Bikes, again

When Ed and I were first married we bought some bikes, and did a fair amount of biking those first couple of years we lived in western PA. After we moved here, and before Ellie, we used the bikes occasionally (there was that infamous trip when we rode home from center city- a post in itself). Anyway, after we had E we didn't do much riding until she was about 3. We got our bikes tuned up, purchased a baby seat and ...went on exactly one bike ride and then put them away. I don't know exactly what happened-- I think it was a combination of lots of hills in our old neighborhood, it was hot, I became pregnant the next summer, had a new baby the year after that, then we had no place to put 2 kids if we rode, etc., etc. Now that E and N can both ride their bikes, we decided to go for our first family bike ride. Ed's and my bikes had to be hauled out of the basement, dusted off, and tires pumped up. We washed off the baby seat, strapped K in, and we were set to go! OK, we didn't exactly go far on this first little trip-- just around the block a few times. But all the kids had a lot of fun, even K after she resigned herself to the helmet. It will be some time before we tackle any major trails, but it is a first step.
(Notice K still trying to get that helmet off. Also, I was just struck by how much E and N look alike! I don't usually notice it, but it must be something about their faces under the helmets)

Milestones

At New Year's we were talking with E about making a New Year's Resolution. She didn't know what she wanted to accomplish this year, so I suggested learning to ride a bike. She was a little hesitant about committing to this, but cautiously agreed that she would try. It wasn't until June that Ed took off the training wheels, but it only took two times running around the block holding onto her seat before she was able to balance and ride on her own. However, she did not know how to stop and start successfully, so wasn't exactly independent yet. This past weekend Jim (Ed's brother) had the brilliant idea to bring bikes down to the river, and the kids could ride around the track there. It took a few times around, but E learned how to stop and start. She had one spill, but got right back on. When it was time to go home, she was tired, but happy, and so proud of herself! We told her that for every time that she rode around the track 4x, that it was a mile, so we guessed that she probably rode between two and three miles that evening. She was determined to beat that the next day, and excitedly set out after breakfast with her brother and cousins. K was taking a nap, so I didn't go, but Ed reported that she rode continuously for 1 1/2 hours, completing 17 laps!! She was so into biking that she didn't want to stop, but we promised we would be back again.
Meanwhile, N has been begging for a bike for the past year, and we have put off buying him one because we didn't get E's until her 5th birthday. When Jim heard that N was bikeless, he offered him Peter's little Batman bike and N was thrilled. He too, was excited to go ride his new bike, and after adjusting the training wheels, he rode around the track happily with the others. It was really cute to watch him and Erika as they rode around together, in tandem, chatting and just kind of taking their time and enjoying the ride.

8/8/8

I love fun number dates- I still remember sitting in school on 6/7/89 and writing that at the top of my paper. So it is fitting that I write a short post today, just so I can write the date!

I am also excited that the Olympics start today! My favorite is women's gymnastics, but I am also interested in swimming this time with the possibility of Michael Phelps winning 8 golds and becoming the most decorated Olympian athlete. I can't imagine the years of training that have gone into the making of an athlete of his caliber. I have never been athletic, and never felt that drive to train, nor possessed the self discipline to push myself past the pain. As a result, I have nothing but respect for all those athletes from all those countries who have made it to the Olympics. In that vein, I will also be rooting for those small countries who only have a few athletes in the games. These athletes, even if they don't win any medals, have already achieved an amazing accomplishment of qualifying to be in the Olympics. Another thing that I love about the Olympics is how the world comes together for two weeks as we are all caught up in the games and patriotism. In fact, my favorite part is the Opening Ceremonies, and I regret that I will not be able to watch them "live" this year-- we will be on the road tonight to go to Tom's River for the weekend (where there is no cable), so I will have to wait until Sunday night.

16 months

I am genuinely amazed at how fast our little one is growing up. I know, I have done this twice before, but it seems like she is daily changing before my eyes. In this past month, especially, she has seemed to change from a baby to a toddler. Partly this is because she started walking exclusively a month ago, so her new vertical status has made her seem older. She is also communicating with us more. Notice I did not say "talking" because her vocabulary is still pretty limited to the "ma" sound, in various intonation and volume to mean different things. "Meh, meh?", asked in increasingly higher pitches and insistency while patting her chest means, "I want that" (food or cup, usually). "Ma! Ma!" usually means she is talking to me, and wants me to hold her. The singular "Ma!" has meant she wants Ed to pick her up and hold her, although she is saying "Da-da" now, but not neccesarily in association with him. And she would say ,"Hi" as well. Surprisingly, she came out with, "Ewoh Goggy!" (Hello Doggy!) a few weeks ago when she was excited about a bunch of dogs. And she just learned to make the "Woof" sound for dogs. That is the extent of her verbal skills right now, but like I said, she is communicating more through pointing (a new thing), and various "eh, eh" noises to let us know she wants to us to do something- open the door, pick her up, give her a toy. She is also following directions better. I can tell her what I want to do, and she will go do it (get a toy, stand somewhere, smile for a picture, etc.). It is exciting to watch her understanding of the world grow, as well as her desire to let us know what she is thinking.

One of her favorite things to do right now is to go for walks outside. Given the chance, she will go out the front door, and immediately make her way down the front walk and driveway. She is pretty fast, so I have to send E after her to make sure she doesn't go out into the street while I am locking up and grabbing her stroller.

She is also intent on doing everything that she sees her older siblings do. When I am making peanut butter sandwiches E and N will stick out their fingers for "A lick" of peanut butter. K was watching them do this last week and came over, looked up at me, and stuck out her little finger for "a lick" as well. She is determined not to be left out of any fun or treats. Also, now that she has mastered going down steps backwards, she tries to walk down the steps like everyone else, holding onto the railing and stepping down. This makes me a little nervous because it is hard for a little person to balance on one foot while taking a big step down, and I don't want her to fall down a flight of stairs when I am not there to steady her. She has already taken a couple of tumbles, and fortunately hasn't been too hurt in them.

As I watch all this my heart both swells with pride at how my little one is growing and learning, and then constricts as I think wistfully about how quickly I will no longer have a baby.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

It's big, red and round, but I'm not talking about that jolly old elf, I am talking about that wonderful vegetable/fruit-- the tomato! It is that time of year again when the farm is overflowing with these guys in red, orange, yellow, green, even purple! I was so excited to go yesterday because I knew that they were waiting for me! Can you tell I'm excited? Every sentence so far has an exclamation point!



There was a time when I did not regard the tomato so highly. My mom would have to force me to gag them down. Gradually I began to accept them in salads, or cooked with zuchinni, but I wasn't exactly enthusiastic. But once I got married, Ed loved eating them so much that it made me like them. Seeing him enjoy them made something click in my tastebuds and all of a sudden they were delicious! I especially liked eating them with salt, but some dressing- french or italian, would also work. But I should qualify-- the tomatoes I am talking about are the garden variety. Literally, from the garden. In July and August when tomatoes ripen is the time to eat them. In January when the grocery stores sell the garden tomatoe's anemic, mealie cousins I avoid buying them unless a recipe absolutely calls for fresh tomato. But now, now is the time for gorging on tomatoes. And that is what I did. I recently was reading someone's blog where she was raving about a cherry tomato called "sun gold", so I was excited to see them on the u-pick list at the farm. As I went down the rows, I popped them in my mouth almost as fast as I put them in my little container. They are small and incredibly sweet- they may even convince my children to eat tomatoes.
I also got 4 pounds of regular sized tomatoes that I am excited to slice open to eat with salt. Ed and I found this recipe for a BLT last summer from a Spanglish- "The World's Greatest Sandwich", and we have been waiting for tomato season to eat it again. It is soooo good. Seriously, the name fits it. Maybe tonight for dinner...

The World's Greatest Sandwich

3-4 thick slices of bacon
2 slices monterey Jack cheese
2 slices pain de campagne (rustic country loaf), toasted
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
4 slices tomato
2 leaves butter lettuce
1 teaspoon butter
1 egg


1. Cook the bacon until crisp
drain on paper towels and set aside

2. Place the slices of cheese on one slice of the toasted bread
and place in a toaster oven or under a broiler to melt the cheese.

3. Spread the other slice of toast with the mayonnaise,
top with cooked bacon, the sliced tomato and the lettuce.

4. In a nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.
Fry the egg, turning over briefly when the bottom is set (keep the yolk runny)

5. Slide the finished egg on top of the lettuce.
top with the other slice of toast, melted cheese side down.
place the sandwich on a plate and slice in half, letting the yolk run down the sandwich.

July, in summary.

I am almost afraid to post, it has been so long! I think that if anyone is left reading this blog, it's a miracle! Anyway, since I have been absent most of July, I will try to catch you up. Beware! Lots of pictures ahead!

Ok, so to start off the month we went to Ed's parents' summer place in NJ to celebrate the 4th, as well as their retirement. We went to a parade the morning of the 4th, and then to a little town celebration where the kids ran a couple of foot races and participated in a peanut scramble. Later that evening we all went out to the Lobster Shanty to celebrate the retirement, and then finished off the night with fireworks on the river.

The next weekend we spent with our friends Bob and Aimee, and their daughter (who is one of E's best friends) down at their Brigantine condo. The weather was absolutely gorgeous all weekend, and the beach is my favorite that I have ever been on. You get to it by walking through the dunes, and it is flat and uncrowded. There are even tidal pools that form up on the beach (so it goes sand/ pools/ sand/ surf) that were perfect for K to play in, although she loved the waves too. The kids really enjoyed playing in the tidal pools as the tide came in, because they formed a little stream along the beach with a current that was perfect for riding boogie boards on. It was the best weekend of the summer thus far.

The next wednesday, the 16th, we left for our yearly vacation in NH where my family has a cabin on an island on Lake Wentworth. Although we had some nice weather, the majority of the week was rainy/ cloudy. On Thursday the weather hit the peak when there was a hurricane that came through the area with a tornado that touched down on the shore of the lake. Thank the Lord that he protected us!! Despite the rain, we had fun with my sisters Cara and Sandy and Sandy's 3 year old son Elijah. The kids liked playing together, and went in the water at every break in the rain. When we asked the kids before bed each night what their favorite part of the day was, N always said, "Playing with Elijah". After the kids went to bed at night we played games and talked, enjoying each others' company without the noise of children in the background. Finally on Friday, the day before we left, we had a perfect sunny day in which we took full advantage- swimming all day, and kayaking around the lake. It was unfortunate that we had to leave the next day, another perfect day, but we were ready to go home to running water, indoor plumbing, and showers!

We actually added an extra stop on the way home, spending Saturday night in Connecticut where Ed's brother Bill, and his wife Becky were having a party for their daughter Aubrey who just turned one. It was nice to break up the trip home, and visit with Bill and Becky, as well as join in on the celebration.

Sunday we returned home, and since then I have done 10 loads of laundry! We are getting back into the routine of being home. The kids were excited to play with their toys, and I greeted my dishwasher with a big long hug. Well, not really, but I was glad to see it again! Vacation is fun, but sometimes the best part is coming home.

Bloggy Vacation

Yes, I have been on a little vacation from my blog. Things have been busy this summer and I feel like I don't have any time to go on the computer anymore. I have been babysitting a lot, going to the pool, and away on the weekends to the shore. And when I have some free time I have been reading. I have a stack of magazines that is about a foot high (with issues from October!!) that I need to work my way through. But that is taking a back seat to a trilogy I am reading - The Mark of the Lion, by Francine Rivers. It is pretty good, at least it is easy to read, and interesting, but probably won't make my list of all time favorites. Anyway, the books are pretty long, so when I get a chance I sit and read. We are on our way out this afternoon, back down to the shore, and I hear a baby who just woke up from her nap, so I must go. I promise I will be back soon, and I will try to upload pictures to prove that we are busy, and I am not just a lazy blogger.

Well, maybe I am a little ;)