By The Way

Sooo... Eleanore rides a bike now.

Yep. That happened.

Santa brought her a bike for Christmas, but rather than being excited about the tassels dangling off of the handlebars, or the way cool princess helmet lying on the cement next to it- she was pissed that she didn't get an ATV like her brother.

Eleanore is a tomboy. And thats okay.

But sorry kid- you're not getting out of learning how to ride a bike.

So she huffed and she puffed. For days and days and days.

"Its tooo harrrrd!", she'd whine. The minute she had to use any amount of muscle to make the wheels start turning, immediate tantrums echoed off of each and every house on Indiana St, and there she'd sit, almost as if she were trying to move a mountain, refusing to go.

I admit, I walked away from it. I couldn't stand it. You don't want to learn how to ride a bike?? Fine.

But then one day Christopher, in all of his but-shes-my-baby-girl determination (really, their bond is day compared to mine and hers night), stood beside her for what seemed like a year, but was probably only about an hour, and he taught her.

Kind of like the time my dad taught me.
Even though I don't remember it.
Thats how I imagine maybe it was.
And for that I love that I was too mad to stand there, and that I had to walk away. They'll always have that all to themselves.

Anyways. That was a few months ago, that Eleanore learned how to pedal. And since shes starting school in a month, and we plan on riding to and from every single morning (since its summer year round here in the cactus patch), we have to practice.

Tonight after a delicious dinner of steamed greens (broccoli and zucchini) dipped in sweet potato hummus (mock, of course, since we don't do beans- zucchini as a replacement), we all went for a walk. We waited until it had cooled down enough for our skin to not drip off of our bodies (I can't even count how many days consecutive days of hundred degree temperatures we've had), and away we went.



See, look at her go!

She still can't quite do hills. Shes afraid to go down the down, and shes too lazy to push herself up the up, but all of the in between is a breeze. She speeds ahead and then has to stop and wait for the rest of the family to catch up. It sometimes takes forever when the 2 year old baby brother toddles along, picking up every stick and rock and dead rodent skull that I specifically shouted at him not to touch.

Also, kids, please stop finding every pile of wild animal crap possible. Please? K thanks.



Have I ever mentioned how flexible the baby is? We pulled over and parked in the shade of a big tree to let the kids play, and while the older two chased each other and played wizards, "zack"ing each other (ya know, like "zap!", only- they don't know what the heck they're saying?) Miss babykins grabbed onto her toes and aired out her diaper.



...really, honey?

I ask him to take a take a picture with me, and thats the face I get.

Oh well, it is his birthday tomorrow (27!). He can kind of do whatever the heck he wants.



And later on- Charlie layed on the ground and Daddy walked on.



Theres this area of housing where the kids absolutely have to balance on the bricks. They think they were built just for them, which they were, and drop everything to walk along them like circus elephants on tight ropes.

Eleanore couldn't do it this time, because she had her bike along, so- I'm sure you can imagine the epic meltdown that took place in the middle of Virgina St.



She got over it pretty quickly though, as soon as we came across a wish flower growing next to the sidewalk. She stopped pushing her bike (which at this point she refused to ride, and would only push because I had again walked away from it when she abandoned it in the street, and told her that another little girl could come along and take it if she didn't want it anymore), crouched down by her tire, and blew all of the fairies away into wish land.

You know what her wish was?

Well as we rounded the corner to Indiana St again, she shouts "Mom!!! My wish came true!!!"

Really? Did you wish for the neighbor to finally get his dog to stop barking? Becaaaauuuse-

"I wished that we'd be home soon, because I'm soooo tired and I don't want to ride my bike anymore *insert over dramatic heavy breathing and exhaustion here*, and I just want to go home and get in my bed, AND LOOK! WE'RE HOME!".

Awww. Yes Elie. Your wish flower fairies carried you all the way down the block, and home to our street. Now we can go into our house (after you push your bike up the driveway all by yourself like a big girl), get in your cool down bath, listen to your story, and cozy up with your Hello Kitty bedsheets and pillows, and go to sleep.

...because Eleanore, our baby girl who I swear was only 6 pounds and twelve ounces just yesterday, rides a bike now :)