Bikes in the Forest

Here are more pictures from this past weekend in Flagstaff--as I mentioned in the previous post, Grandma and Pa's idea to take the kids to Ft. Tuthill was a great one! Everyone enjoyed the fun.

I'm not sure what Abby's unhappy face is for, but she cheered up quickly

Trying to figure out how to blow properly . . . she ended up with some dandelion fluff in her mouth from sucking in instead.

Lydia

Blowing dandelions with Daddy

Pa and the girls

Lydia atop a horse jump

Abby had the bright idea of riding across it!

Proud of her accomplishment

Riding Cowboy

We went to Flagstaff this past weekend, and Saturday at the Fort Tuthill fairgrounds was perhaps the kids' favorite Saturday in a while! Grandma arranged to let the kids ride Cowboy (a horse); we walked and biked around the horse track and jumps (obviously not in use at the time); we ate a picnic lunch; we checked out the new BMX tracks--and the little kids' one was perfect for our three!; and the kids and Daddy finished off the outing by climbing up a big dirt pile.

I'll post more Flagstaff pictures soon, but for now, here are some of the kids and Cowboy:

 Josiah often talks about Cowboy and was thrilled to be reunited with him! 

Lydia's first horse experience--she loved it! 

As you can see, we took a plethora of pictures of Lydia and Josiah riding Cowboy. Lydia was eager to hop up and ride him right away. But not Abby. "Me scared horsey," she kept saying. She wanted to stay as far away from Cowboy as possible--even trying to hide in the van so she wouldn't have to be outdoors with him. She didn't dare touch him. "Horsey bite me?" she repeatedly asked me. Despite all our reassurances and encouragement, she refused to get anywhere near Cowboy.

Abby, far away from Cowboy but still concerned about his proximity

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the girls and Josiah riding the BMX track--but they did so well and we so enjoyed watching them! We did get video of it, so I'll have Jeremy upload that when he gets a chance. 

Dirt pile!

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?

New Baby

We wish we had filmed the kids' reactions to our baby news! They were so different and funny and cute in their responses. Abby and Lydia definitely grasp the essentials--that Mama has a baby in her belly, and that they will be able to hold and help with this baby sometime in the future.

Lydia

Initially Abby was the most interested and enthusiastic. She kept saying, "Nice! Baby! Nice!" But she was devastated when bedtime rolled around and the baby wasn't actually here yet. She wanted to help "change baby's diaper" right then. She cried for about twenty minutes over that disappointment.

Abby

Since the initial expectation that the baby would arrive imminently, the kids seem reconciled to the fact that their new sibling will take a while to materialize. Lydia believes the baby will come out crawling, though. She also perversely loves to prod my stomach, lie her head on it, and sit down hard on my lap whenever possible.

Lydia and Josiah

Josiah asks lots of questions--how long the baby will be in Mama's belly, how big it is currently, whether it will "kick out" of my belly, whether the doctor will cut me open in order to get a picture of the baby (when we went for ultrasound), etc. He likes to know why about everything these days, and his curiosity leads to lots of good (and sometimes difficult-to-answer!) questions.

Josiah is certain the baby is a boy. He has foreordained it and even chose the name months ago (before I was pregnant): Jonah Nicholas. (We're pretty sure the "Jonah" is from his admiration of my cousin Jonas [a "big boy" a few years older than Josiah], but we're not sure where he got Nicholas--I don't think he interacted with my cousin Nick. But apparently he admires Aunt Wendy and Uncle Brad's taste in names!)

 Soon we'll really have our arms full! :)