Trail-a-Bike

It has taken me a week to write about last weekend. Though it was full of interesting things, they now seem long ago and unimportant, but we have some video and that is always fun. Greg wrote on his blog about his first ride with our trail-a-bike for Olivia. The next day we attached it to my single-speed, Bianchi SASS. I haven't ridden it much because the gearing is set up for trails and on the road I have to go really slowly or pedal really fast; it looks and feels ridiculous. We thought the trail-a-bike might be heavy enough to make the gearing more appropriate; it did. I'm sure it is heavier than the trailer because it was as difficult pull and the weight difference between my Milano and the SASS is huge; the SASS being much lighter. I was still able to make it up the hills without too much difficulty and that is more important to me than speed. Olivia has never ridden a bike as we don't have one small enough for her so she doesn't understand the balance involved and her wobbling pulls by bike inches from one side to the other which was a little disconcerting. Still we all had a wonderful ride and always enjoy being together as a family. Children are the greatest blessing I could imagine.

Around Town

Last Saturday, September 27th, Greg and I went on a ride around town. We had planned for weeks. Because we were going to be gone most of the day, we made arrangements for both grandfathers to take 2 and 3 children so they wouldn't be home alone for so long. We left about 6:00AM with lights. Unfortunately we were going to miss shopping at Farmer's Market, but it was a treat to see the venders unloading their trucks, talking, laughing, preparing for the morning under lights of their own. I was apprehensive about the first part of the trip; not because it was dark, but I knew there would be a lot of hills in the beginning and I don't like the warming up stage. Riding while the sky lightened with the rising sun was calming and encouraged me to endure the stage with patience. It is about 8 miles to the zoo (mostly up) and then we rode through Washington Park as the first rays of sun streaked through the trees. Coming in to downtown we rode by the Old Church and then to the Waterfront. It was a beautiful morning and the day and time made for light traffic. After riding along the water we crossed the Steele Bridge and began a trek north. We saw a bike light at a traffic stop. I don't mean a light that goes on a bike, but a traffic light in the shape of a bike telling us it was our turn to cross as our lane went from one corner of the intersection to the other. We felt so special. We had been hoping for a coffee shop, but hadn't planned exactly where we would be or what shops might be there. Greg decided to go down Killingsworth hoping to find something and find something we did. About 30th we passed a sign reading Extracto Coffeehouse. It was authentic and delicious. After that wonderful break we headed north again until we met up with the Columbia River and took a path that leads along it to the east. The sun hadn't been up long and the clouds rolled in and we were cold for a while, but nearing the river it warmed up surprisingly and we were comfortable. We did have to pull over to let a dump truck pass, but other than that it was probably my favorite part of the ride. At 148th we headed south again, cut over on Glissan to 122nd and a stop at Safeway for some juice and bananas. Continuing on 122nd we ran into the Springwater Corridor Trail after about 2 1/2 miles; about this time the sun came out and it was summer again. (As we began our journey we decided to count how many people we saw riding bikes. It was at this point in the journey when we reached 130 and stopped counting.) We headed toward Sellwood where we met up with the Willamette River and then north along the water until we again crossed the Steele Bridge and headed back the way we came, stopping once along the waterfront to enjoy the sun and take a break. (Counting bike riders in this area would have been a larger task than we could have accomplished, they were everywhere.) Actually, not exactly the way we came. We rode through the Portland Farmer's Market; what a test of patience that was! There were an unbelievable number of people and trying the walk through with a bike... We certainly didn't stop to look at or buy anything. We decided to ride back along Barber as the hills are lower, stopping at Fred Meyer for a candy bar for Greg; he needed it badly. Then we turned toward Multnomah Village and stopped for a slice or two of amazing pizza at the Lucky Lab. Greg was feeling great after getting some food, but my body was way done riding. Thankfully the path home was fairly level and relatively short and we reached the end of our journey, 65 miles, at about 3:00PM. A hot bath and quiet nap restored me quite well, but some arnica on my sore muscles before bed and a great night's sleep and I felt brand new. (I must confess that the next day Greg drove me to the stores to do all my grocery shopping.) I am looking forward to our next mega loop.

Games and Fun

Otto and Olivia had a great time playing Tumbling Tower. Our table is just a folding table and it rocks and sways whenever you touch it, but that didn't seem to bother them. We are fortunate to have many fun games. Advantageous to the children is several siblings available for play; they can usually find at least one person to play with when the desire arises.

Olivia is wearing a ballerina leotard she got from her cousin. Last Monday, Olivia had her first ballet class. It was fabulous! The only bad part of the experience was my thinking it started 10 minutes later than it was actually scheduled. On top of thinking late, it took me longer to pull the trailer to the recreation center than I'd expected. Aside from being late Olivia had a great time and I was impressed with the teacher. It will be a fun class.

Olivia's ballet class is a result of our applying for financial assistance with the Tualatin Valley Recreation Centers. We don't like to apply for aide, no food stamps or state health care, even though we do qualify for such things. We would rather struggle than become dependant on such programs. (We have a large family and we choose for me to stay home rather than add to our income. Our ability to qualify does not reflect Greg's work ethic. He is always on time, never calls in sick, works hard consistantly and constantly). In this case, the children have never had the opportunity for some of these classes and paying for the public schools and all our own homeschooling books makes me feel better about taking advantage of the opportunity. Otto is taking Boys Gymnastics, Louis is taking Photography, and Henry a class in computer animation. Solomon will be taking a Playful Inventors Workshop and in November, Louis will try his hand at volleyball. Also, all the children will be taking swimming lessons at the Beaverton Swim Center which is closer to us than the library.

Needless to say our schedule has gotten a little more crowded. It is temporary however, and after two weeks I'm still feeling positive about the situation. Because we have to ride bikes to all the classes (they begin before Greg is home from work) it is good exercise for me and the children. Olivia has to ride, but soon we hope to get a trail-a-bike and she will be able to pedal a little to help get us over the hills. I quickly discovered that Beaverton is in a valley. We go to three recreation centers, one is north, one south and one east, all about the same distance and all uphill. The one we attend most has a hill in between so it is uphill both ways; for some reason the downhill part isn't as noticeable.

Perhaps this should have gone on my rambling page because it feels like that is what I'm doing. Too many blogs? Or too much rambling?

Girl's Group

God has truely blessed me with wonderful friends, in particular, Christy (with Enoch), Charissa, Jennifer, and Annette (with Stuart born 9/5?). We have been getting together regularly for almost 14 years. They are godly women who love the Lord, their husbands and their children. We also strive to love others as the Lord. Jennifer lives in Idaho now and we were so delighted to have her with us when we met at Annette's home on their farm in Salem at the end of August. What a wonderful time! There is too much to say about these women and our amazing friendships full of unconditional love and encouragement.

We walked through the beautiful flower garden, out to the lake and indoors for yummy treats and tea, and the most wonderful thing, fellowship. How I love these women, my sisters in the Lord.

La La

We were all doing our own little things around the house. Greg and I were in the living room when we looked at each other, both hearing a little voice singing in the kitchen. Olivia was working on a puzzle and searching for the words of a song she had heard. By the time Greg got in with the camera she was about done, but he coaxed a little more out of her. The first video she wasn't really noticing Greg, just getting silly. The second video he asked her to sing.

Saturday Togetherness

What a great day was Saturday. I had been putting off going to stores all week; not a good idea when your shopping on bike because you can only carry two bags (at least I can). I woke up a little after 6 AM and decided to go early to Winco. The sun was shining and beautiful, the ride was peaceful, the store had long lines, but I made it home in less than an hour.

We all got ready to go to Farmer's Market. We rode our bikes and parked them by the library. We stood listening to the music (the area agreed on to meet Dad and Eunice, Cash was there, too). We were there maybe 5 or 10 minutes and Dad came walking up; they had been standing a little ways away waiting for us; it is quite crowded at the Beaverton Farmer's Market, but that in no way diminished our fun. The clouds would hide the sun occationally and then it was quite chilly, but this is Oregon. We bought strawberries, salsa, radishes and beets, goat cheese and hummas, and Dad and Eunice bought pastries for all the children. Poor Cash missed out on those, but I guess he is still a little young. Dad explained some of the differences to me between folk and bluegrass as we listened some more of the music while the children ate.

We arrived back at home around 10AM and Greg and I almost immediately left to go to Trader Joe's. The sun was shining and the day was warming up making the ride extra pleasant and enjoyable. After eating some of the things we bought we had a lazy afternoon reading and napping, the kids played with toys in our tiny back... yard and spent some time reading themselves.


We watched a family movie while eating dinner. A thing I don't like to do because it makes such a mess in the living room; the children love it, of course, and it was a warm ending to a great family day.

Busy, But Fun

I posted a little bit about the busy times we are having on my rambling blog, but here are some pictures and details of a few events.

We changed our schedule a little last week and went to Grandma's first on Wednesday. The children stayed with her while I went to my cycle class at the YMCA. When I got back we had lunch and then went to the library on our way home. It worked surprisingly well. The fountain at the library was on and I let the children get wet before our walk home. We have been having a warm spell (over/almost 90 for... 3 or 4 days).

I decided that for some quality school work we could go to the fountain again on Thursday after I got back from getting our milk. It was after lunch when we went and unlike the day before there we other people at the fountain, quite a few (though I didn't get many in the pictures). It was a little more difficult for the kids to play, but they still had a good time. Some of them played in the big grass area as well.

Greg has been working a lot of hours, which we are not complaining about, so it has taken us a couple of weeks to make it out to see the track races on Thursday and Friday evenings. They are held at Alpenrose Dairy, about 5 miles away. We took Henry and Solomon (only four can go as the van isn't working) because Louis and Otto had been there with Greg a few weeks ago when on a long bike ride. We don't know much about track racing, but have developed an interest to find out more.

Friday night we went to see Prince Caspian. We intended to all ride, but realized we would need to go to an evening showing (Greg works) and it would be dark on the ride home. Greg rode with only Henry and Louis; Otto, Solomon, Olivia and I walked to Grandma's where we met Greg's dad. Olivia stayed at Grandma's and watched a calmer movie and the rest of us got a ride with Greg's dad who saw the movie with us and gave us a ride home afterward. The movie was enjoyed by all.

The Beaverton Farmers Market has begun and while Greg was riding with Louis and Otto yesterday (check Greg's MTB blog) Henry, Solomon, Olivia and I walked over to check it out. It is located right next to the library and the fountain. I was amazed at the crowd. We walked through it all and I bought some great asparagus and lettuce. We bought some bagels for breakfast and listened to live music, Jenny Get Around (old time fiddle music). The kids were a little bored, but I had a great time.