Signs of Spring

The kids and I ventured outside today on a nice little walk/bike ride around the neighborhood.  The sun was out and it looked pretty nice, so we thought we’d give it a go.  We decided to look for signs of spring while we were out and came up with a list:

• We can see the grass again
• The birds were singing
• There are some bulbs starting to grow out of the ground
• Kids were outside playing again
• The wind was blowing
• It was still colder than it looked outside

They had a great time riding their bikes and it felt really good to get some fresh air.  Caleb has become a little pro riding his bike.  He has been waiting for the snow to melt so he could dust it off and ride again.  He picked up right where he left off last fall with only a few stumbles.  I’m so glad that it’s starting to get a little warmer around here and that there are promises of spring, just around the corner (or maybe around the block…)!

Always willing to pose for the camera!

  Getting that helmet off can be really hard!

Making silly faces!

Whew!

Bike Ride at Harms Woods

We have had a really busy day today (I really can't believe that I'm sitting her blogging about it!). Brandon started soccer today and had a great time. He was so excited and couldn't wait, you should have seen how quickly he got his jobs done this morning! Once he was out on the field, he was such a ham! He almost scored a goal and when he was done, he announced as loudly as he could that he is the world's best soccer player. How's that for being humble?!

We also had a bike ride today with my cub scouts that I am in charge of at church. We met at a forest preserve not too far from our house and biked around for about an hour. It was so beautiful outside with all the colorful leaves and perfect weather. The boys (and girls) did a great job on the trails, and no one went home hurt. That is what I call a successful activity, folks.

After our bike ride, we came home, made pizza and then a few of Kelsie's friends from school came over for a High School Musical movie marathon in anticipation for the new movie coming out next week. We are almost through the first movie, getting ready to start the second and all the kids are on a sugar high and having a great time--I just heart rumors of a pillow fight, should I be worried?

These girls (and boy) are so cute!

All in all, I think it's been a pretty successful day, hopefully I'll be able to get everyone up and ready tomorrow morning in time for church!

A rare photo of the two of us together.

Family Night Bike Ride

We went on family bike ride the other night and had so much fun! We rode on the bike path along Lake Michigan up to Northwestern to the lagoon. It was a beautiful night and our favorite part of the ride was where we could see Chicago in the distance. We kept it short this time, only about 4 miles round trip. Our rides have been a little more enjoyable since the recent purchases of two new, bigger bikes (you've got to love craigslist!). This is such a fun place to live!

A Camping We Will Go

Wally's birthday was on Friday and we decided to camp overnight at Illinois State Beach. We had so much fun and both Kelsie and Brandon let us know (more than once) that this was the best camping trip ever! Their favorite part was the fire and throwing sticks into it, all while we keeping Caleb away from it! It didn't take him long to figure out what they were doing and would pick up a handful of wood chips and throw them into the fire, just like the rest of us. We've got ourselves a bunch of pyromanicas (just like their mom)! We sang Happy Birthday to Wally, opened presents and then we roasted marshmallows. I remembered everything but the graham crackers for the smores, but we still had enough sugar to keep us going late into the night. (If you've never tried smores with a Reeces Peanut Butter Cup, you definitely have to try it. It takes smores to a whole new level!)

We went for a bike ride along the beach and through some trails the next morning and most of us had a fun time. A couple of our kids (you can guess who) don't like to be hot and tired, so they didn't care so much for the bike ride. We had a good time in the end, but once we got back to camp, it was right back to the fire and getting it ready for roasting hot dogs for lunch. After a little lunch and relaxation, we made our way over to the beach. We kept ourselves entertained by throwing rocks into the lake (this particular beach was not lacking in the rock department) and Kelsie practiced skipping rocks over and over, and was so excited when she finally got a couple to skip! Caleb had a great time throwing little pebbles into the water as well and collecting them in his bucket. Brandon would find the biggest and heaviest rocks he could find and give them to Wally to skip across the water. Surprisingly enough, Wally was able to get a couple of those rocks to skip.

We had so much fun camping, but came home dirty and tired. The kids are already asking when we can go again.

I'm just waiting for my 30+ mosquito bites go away before I even think about planning another camping adventure!

Taking a water break during our bike ride--someone's not very happy!

We couldn't keep these two away from the fire.


Just drinking some juice, but looking oh so cute!

We're not really sure what's going on here, but thought it was a funny picture!


Having fun at the beach.


One more picture to prove that I was actually there.

A Leisurely? Saturday Ride

We had such beautiful weather today and tried to make the most of it! We decided to go on a family bike ride to a park to celebrate a friend's birthday. 45 minutes and 2.6 miles later, we made it to the park and had a great time with friends. We are very proud of Kelsie and Brandon for riding the whole way without getting too tired! We are in the process of finding a new (bigger) bike for Brandon and he was such a trooper pedaling his little 12" bike as fast as he could the whole way. Caleb also had a great time in the trailer and hardly made a sound during the ride. Kelsie sang a repertoire of songs along the way keeping us all entertained!

Our ride was pretty uneventful, except for the time Brandon was riding too close to the trailer and ended up flipping over his bike (don't worry, he's OK), so we stopped at 7-11 to get slurpee's on the way home. We made it home exhausted, 5 miles will do that to you especially if you have little legs, but had a great time in the end. We couldn't be more proud of our kids and are (mostly) looking forward to our next family adventure!