My New Toy

I've been researching these bike trailers for over 6 months and debating whether to get one or not and if I should spend the extra money to get one that converts into a stroller as well. Well the debate is over and I'm super happy I got this for me and the boys. I finally broke down and purchased this a few weeks ago online. Levi and I picked it up last Wed. He of course immediately wanted to go for a ride. I still had to go back to work but promised him that we would go out that night after dinner.

As dinner cooked I quickly got it put together and the boys were so excited to go! As I pedalled I could hear them giggling and talking to each other. Levi would say "Give me five...up high...cut the pickle...tickle, tickle" They had so much fun. We were only out for about 30 min ( I wanted to make sure everything was secure before we got too far from home) but had fun.

The next night after I got off work I asked if they wanted to go for another ride. Jace didn't even want to come inside so that I could change my clothes! We haven't been able to go the last couple days because of bad weather but are looking forward to going soon. We've even ordered an extra bike attachment for Rick's bike so that we can take turns and easily switch the trailer from bike to bike.

If you were wondering I did go for the stroller option, just in case we needed it. We now have 4 different strollers (and only 2 kids), the single jog stroller, double jog stroller, umbrella stroller, and the new one. I guess it's nice to have the option of which one to use.

Line It Up

If you'll notice the line extending beyond Jace... He started doing this a few weeks ago. Levi used to do it with cars when he was Jace's age. He would have cars lined up extending 15 feet across the family room and would even line them up by size. I'm sure Jace will have animals going across the room soon enough. (Man, look how clean that room 2 years ago was with only 1 kid, it's rarely that clean now!) Jace above with animals, Levi below (2 years ago)

Hard Work

Rick had a week off between finals and summer term so he watched the boys a lot (while I was at work) and got some projects done. I helped after I got off of work and any time I could find a minute. We did some small projects like painting trim in the bathroom and fixing vents, and then when the weather cooperated we (he) tackled the big projects.
#1 on the list: Get rid of the island in the front yard. He hauled wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of dirt to the garden, flower beds and a neighbor even came and took some of it home. Then he laid the sod. You can still see the edges but hopefully it'll blend in well. I can't even describe how good it looks and how nice it is to have that monstrosity gone.

Next on the list was the kid's play area. We leveled the area, laid weed guard, brought back in the playground stuff we had and got some of the rubber mulch. The kid's have a great time playing in it. It took a few days to get the border down and finished. The bright green stuff on the edges is "bare-spot repair" Hopefully the grass comes in soon before Jace pulls it all up.

I also planted strawberries and got the garden ready to go (still unplanted). The last big project in the back yard is to put up a fence to keep the kids out of it. Currently they play follow the leader up and over the rows.
Last fall I planted a bunch of tulips and daffodils. They are coming in GREAT!!! I'm so excited because they have come a long way from the weed infested, bark covered, clay soil area it was just a few years ago. I hope to get some more landscaping rocks and get more plants in soon.

It's finally starting to look like someone cares about this yard and is trying to take care of it.