Well, last week, we ran into a little bit of bad luck with the cobbling together of summer camps–Dylan’s pump track camp was canceled! Granted it was only going to be on MWF, but we scheduled a Tuesday boogie board afternoon in there so I didn’t think I’d fall behind in work.
Once we got word that camp was canceled, I thought I’d still be able to squeeze some work hours in during the day. Little did I know that Dylan would be a complete biking fiend that week (and in a good way)! I was so stoked on his enthusiasm, I tried my best to shelve my anxiety about work.
On Monday, we started with the familiar: biking the track up above the playground at Blue Ball Park. He was doing so well, I thought we might try the tiniest of trail riding by coasting down a small hill. He wouldn’t have any of it!
Here we are at Blue Ball:
Break time:
Still, he had so much fun riding, he wanted to continue even after we picked up Cameron from her Hello Kitty dance camp (incidentally, the poor dear was feeling a bit under the weather, so I planned to keep her home with us instead of taking her to school). So, I hooked up the AfterBurner Trailer Bike, she climbed on and the three of us headed to the school.
A bit later, Tom picked up Chloe and they joined us, too. Chloe tried her balance bike for a bit and Cameron did attempt her pedal bike, but both girls are still a bit reluctant to ride their bikes.
On Wednesday, we attempted the Pump Track (where his camp would have been). And, it was tough! So, rather than have a disheartening day at the pump track, I suggested we ride out to Natural Bridges and Seymour Marine Center. There are some very easy trails around Seymour that I felt he could tackle and he loved them!
We took the trolley to the Boardwalk with the girls after biking:
It was hot, hot, hot (82F!)! I told them we’d head home when it started to get cold, but it never cooled down! We ended up leaving only at about 6pm. I was beat by the end of the day. The kids were, too, but they were total troopers! As usual, I got some great assistance with Chloe from Dylan and Cameron–they helped her up and down the trolley steps while I got help with the stroller from the driver!
On Thursday, Dylan and I continued our bike camp. We went to Simpkins to preview the 7-8 year-olds SuperKids Tri bike course. Again, he just loved riding the trails! Since he tore his frenulum going down a hill in Nisene a couple of years back, I was a bit worried about the slope heading down towards the Lagoon. I told him he could stop and walk the bike down if he got to a point of anxiety, but he just cruised on down! When I asked how he felt about the hill, he said “it felt good, actually”!
Here we are just after the slope, admiring the view of the lagoon. Twin Lakes beach is on the other side of it!
We ended up looping and looping this trail — he just loved it, as did I!
Dylan and Tom finally got a ride in on Friday morning (before Tom and I switched off “camp” duties), but Dylan still wanted to ride in the PM! Since we were picking up K. from camp, we rode Harvey West’s limited and extremely skinny trails. I was so impressed at how well Dylan handled his bike. At several points, I thought he’d just roll down into the grass, but he stayed right on track! He was also powering up hills I thought he might struggle with–I really think that several hours of riding a day made a big difference, in both his confidence and his strength and skills!
So, Tuesday we didn’t bike. It was boogie board day! He got a wetsuit to wear, but he was still cold in the water! Also, he got pounded by a wave, but luckily, that didn’t stop him from going back in (I worked from the nearby coffeehouse so I could stop by and check him out). This was not his favorite activity, but I’m so glad he tried it out!
And, in the meanwhile, Cameron did her 4-day Hello Kitty-themed dance camp:
Summer is quickly coming to an end!! Next week, Cameron does a 4-day Dr. Seuss dance camp and Dylan will do Kayak camp! After that, it’s just a couple of short weeks to the start of school!
