Biker Chicks - The Next Generation

I'm fortunate to have met some really great women during my time in Massachusetts. Many of my m more recent friend acquisitions are parents of my kids friends, as tens to happen during this phase of life.  However, I have some great pre-kid friends who have endured through our changing phases of life.  We've shared weddings, funerals, pregnancies and parenting, not to mention to mention job changes, new houses, and looking further back, countless first dates before some of us landed on "the one"   These were the ladies I hiked and biked and camped and triathlon'ed and centuried with - back when we all had time for such frivolity!  We all hope that one day again soon this will be a regular part of our lives!

The down side, of course, is that life is such that we don't live close enough to get together frequently, though we do manage to get together several times a year - without kids or husbands - and we have a standing playdate for a long weekend in October.  This year, we were able to get together, WITH our kids and husbands (and a new love interest for one!)   Matt and I were happy to host, and the house worked out just great for this size crowd.  The coolest thing was that the kids, even though they see each other 2-3x per year, were very excited to see one another and had a blast!

Emily, Laurel and Norah are fast friends... Roddie is a little wired on chocolate!

Claire, Jason, Roddie, Laurel, Norah and Emily watching a movie

I guess it was funny... Claire, Jason, Roddie, Laurel, Norah

Biker Kids, the Next Generation!

Norah News: Bike Chicks, the Next Generation

Norah has really been mastering her 2 wheeler, and no one is more excited than me!  (ok, well, maybe she is, but barely!)   I've always loved biking and am really happy to be able to share it with her.  We've been talking about taking a spin on the bike path recently, but with one thing and the other, haven't got around to it... until yesterday!  Roddie was with Matt, getting supplies for the tree house (yes, tree house, more on that later) and we girls were free to go!   I should note, Rod is also doing great on his bike, but he's still only 3.

Our wheels, just waiting for us to take a spin!

After a bit of a false start (forgotten helmet that was not actually forgotten after all!) we got on the bike trail around 10:30.  It was a beautiful day, with temperatures forecasted to be in the 80's.  We started off on our shady ride next to a beautiful lake, and I thought I'd just see how things went.  The lake was at about the halfway point in the bike path, so we could do an out and back in either direction.  I'll be honest, I wasn't sure which way we were facing, so really couldn't comment when she chose our direction.
We started biking and after a mile and a half or so, I checked in to see how she was doing and the answer was GREAT!  I tried to warn her that we might not make it to the end before we had to turn around (since I had no idea how far away the end actually was!) but she was not deterred!  Thankfully, the end of the path was about 2.5 miles from our starting point and we were both thrilled that we made it!

At 5 miles, asking for more!

After a short break at the pond, she was ready for more, so we took a spin in the other direction for another 3/4 mile out and back for a total of about 6.5 miles!  I don't know about her, (well, actually I do)  but that's about as far as I've biked in a few years!
I have some very good friends, from before I met Matt, and we refer to ourselves as the "Biker Chicks".  We biked and hiked and swam and ran together back when there was more time for such things!  I was the first of our gang to have a baby, so Norah, in turn is the first of the 2nd generation to master her two wheeler!  In another year or two we'll have a whole gang of bikers on our hands!

Biker Chick, the next generation!

Another thing Norah can do that the rest of the 2nd gen Biker gang can't is read and write.  Which means that in addition to spending the morning spinning around with my girl, I also get notes like this:

One highlight of the day

Norah News: 2 Wheel Biker Chick!

As I've written before, both kids have been doing great riding their bikes!  Norah's had her training wheels offset all summer, and I've been telling her that when she can ride without making any noise (when she leans on the wheels, they make a lot of noise)  she's ready to ride without them.  I didn't think too much about it. 

On our usual bike route there are a couple of small sections of unpaved road, or as the kids like to call them, bumpy parts.  I've tried to tell them that bumpy parts are the most fun, to no avail.  Most times, the bumpy parts are met with significant drama from both kids.  The other night, an overtired Norah was "afraid to do it, she might fall" while Roddie ditched his bike at the corner and ran home.  Good times.  I ended up giving Norah a talk about not being afraid to try, and falling is ok, you just get up and try again.  Then I guided her over the bumpy part and away we went.  She was pleased, but didn't say too much about it at the time.

Then, Sunday, we took our bike ride and Norah looked at me and said "I want to try the bumpy part" - and she did, really well.  She was positively glowing, and she said, "Mom, you were right, the bumpy parts are FUN!"  She hit all the rest of the bumpy parts, some of them a couple of times, through out the ride.  Later that day, the two of them were having a ball riding around the front yard, which is a bit beaten down from the construction guys.

Tonight, I had every intention of getting them to bed early - they are overtired and it shows!  But it was a nice night and they begged to go outside the minute dinner was over - so off they went to their bikes in the driveway while I wiped up the dishes. 

Just as I was wrapping up, Norah came in and asked me to take her training wheels off.  I was a bit surprised, but rolled with it.  She went straight out to the street and gave it a try - it didn't go that well, but I said, "good fall Norah, that's the way we do it"  I then encouraged her to try on the front lawn, and, let's just say - she nailed it!  I was so happy for her.  We did it a bunch more times, and she exclaimed, "I am going to be a bike champion when I grow up!"

Indeed Norah, you are a champion!  

Norah's artwork from today

Then, at bedtime I took a look in her backpack and found this, from today.  The thing she likes?  Her bike, and that's a seat for Roddie on the back!

Norah News: New Bike!

Out little Bambi is starting to turn into a full grown deer!  If you've seen Norah run over the past few years, you will recall a gangly creature, beautiful, but a lot of knees and elbows.  Well, something happened over the winter, and she's growing into her limbs!  She still "flits" when she runs, but she now possesses a grace that was lacking last summer.

Her improved co-ordination really showed when she hopped on her bike the other day - and started to ride!  Up until now, she has been interested in her bike, but just never seemed to be able to put all the pieces together to actually ride the trike or her 12" princess bike.  As you can see, she was due for a larger bike this year, which I had actually ordered last week.

It was harder than you might think to buy a bike - I really didn't want to buy one that was branded by some Disney or other character - which it turns out about 80% of kids bikes are.  That left the pink ones with flowers or the blue ones with lightening bolts, and ideally I wanted one that could be handed down to Roddie as well - it was a tall order!  We found a classic cruiser in red that I think fits the bill!  More importantly, it fits Norah to a T!  Here she is waiting in anticipation, after about 4 hours of suspense!  The bike arrived around 3:30 and she and I got half way thru assembly before we had to break for dinner.  Then Matt and the kids finished it up and at this point she's just waiting for him to fill the tires with air.

Finally ready to roll, and roll she did!  She hopped right on and rode down the driveway!  Before long Matt was chasing her up and down our little road!  I CANNOT wait to go for a ride with my girl!!

On a more serious note - holy cow!  Can you believe it?  So grown up!  I am so very proud of Norah, riding her big girl bike!