family bike ride

we have been talking about taking a family bike ride all summer.  well, today was the day!  we didn't start very strong.  mason's bike brake kept locking up his wheel and it took us about 30 minutes just to get that straightened out.  by that time, maddux was crying to get out of the trailer he and manning we riding in behind daddy's bike and madelyn just didn't want to be on the bikes at all.

so off we went with the promise of ice cream.

the ride actually went better than we had thought, once we got going that is.  madelyn and matt were a team and mason and i were a team.  we hadn't discussed it but it made it easier.  i was with mason because it was easier me to get off my bike to help him get going again after each stop that it was for matt with the trailer.

once we got going it was actually a pretty decent ride.  there are a lot of hills that even matt and i couldn't bike up so we kept having to walk our bikes and then get everyone going again but it wasn't as bad as i was expecting.  madelyn did pick up a little too much speed coming down a hill and wiped out on the next turn.  what was amazing was that she screamed and cried and then got right back up on her bike and kept going.  the kids were all rewarded with a cold, sweet treat.  they all agreed that biking was much better than walking.

maddux was thrilled that they had a orange option

they didn't have madelyn's favorite flavor, cotton candy, so she opted for a spider man popsicle 

mason and i almost split his ice cream cone because he kept asking for help with the drips

even manning got his own little cone

as we were finishing up the sky was quickly darkening so we decided we better get going - and quick.  the ride home was a little more exciting than the ride there.  there was a lot of crying (some injury, some fear and some exhaustion), there were a lot of bandaids used (thank goodness i decided to pack them to take with us) and we got wet.  but no one gave up.  all of the kids still thought it was a great time.  we look forward to many, many more rides in our future.

mason is so excited about biking again that once the rain cleared out he went out to ride some more.  maddux wiped out on the sidewalk while playing t-ball with madelyn in the yard and took a lot of skin off one of his knees so i brought him and manning in for baths.  when i was finished with them i went back out to call mason and madelyn in, but i found them and daddy riding bikes round and round the cul-du-sac or "the circle".  it was so cute to see the three of them that i decided baths could wait a little longer.  matt said that he had to practically pry mason off of his bike.

madelyn wasn't the only one with multiple bandaids, but she had the most so i had to take a picture - four on her legs and one on her thumb.