We had another great week with the kids. On Wednesday, Finley, Cleo and Mariah came over for dinner. Cleo was so sweet interacting with Cameron, sharing things with her and talking with her as if she were already one of the big kids! Cameron wanted to follow her around!! And, so, I think without putting too much thought into her actions, she stumbled after Cleo and realized that, hey, she can walk!
The next day, she was noticeably better and by Friday, when we stopped by Heather’s house, she was out the door exploring every closet and room she could get to. We’re calling it official: she’s a walker!
To add to this weekend’s excitement, on Saturday we finally picked up the Yuba Mundo from our local bike shop. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of our’s showed us their whopper of a bike that could transport TWO kids in child seats right on the back. That bike is the Yuba Mundo, a 60-pound steel frame, long-tail cargo bike with a 440-pound carrying capacity! And let me tell you, it rocks!
The idea of riding with both kids on one bike seemed appealing, though challenging. But after reading recommendations by TreeHugger and EcoVelo as well as various other reviews raving about how smoothly it rides and proclaiming how easy it was to tote kids, your spouse, groceries and, heck even other bikes, the idea of trading in some car time for a more environmentally-friendly transpo option just grew and grew on me (and Tom). So, we finally bit the bullet and got it!
Tom rode it home from the store on Saturday afternoon and made it up every hill he encountered, including our very steep driveway! Then, once I refueled from my 14-mile morning run, I took it to the grocery store for my own test drive–even I made it up our driveway, groceries in tow (and tapped out legs)! I was stoked!
Today, we rode it downtown for haircuts (but Dylan refused to get his cut today, so it was just me), checked out the distance to the Boardwalk and explored the feasibility of riding home (an all uphill ride). Everything was awesome (though we were only towing Dylan around and back home from downtown since Cameron refused to wear her helmet). Dylan didn’t even want to get off the bike!
After a successful afternoon of “test riding”, we headed out to catch Circo Brazil, a free circus performance, over at the Boardwalk.
We picked up falafels from Falafel Hut (decidedly mediocre food and service!) and ate them on the beach while we waited for the show to start and for Heather and Taliana to arrive. After the circus (the kids were most impressed by the cartwheels and trampoline acts!), the kids rode a few rides, including the new Haunted Castle ride!
The approach we took on the ride was that it was silly (“did you see those rats in the kitchen?? we wouldn’t want to eat there! Noooo thanks!) so he wasn’t terribly scared. He even successfully persuaded Taliana to ride it with him!
We didn’t have time to bathe the kids tonight so they are super grubby, but we’ll get to that tomorrow!
