May Evening Bike Ride

We've had plenty of warm days thus far in May, but we've been pleasantly surprised by how few truly hot days we've had--only a couple that hit 100 F. We've even had some great rainstorms and cool evenings (in which the kids wore sweatshirts--unheard of in Phoenix May!). So we're making the most of the good weather and enjoying our back yard and nearby parks before the dreaded heat of summer really sets in.

 Lydia on the left, Abby on the right

Recently, the highlight of backyard play is bike-riding. Grandma Dortha brought the girls' birthday present down when she came in late April--two balance bikes (two-wheelers but no pedals, so they propel them with their feet and learn to balance and coast). I thought the girls might need some time before they really mastered the balance needed to enjoy the bikes. But I was wrong!

 Lydia

Jeremy put the bikes together while the kids slept. Abby was the first one up. She came into the living room and, of course, the bikes attracted her immediately. When we told her they were for her and Lydia, she picked up and moved the yellow one and said, "This Li-ya's." Then she grabbed onto the pink one and proclaimed, "This mine." That's how it's been ever since.

Abby

Abby got the hang of the bike after just a couple wobbles. Now she speeds around the yard, picks her feet up to coast, intuitively handles hills at the park, steers confidently, and loves it. 

Lydia took more time to figure out the balance and coasting, and she crashes more than Abby. But she, too, is a speed demon and whips around the lemon tree, up and over the bridge, through the patio, and 'round again. She's had a couple run-ins with the rose bushes, and today she somehow rode into a table and got a bruise across her nose. Her coasting is a little tipsier than Abby, and at the park she's more prone to run into passersby if we don't constantly remind her to watch where she's going.

I think Josiah enjoys the girls' ability to keep better pace with him. They often ride races now, and he rallies them into action when there's a bear (or cheetah or leopard or lion or tiger) to shoot or a robber to catch--they are his trusty comrades and troops as they ride together across the yard. He also likes showing off his superior skills and sometimes trying to run them over or bully them off the racetrack, of course . . .

Anyway, these two bikes have been some of the greatest presents ever. Thanks, Grandma!

Mud

We're on our summer irrigation schedule now, which means we get flood irrigation once every two weeks. It also means our side yard is a mud pit for several days after irrigation--and it's inexorably attractive to the kids. They love to slop around in the mud, dig in it with trucks, make mud "cupcakes," paint the fort with it, and (of course) throw it at each other. 

Abby up the ladder 

 Lydia looks concerned . . . but I'm sure it's not about how dirty she is!

 Josiah wipes mud out of his ear

 Abby excavating

 Abby's aftermath

 Lydia loves hose battles with Daddy

 Abby wrapped up

Josiah thinking about getting his hands on a hose

Mud is lots of fun and lots of hosing down and lots of laundry!

Different Days

Today's post-vaccine crankiness (all three got shots yesterday) was augmented by a feverish Lydia and, as a grand finale, the apparent start of a stomach bug with Abby throwing up all over the room during the bedtime story (and then again after lights-out).

I don't know what tomorrow will bring. But let's hope we'll be back to happier and healthier times soon! In that hope, here are some pictures from April of such a time . . . what could be much more fun than a cucumber snack with Aunt Hannah?