Biking Grant's Trail

 I have been wanting to bike Grant's Trail for a while now, but didn't want to do it for the first time alone with the kids. (who knows what to expect)  I was telling my friend Juliana about this and we decided to do it together.  It was AWESOME!

She has a little girl Heath's age and then two little ones too.  Heath and Evy rode along side us, and the 4 little ones rode in the trailers. We started at Grant's Farm.

I had printed off a map, but we just kind of played the trip by ear.  This was our lunch break under I-55.

 They were playing some kind of a swamp spider game. It was very entertaining.

 After lunch we decided we all had enough energy to ride down to the pump track that was about 4 miles away.

 The kids had a blast there!  I think we were there for a good hour and a half just playing in the dirt.

 Houston Evy

 Hannah

 Heath

 Houston Hannah Me and Heath

 Hannah and Eugene had so much fun toddling around with their bottles and eating dirt. 

 These mounds make great slides.

 After getting nice and dirty we turned around and started back the way we had come.  Snack break!
We thought being a Tuesday morning the trail would be pretty quiet. I was surprised at how many bikers there were.  A lot of them looked like retired biking groups.  They were all decked out in their matching biking attire.   Heath learned really quick how to say, "Passing on your left!"

 Our total trip was 9.4 miles.  Heath rode the whole way!  I was pumping for all I was worth to try and keep up with him the whole way.   He isn't the most confident starter, but once he gets going he is hard to keep up with.   

At one point he got up ahead of me a ways. I was riding as hard as I could to catch up with him.  As I passed a couple guys they said, "Man, we're getting passed by a lady pulling a trailer!"  (I promise I would not have been riding that hard had I not been trying to catch Heath)

 Another time I was trying to catch up to him again. As I passed a sweet older lady she said, "Is that your boy up there in the orange?" "Yes."  "Man he can really motor!"  (Tell me about it lady!)


Hannah took a nap on our ride back to the van.  Houston did well.  He had wished he could ride the trail too, but I told him he would have to learn how to ride a 2 wheeler before he could do that.  Maybe that will give him some incentive. 

 We got to the end a little bit before Juliana so the boys pretended they were tigers in the grass and jumped out at them. 

 That night we told Daddy all about our adventure and he said, "Hey I get home early tomorrow, lets go do it again! "    Daddy was a lot more confident about going over the mounds than Mommy was.

 This time we strapped Houston's bike to the back of the trailer for him to ride the kids jumps at the pump track.

We need to do it again soon!

May- Memorial Day

These two.. I just love that they love each other.

I taught preschool for the last time this month. It was a happy/sad day.  We did the letter Y and drew a picture of "YOU".

It was so fun to walk them through a self portrait.  They each had a mirror to look at themselves.  We talked about face shape, eye shape, placement of features. They all did really well.  I love what they came out with in the end.


Evy

Ava

Evelyn

Heath




Houston made one too.  It may be my favorite, it's so cute. I will get a picture of it soon.

Blood soup is always still a favorite.  Borscht.

Hannah is 14 months old and getting more and more spunky.  She loves to play with the boys and tell them what to do.  She can sign milk and please.  She can say Heath, Mommy, Dadadada, Iwuube yooouu, NO!, and MINE! (as any 3rd child would learn pretty quickly) 

She is a champ sleeper. She usually is out by 7pm sleeps till 8or 9am then naps from 12-4ish. Yeah she's awesome!

For Memorial Day weekend we took a trip home.  It was so fun to see cousins again!     Isla

Houston & Ana. 

Julia

Grandma's flowers are always so beautiful!

Renata and Heath

Julia. I love this girl and her stories.  She is so fun.

Houston

Heath was finding all kinds of mushrooms while we were there.

and Houston found a few too.

Daddy had fun in the garden.  Hannah had fun watching Daddy.

Heath lived on the scooter.

Hannah enjoyed the bikes till someone wanted to help her....

Big Wheels are SO cool to Houston.

The strawberries were just starting to become ripe.... they were SO good!

This is how I know Matt really loves me. 

When he picks the first ripe strawberry of the season he doesn't just gobble it up himself. He comes to find me, then lets me eat it. Yep, that's true love right there.

He knows the way to my heart.
 : )





















Not only delicious, but beautiful too.

I love these pictures of Houston.  He was SO happy running around at Grandpa's house.  Someday soon we can do that every day boys.

Sammy found a turtle.

And while he was mowing the lawn Luke found a nest of baby bunnies. So tiny!  So cute!

The kids picked a bunch of strawberries the next day.

They were enjoyed by all.  : )

I taught Lily and Bertie how to make flower crowns. They were such beautiful princesses.

Cousin time is the best!

Maren, Bertie, Owen & Houston's tower!

We read lots of Grandma's awesome stories.

I have a feeling Lucy and Hannah will cause some mischief together in the coming years.

Little Hazel was so sweet and cute! 

It was a wonderful weekend, then it was time to go back home.