House of Estrogen

Snowshoe Escape

I know I gripe and moan when J.C. goes out of town to Snowshoe, but despite my Internet ramblings, I really do try to be supportive of his trips. I know he desperately needs a break from the estrogen every now and then, and downhill mountain biking is surely the polar opposite of dancing to High School Musical, playing with Barbies, and reading the eighteen different versions of Cinderella that we own. Seriously, the man is up to his eyeballs in Hanna Montana notepads and pink tutus. He needs some rocks and dirt in his life occassionally. The single parenting weekends take every ounce of energy and patience that I have, but they also make me appreciate what a hands-on dad he is the rest of the time. They have one (please, just ONE! Make it only ONE!) last trip planned for this season before the lifts change over to skiers, so hopefully the girls and I can muddle through one more weekend alone until next season.

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy this video he put together. The first half of it is video of him that his friends filmed. In the last half, he is riding wearing a helmet-mounted camera. Enjoy!

Too Close for Comfort

J.C. was out in the woods today working on a jump at a local mountain biking trail. He had been fastening some screws into the base of the jump just a couple inches off the ground, finished, stood up, and was about to take a step when he saw this about an inch from his feet.

After jumping back fast and wailing like a moose on crack, he snapped that picture. For any of you not up on your snake identification, that's a venomous copperhead. His hands had been just inches from it. How's that for a nightmare inducing thought?

Is It Ski Season Yet?

I'm so ready for ski season. It can't get here soon enough. Didn't know I was a big skiier? Uh yeah... 'cause I'm not. The commencement of ski season, however, marks the transition from mountain bikers to skiiers riding the lifts up and then barreling down the mountains. During ski season, I won't hear, "It looks like it is going to be GREAT weather up at Snowshoe this weekend....". During ski season, I won't hear, "Since I bought a season lift ticket, it is practically FREE to go up there. It would be a crime not to go, what with the good weather and the lift ticket and all."  &*$% lift ticket.

Due to good weather and a season lift ticket, I find myself single parenting once again this weekend. Good times. Nina and Elise's screaming matches are at an all time high. Nina "accidentally" kicked Addie in the head this morning (although when you're hurling your feet wildly around people's heads as your frenzied mother yells, "Stop waving your feet around! You're going to kick one of your sisters!", can it really be called accidental?). Karma wins though. A little later in the day, Nina somehow managed to fall off the toilet and smash her own head on the floor resulting in a lovely forehead bruise. I still haven't figured that one out. I went outside for all of 10 minutes this morning and came back in with about 40 mosquito bites. After arguing over what to have for breakfast (what sort of warped 5 year old turns down going out for donuts?), we finally made it out of the house and to the Farmer's Market. Along with fresh fruits and veggies, I bought some locally raised pork sausage, all of which I left in the car when we got home. Nice. Can the pain from a UTI result in death? If so, I think I'm well on my way. To top it all off, just a few minutes ago, I discovered this lovely artwork on the bathroom door.

  

One might assume it is the masterpiece of a toddler, but odds are easily 50/50 that it is the piece de resistance of an unruly five year old. Considering her American Girl doll is once again in time-out for the star tattoos drawn all over her face, pink highlighter on a door is certainly not outside the realm of possibility.

Last weekend, one of Elise's Brownie friends was over here and said, "It is so crazy here. You guys have all these kids. I think you should have just had two." Gotta love the insight and honesty of a 9 year old! Maybe she was on to something though. Things are just... uh... a tad bit out of control.

So....here's to an early winter, lots of snow, and a long ski season! Here here!

 

Happy Fourth of July!

It just isn't the Fourth of July without a good old fashioned bike parade! I remember decorating my bike and riding in the parade every year for the Fourth, and now my girls are doing the same. Traditions are a good thing.

 

This picture at the start of the parade is the only one I got of Elise. As the parade started, JC and I both looked at each other and said, "Where's Elise?" We finally spotted her zooming away at the very front. When we got to the end, she ran up to us exclaiming, "I won! I won! I beat M!!" I guess she thought it was a race. We told her we were quite proud of her for "winning" the parade!

 

I suggested Nina make a sign for the back of the wagon that said "U.S.A." or "Happy Fourth of July", but she came up with this instead. Love it.

 

I don't think Addie has quite mastered the art of popsicle eating.

 

  

After the parade and popsicles, we cooled off in the pool!

 

   

 

Spring Fever

Thank goodness Elise was feeling better this weekend. We stayed really busy enjoying the spring weather. Friday night was the Underwater Eggstravaganza, our first egg hunt of the year. Saturday, Elise was stuck going to school for a snow make-up day while Nina had much more fun at a friend's birthday party. Saturday evening, we hit our second egg hunt of the season. Some friends had invited us over for a cook-out and egg hunt. The weather couldn't have been better!

 

 

     

 

Today, we had the bright idea to go on a family bike ride. We neglected to think about how Nina's eye had started to swell up the night before from the pollen and how awful her eye got this time last year when the eyeball itself was swollen and bulging out of the socket (yes, it was as gross as it sounds). Great parents, huh? Off we went on our bike ride. By the time we arrived at Schlotzsky's for lunch, poor Nina was miserable. Her eyes were red, itchy, and one eyelid was all swollen. We gave her Benedryl, but she was feeling completely rotten. We rode over to a drug store, bought antihistamine eyedrops, and used those, but by this time, she really just felt horrible. She didn't want to get back on the bike, so we put her in the trailer with Addie. Yes... that's right... the trailer that yours truly pulls. I have to admit, I felt a bit like Superwoman hauling the extra 50 pounds. Look at me! I'm hauling not one, but TWO kids in this rig!! Fortunately, the trip home is 90% flat or downhill, so I managed until we got to the very last section which is all straight up. JC and I attempted trading bikes, but my trying to ride his huge bike was just comical. There was no way I could get home on that thing. We finally told Nina she had to get back on the trail-a-bike for the last five minutes of the ride. Poor girl. This pollen really does a number on her. After a good nap, we sequestered Nina in the house the rest of the day, but Elise and our neighbor M had a fun afternoon on the Slip n' Slide. Then M stayed for over for burgers for dinner... a great way to end the weekend.

 

 

Notice the unsuspecting toddler learning how the "Slip n' Slide" got its name!

Back on the Saddle

When I last blogged about a family bike outing, my dear friend Holly commented, "Um....YOUR picture on the bike with trailer in tow???" which could be read as, "How fun! I'd love to see a picture of you on the bike too!" or could be interpreted as, "You seriously expect us to believe that you actually pulled that trailer without any photographic proof?" So, here to prove that I am not a complete and total sloth, I provide exhibit A: video from today's family bike trip:

 

We had a great ride this afternoon. With Daylight Savings Time working to our advantage, we rode to Schlotzsky's for dinner and back.

Check out Nina's outfit. When she came downstairs dressed from head to toe in pink, J.C. said, "Nina! Love the outfit, but I think you need to put on something pink."  She looked at him like he had lost his mind.

 

Here's one more video from the day.

 

How is it that the one child who did the least amount of work was completely exhausted when we returned?

Maiden Voyage

Before we had kids, J.C. and I used to bike a LOT. Road biking, mountain biking, cycling vacations with friends, fund-raiser rides, tandem rides... we did it all. With kids comes change though, and one of those changes is that J.C. has gotten better, faster, and stronger on a bike while I've gotten fatter, lazier, and more out of shape while my bikes hang rusting in the garage.

A couple weeks ago, we decided that if I was ever going to get on a bike again, I needed a new one - a mom-friendly hybrid with a comfy seat and geometry that won't break my out-of-condition back. Armed with my snazzy new bike (which probably cost less than any single component on one of J.C.'s many bikes), we took our first family bike ride in years.

This is how we used to do family bike rides:

 

Since our family has outgrown the option of all of us on one bike, we headed out yesterday with Elise on her own bike, J.C. pulling Nina on the trail-a-bike, and yours truly pulling Addie in the trailer. Yes, you read that right. I'm overweight, completely out of shape, can barely turn the cranks as it is, and I was pulling fifty pounds of dead weight behind me. I was excited about going out with the whole family but not at all optomistic about how far we might go.  As I trudged up the first hill in the park, and came to a halt about halfway up, a cute couple with a toddler in a stroller walked by, and the wife asked me, "So, is it hard to pull one of those trailers around?" Uhh... did you really have to ask? I mean I'm standing here panting, face beet red, stopped half way up a hill. Isn't it obvious?  Between breaths, I exclaimed, "Yes! Very hard."  J.C. clearly felt bad about discouraging the poor new parents who had probably thought our family bike ride looked like fun, so he quickly spouted off a bunch of excuses, "It's a new bike. She was in the wrong gear. This is the first time she's gone out with the trailer. She's just not used to it.. blah, blah, blah." Yeah, whatevs. It was still hard.

Despite the rocky start, we continued our ride and actually had a blast once we got to level ground on the greenway. Addie babbled and sang as she was captivated by the scenery from inside the trailer. Nina always enjoys the trail-a-bike, and Elise loves the independence of riding by herself. Although I thought my lungs might truly explode on a couple of the hills, I really had a great time. Now that I've "gotten back on the horse", so to speak, I think we'll be doing this more often. It was such a fun way to spend the afternoon.

 

As a side note, the girls loved showing J.C. their new "Girls Bike Better" T-shirts that I snagged at the Gap. Gotta have the proper wardrobe for any occasion, ya know!

 

Just to ensure that we didn't completely disrupt the universe with my freak display of athleticism, we kept up appearances today with J.C. spending the entire morning honing his skills on a mountain bike while the girls and I went out for donuts!

Better That Than Your Leg

J.C. and his bike had an unfortunate run-in with a tree recently. As upset as J.C. is about the bike, I have to say, I'm quite relieved that his bike took the hit and not his leg. I don't think he would have walked away from this one otherwise.

 

My manager was riding with J.C. at the time, and he has such a way with words...

"I only heard two things when this happened.  A slap/snap sound which I am guessing was the tree protesting the blow.  And what sounded like a 6 year old girl wailing because their favorite dolly lost her hair.

I saw the tree and it won’t be long for the world.  But I never saw the girl or her damaged doll."

Three Bears and a Little Bear Bum

J.C. is home from his trip, and not a minute too soon. I love my three girls. I love that we have three children. I had to beg, plead, and grovel to even get a third child. That said, I'll be the first to admit that three is HARD when I'm on my own. Even at two on three, we're outnumbered, but it all seems more manageable with two parents in the mix. When J.C. is gone, the wheels fall off the bus, and everything suddenly seems ten times more difficult. He and I are a team. Sometimes we are a running-late, miss-the-bus, forget-sneakers-on-PE-day team, but we work together to run this household. One person's strengths supports the other's weaknesses. We're not always a well-oiled machine, but at least we're not a broken-down heap up on blocks in the driveway. That's the way I felt when he was gone. We got by. We survived. No children were hurt in the process (unless you count consumption of an extra Happy Meal or two), but life here in the House of Estrogen is certainly a lot easier when we have our token testosterone member around!

He does need an escape occassionally though, so we make the best of it while he's gone. This trip took him to Snowshoe, WV, where he careened down ski slopes on a mountain bike at an alarming pace. It is just about as much testosterone as you can pack into one trip. He had a blast, and as usual, came back with several bear stories. The first bear he saw was just right outside their condo, walking past as if he was heading home to his own unit in the complex. He encountered the next two bears on the trail. As he came zooming off the mountain onto a flat section of the trail, he saw a cub up ahead. The cub was startled and began running down the trail in front of him and then off to the right. J.C. thought to himself, "Hmmm, where you have a cub, you always have a...", looked to his left, and saw the BIG mamma bear standing up full height next to a tree staring at him. He realized, "&*#$@ I am in between the mamma and the cub who I've just frightened. I'm dead." Fortunately, he was on a bike, and he is a fast rider, so he got the heck out of dodge and didn't look back. Thankfully, he managed to get home safely without any bear attacks.

The girls were treated to bear souvenirs when J.C. returned home - stuffed bears for the big girls, and this fun "Little Bear Bum" ensemble for Addie!