone" obey what he says. He found out that a dog is a lot like a kid...they don't obey if they don't want to. But, it was SOOOOOO good for our 6 year old to have abilities and confidence in something his older brother doesn't. It made him feel so great. The only reason we'd go to the work of getting a dog (because they really are like adding another child to your family as far as work goes) would be for our son and his development and happiness. Tough choice. Spencer was soooo sad to see the dog go on Friday. Maybe this year in school will do the trick in bringing him out of his shell instead of getting a dog. We'll see.

Happy 33rd Birthday

My husband turned 33 this week. For his birthday I bought him a biking jersey and his own set of Speedplay pedals (red to match his bike). He was getting hot spots on his foot when riding and a few other pains associated with non-freefloating pedals. He tried them out the next morning and unfortunately blew a tire 12 miles into his ride (didn't bring a spare) and had to be picked up. BUT HE LOVED THE PEDALS!

Me, A Runner?

I just had an old friend comment that he had no idea that I was a runner. Well, I must admit I'm not. I decided that I wanted to someday do a triathalon. I can swim laps and laps. But I've never been good on a bike or running for anything longer than a mile. So, I bought a road bike and started biking. And, I started running. This is a picture from my first "race" which was a 5k to raise money for the LiveWelle foundation...I'm the shortest one of the group of course. Anyway, I had to have a goal so this race was my first goal (thanks to the blond to the right of me, the real runner)...run 3.2 miles in under a half hour without my heart or my side killing me. So I trained and ran and continued my other workouts and I did it in 28minutes. I was proud of myself. Then I ran the Speedy Spaniard in Spanish Fork, a 10k because of course I had to up my goal. I did that in exactly an hour. So you see, I'm not a speedy gonzales or anything. But I can finally run without my heart pounding out of my chest. I'll leave the biking stories for another time.

First day of School

Well, I just sent my boys off to school...1st grade and 4th grade. We met their teachers yesterday before going to the pool for one last summer hurrah. I tried to get them to cooperate for pictures before school but they didn't like it much (complaining about the sun in their eyes...it wasn't...I was just standing in the sun and they had to look at me). I noticed after the picture that my first grader had gotten his shirt dirty already so we had to quickly change his outfit before heading out. There was no time for a new picture. But this is what I would've had him wear anyway, so the picture stands. It'll be odd only having one child at home all day. Oddly quiet that is. And she's pretty good to go and do whatever I do with me without protest. My boys didn't appreciate tagging along on errands. She LOVES going to the store and such. Lucky me.

So long, Summer!

Well, with school starting in less than a week, here is our so long tribute to summer.

So long to trips to California for weddings...




So long to Family Reunions in Kentucky with a million little nieces and nephews and grannie and papa...



So long to many camping trips (maybe we'll work a few in this fall thanks to the warm trailer)...


So long to patriotic celebrations...



So long to community art competitions and second place prizes...



So long to the long summer days where there's plenty of time to learn to ride a bike...


SO LONG SUMMER!

A Day at Lagoon

My hubby's work treated everyone to a day at Lagoon Amusement Park. My Auntie Mo, Uncle John and their young cousin from Germany came to visit for the weekend so they joined us. It was a fun day. I felt bad b/c we let my oldest son ride one of the big roller coasters with us and it didn't bode well with him in the end. I'm afraid he's turned off of roller coasters for good. My six year old had a great time all day and rode as many of the kiddie rides as possible.

Auntie Mo and our little princess. Mo took care of her and the kids so much of the day that I got to ride a few coasters myself.

Uncle John and the boys all trying to use their might to stop the spinning sphere (hovering on water)

An ice-cream snack at the end of the day with Helena (the cousin from Germany)

The kids had a great time on the Bumper cars and I just adored how our 6 year old took care of his little sister on the rides. She loved riding them with him.

Drag Racing at Lagoon

Even though my uncle drag races for real, he had to try out the "fake" drag. Here's a video.

Hattie's Haircut

Well, our daughter's name isn't Hattie, but she did get a haircut (BTW that's the name of a picture book). I bobbed it for her this morning. She loves flipping it around. My neighbor made a comment indicating she didn't like it, but I do. I think it looks cute and fits her spunky personality. In reality, it was getting too tangled and stringy when long. It's quite fine and thin...that doesn't work for long hair. Click on the picture to see it larger.

Birthday Bash ALL WEEK!

It seems we were celebrating our 9 year old's birthday all week...beginning with an early birthday present of his clubhouse on Monday. Then on Thursday, he had a couple of friends over for the official party. It was a small gathering but that's the way he likes it...best buds and that's it. They roasted hot dogs.

Ate them in the Clubhouse.

Roasted marshmellows.

Topped the smores cupcakes with the marshmellows.

And sang...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! We topped off the night with a movie projected onto the wall and all the popcorn, soda, and licorice the bellies could handle.

AND THE BASH CONTINUED...

On Friday night, we took the family camping in the trailer and celebrated with Nana and Papa. More hotdogs, more corn, more cupcakes. A little dirt digging, and the boys were in heaven. Top it all off with some hiking and a present from Nana and Papa and BOOM...BIRTHDAY BASH. Don't let me hear him say we never do anything for him. Then Saturday was his actual birthday. That night he got to order the pizza he wanted, have more cupcakes, and watch Star Wars. Lucky kid!

Trip to Jackson

I'm finally getting up some pictures from our trip to Jackson to see my brother-in-law in the play "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" at the Jackson Playhouse. He's managing the playhouse for the summer and is one of the "brothers" in the play. We had a great time and we all LOVED the play. The video clip here is from the "shoot out" the playhouse puts on to drum up customers. My brother-in-law is the cowboy in the white hat, light jeans, and grey vest.

See the picture of him with my boys here and then watch the video.

The Teton County Fair was going on all weekend we were there as well. It provided some great entertainment for the kiddos and adults. We rode ponies, trains, participated in a pudding eating contest and mechanical bulls (check out my cowboy on the bull...it was pretty funny. I didn't stay on this long though.) We also went window shopping at the stores and the kids had a great time trying on hats, etc. My nieces and daughter were just happy enough playing together in the hotel as well.