Caroline can ride a bike!

It's still October, so hopefully Grandma Jo can see these videos.  Caroline has been getting really good on her balance bike, so today we went for a bike ride and voila! she's a bike rider.  Aunt Becky stopped by this afternoon by surprise and we went outside to demonstrate Caroline's new skill, this time with a camera.  Here's three videos of the novice bike rider and her brother.  In the final video she's trying to get started uphill, and you can see how her balance bike skills come into play: she gets herself going (eventually), and I never help her.  She figured this out on her own, because she wants to ride in the Agony with her Aunt Becky someday.  Well done Caroline!

Jack can ride a bike!

Two weeks ago Grandma Jo had Jack and Caroline for the weekend while Trace and Becky and I went to the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) conference in Anaheim. We had a great time, and connected with others in the coffee industry, but I think the kids had more fun! Grandma Jo lives next to the church, with a wide open parking lot, flat, and perfect for biking. At the time, both kids had "balance bikes," meaning that we had taken the training wheels and pedals off (Aunt Katie's superb recommendation) so that they could work on their balance. By the end of the weekend Jack could balance for twenty seconds while going down a gentle slope. The next weekend, three days ago, Trace spent ten minutes, or less, working with Jack on how to get started with pedals, and that was that. Jack can now ride a two-wheeler! He's very excited, and he was going on daily rides with Trace, at least until the rain/snow started again yesterday. So maybe that was only two days of riding, but he loved it!

Caroline is sure that she also learned to ride a two-wheeler. She's been telling everyone, whenever I mention that Jack can ride a bike. We actually put her training wheels back on, thinking that maybe she could keep up a little better, so she does get to pedal on her bike now: thus she can ride a two wheeler. She pedals now doesn't she? That's the definition in her mind anyway. She is quite excited that she finally got her own, purple, bike helmet, as you can see in these pictures. She's been wearing it a lot, and tells everyone how safe she is. The most impressive to me, however, was how Trace got her back to the house when she was tired from all the bike riding:I'm quite sure that I can't ride a bike while holding a kid with one arm, but Trace made it look easy! I'll finish with a video of the new bike rider coming toward me up the street. He's an expert now!

Andrew and Jackson

Last night Andrew, Jackson, Caroline and I went on a walk. At least Caroline and I walked. Well actually Caroline was mostly running, trying to catch up to Andrew and Jack, until she got too tired and I carried her. She and I ended our walk after that, but the other two kept going: Andrew on his longboard, and Jackson on his bicycle. They were so cute headed down the street together, with Jack pedalling as fast as he could, and Andrew slowly gliding on his longboard, that I came inside, got my camera, and took a video of them. Caroline came back outside with me, so she's in the movie too. It was getting pretty dark, so even though I've increased the brightness, it's not a great video, but Jack wanted to share it with you all anyway. The first few seconds, you really can't see anything, but I promise that if you keep watching, Jackson and Andrew will appear!

The doings at the Fike household

Oh my, I am sipping red wine, nibbling on dark chocolate, and typing at the computer with the wind chimes singing out front and a breeze making me think it might not quite be summer yet.

Ahhhh.

A moment to appreciate the moment.

If you don't know this about us, we love to have company, to host our friends and family. It's been a lovely day with two friends of Andrew's who came over to help him get the boat running (it did--eventually), and then our friend John came up for dinner also. There's not much better in my world than sitting around chatting after a delicious meal cooked by Trace. Yum.

In other news, my three year old was as sweet as they come today. He's not always that way, especially to his sister. He's all boy, and she, despite having three older brothers, is quite girl-y. This means that we spend a lot of time reminding Jackson that he needs to be gentle with his sister, not wrestling and pushing. Today, however, she was a bit cranky after her nap, and she'd finished the piece of quesedilla I'd made and wanted more. I was working out in the garden, however, and suggested that she share Jackson's granola bar instead. Jack ran off toward the house at this point, as I held Caroline and tried to pull weeds with one hand. A few minutes later he reappeared with a tortilla folded around a piece of cheese. He said: "I made her a quesedilla Mom, but I didn't cook it." It was so sweet, and she wandered happily around the yard eating it. He'd climbed on a stool, opened the fridge--it's a built-in, so it's hard to access--and chosen one tortilla, and then carefully wrapped it around a piece of cheese I'd cut for him earlier. It took a lot of effort, and more than that, it showed a lot of care for his little sister. I love when they're kind to each other!

Most of the time, however, Jackson is all boy, as evidenced by this video:

He's created a mud puddle under the hammock by dumping a pail of water there, and he's riding his bike in it, with the goal of making a rooster tail. He has no idea that his back looks like this:I came upon him in the process of refilling his puddle, so I have no idea if it was originally an accidental discovery, or if he'd planned the whole thing. Either is equally likely, knowing Jack. He was truly a happy mess, just as a three year old boy should be!

Jackson and his bikes

Jack and his bike.

Today Jack and I made a series of videos to share with you all. He was riding his "old" bike, as he calls it: the three wheels, low to the ground one that he uses as his dirt bike, for crazy riding. His goal was to ride into a hole that Samson (our dog) has made, I think, and then do a flip over the handle bars. He has done this once on accident, didn't get hurt, and thought it was a lot of fun. This is a whole series of videos we took as he tried to repeat his stunt. Unfortunately (or fortunately) he never did a flip again, but I thought his seriousness as he tried and tried was quite amusing, so I'm posting all the attempts. If you're wondering if he always has a running dialogue/monologue going while riding his bike, the answer is: yes, for bike riding and any other activity. He is one verbal kid! They're all short videos, so enjoy--I know I enjoyed taking and watching these:

This last video is Jack demonstrating that he can also ride cross country on his "new" bike (it'll be a year old on June 2nd, but he still asks people if they've seen his new bike). He is riding as fast as he can, right across the grass to show that it's also fast. And of course for him the fact that it can crash is also a plus.

For those wondering where Caroline is, she's taking her nap. Some other day we'll have videos of Caroline: probably something more social, or at least with less crashing involved!