Bike Trailer

I had a Burley bike trailer for a long time. I used it for Rebekah all the time. Someone borrowed and rolled it & damaged it beyond repair, so I have been without one for a few years.

I just used one of those seats that go on the back for Emily, which was more convenient in crowded Brooklyn, but we are planning a lot of bike riding this year with our kids, and I can't put two kids back there - so I'm in the market for a new trailer.

Really, I have put WAY to much time into this decision already and just cannot decide between the two final options - so I am enlisting help from all of you. Do you have a bike trailer? Either of these brands? What do you love / hate about them? Even if you don't have one of these - what features of yours do you love / hate?

I found some great tips from a website (ibike.org) all about bikes - go here to view it.

They say, things to look for in a bike trailer are:

• Is the child prevented from interacting with the wheels in any way while in motion?
• Is the trailer stable, with a low center of gravity?
• Is the child protected from sand and grit thrown up by the bike tires?
• Is the hitch to the bike well designed and sturdy?
• Is the point where the hitching bar is joined to the trailer (a stress point) sufficiently strong?
• Is the harness for the child well designed and secure?

Other nice features:

• Can the bicyclist communicate with the child easily?
• Is there sufficient storage space to carry the child's supplies and other items (i.e. a bag of groceries)?

Tip: If you have a bike trailer with a chain stay attachment and are carrying two kids, be sure to put the heavier kid on the side where the hitch extends out. If you hit a bump or curb just right the trailer can tip. The seat belt/harnesses are good, as is the roll cage, but if the heavier kid lands on the lighter kid, it may be bad. If the smaller kid lands on the larger kid, well, they usually just giggle a lot.


So - to the nitty gritty. The two I am considering (in no particular order) are -

The Burley d'lite.


Here's what I like about this -
* I am familiar with, and trust this brand. I had the d'lite before, and really liked it.
* The 2008 model has reclining seats for if they fall asleep.
* There's very little extra to buy (comes ready to go.)
* I like the overall shape.


Then the other one -


The Chariot Cougar 2



What I like here -

* It comes in 3 colors. I like the green, but would probably end up going with the yellow, since it seems more visible to me.
* System to hitch to the bike is the easiest I've seen (although Burley has really made theirs a lot easier than it used to be.)
* Adjustable suspension on each side, (for when one kid is a big weight difference from the other - which ours are.)
* It is about 2" wider - since Jake is a big sized kid, we need all the room we can get. Then again, is 2" all that much different?

SO - the prices are about the same. They both have all the features that are a must (5 point harness, helmet pocket, cargo room, sunscreen & rain cover, etc.) I'll buy a stroller attachment for whichever I decide on - and they are about the same. They both have covers available (to keep clean when stored).

Hmmm, so what it comes down to is do I choose adjustable suspension & ease of hitching, over reclining seats, a shape I prefer, and brand I know or vice versa???

Give me your opinion. I wanted to buy this months ago, and every beautiful day we have I think "We could go for a bike ride today - except we don't have a trailer, darn it!"

Conversations with Jacob

I really, truly wish that I could record every single conversation I have with Jacob.

He is just at at such a great age, and for all the mischief he gets into and the multiple times each day I have to chase him (with Jane following ) up the road because they've "escaped" - I would never trade the experience of having a son and getting his perspective on the world.

Here are a few memorable one's from this week -


At the park. After finding a dead raccoon in the bushes, and being given dire warnings to stay away from it;

J; "Mom, we found another dead thing! A squirrel!"
Me; "Jacob, you need to stay away from it."
J; "Yeah, I'll only touch it with my stick."
Me; "You are not allowed to touch any dead things. OK, you understand - no touching any dead animals."
J; "Uh-huh, only touch live one's."
Me; (giggling quietly to self) "Actually, I don't want you to touch live one's either. No touching any animals that you see in the park."
J; "We just touch pets?"
Me; "You got it."


Coming home in the car from the city -
He was telling us how he really wants to go in a kayak.
I'm not even sure how he knows what one is!

"You put on a helmet, you go over a waterfall, you go down into the water - then you pop back up. I going to do that."
Pause
"It's best, if you do it in a dirty pond."


He has been calling me "Tania" for the past 2 weeks. I'm ignoring it and hoping the novelty will wear off if I don't make a big deal of it, but now Jane has started as well - so I may have to nip it in the bud!


He almost always refers to himself as " Jacob, the big boy" when telling a story or relating something that happened.

Artist

Emily drew this Great White Shark for Jacob.I especially like the fish (to the left) with the speech bubble saying "help me!"

My Dad is a good artist, and painted the most wonderful mural from The Lord of The Rings on my wall when I was about Em's age. He would always draw pictures for us, I loved to watch him. Rebekah is a great artist too. All 4 of my kids are always coloring and drawing.

All I can think of is, it must be one of those "every other generation" things.

Earth Day 2008

Happy Earth Day Everyone!

It's been over a year since I started exclusively using my canvas shopping bags.
I am a convert! If you haven't already made the switch - c'mon what are you waiting for?

I actually bought several canvas shopping bags before, but it didn't work out and
here's why.

* I didn't buy enough, so it seemed more of a hassle to take the 2 or 3 I had with me, and kind of dumb when I got there that I was also still taking paper or plastic.
* I always forgot them.
* I am a little OCD - every time I used them I felt like I had to wash them.
* Washing them made them crinkly - so then I had to iron them.

Last March I decided that I just had to make the commitment and get over it. If you know me and my personality at all, letting go of the washing stuff that was preventing me from full commitment was no small thing. I just knew I had to do it for my children & grand children's futures.

Here's what has helped;

* I bought enough bags that I can pack a CART LOAD of groceries into them. Knowing I had a significant financial investment (about $150 for all the bags I have) made me initially more committed to actually using them, and now it's a habit.

* I have 12 of the regular bags and 5 string bags, which I use for apples, oranges, grapefruits, etc. Then I have 6 of the grain bags, which we use for loose nuts, grains, and smaller things like ginger, limes, garlic, etc. This also makes checking out faster - because I just lift the string bags right from the belt to the cart.

* I keep them in my car.

* AS SOON as I have finished unloading the groceries, I fold them, and put them right back in the car. The exception is, if any are damp (wet veggies) I hang them on the back of the dining room chairs to air dry - then re-pack them.

* I only wash them for visible soiling, and when I do wash them, I air them dry - then fold and re-use. I tell myself the few faded spots and crinkles are evidence of how much I use them, and all the help I'm giving the earth.

Some unexpected & happy benefits;

These suckers are STRONG. I can load several up on my shoulders and arms, and make way fewer trips from the house to the car. Also, they never tear and spill food everywhere.

* Mine have no logo's or advertising on them, just plain organic cotton canvas. I have had many people compliment me on what nice bags they are, and ask where they can get some.

* I get entered into the Trader Joe's BYOB (bring your own bag) drawing on a regular basis (I'm expecting to win, eventually.)

* I get money back from not using a store bag at many places (Whole Foods is the best.)

* I love that my kids are seeing this example when we shop. It gives me such a good feeling when I think of what we have prevented going into land-fills.


I have even started taking them into Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond and other non-grocery places we shop. I use one of them as a library bag for our books too. So many uses. So go get yourself some. I love the one's I got from eco-bags, go here to order your own.



For the remainder of earth day - we played all morning with friends at the park, then ordered our caterpillars to hatch to butterfly's. We have done this every year for the past 13 years, and it never gets old! We wait until spring to order them, so we can release them when they hatch. They have such a short life span, I want them to enjoy it!

I have been wanting to order worms for our compost and garden for ages also, and was hoping the nursery where we buy our ladybugs each year would tell me where I could get some. Yesterday after ordering the butterfly larvae, I searched online and ordered 4,500 worms! I'm so excited. Then Oprah had a segment on composting and worms last night too!

Then we also orders Rick a new Sigg water bottle (like the one's the kids and I have been using for ages) as a late birthday present. He confessed that goes through several bottles of water every day at work, so now he can re-fill his Sigg and save all that plastic.

In the next year, I hope to do more. My next goals for improvement are;

* Keep turning off lights and using less energy (using a programmable thermostat and setting the temp 2 degrees lower than we were used to saved energy - and money - each month of the past winter.)

* Ride bikes or walk whenever we go to the library (it's close.)

* Replace all cleaning products with eco-friendly one's, as the existing supplies are used up (we've already started this and I'm happy with the changes we've already made.)

It's only a start, but if all of us make a few small changes it can have a big difference, and put us all on the track for a better future for those who will come after us.

Happy Birthday Rick

In my book, Rick is now not only over the hill, he is careening down the other side!

We put 14 candles. Mostly because we thought 41 might set off the smoke detector, but also because it is 41 reversed and also Rick's favorite number (it was his jersey number when he played soccer all those years.)

He got them in one breath!

His request for the cake was his favorite kind - yellow cake with chocolate frosting and layers. The kids sure enjoyed the it too.

We managed to make a serious dent in it!
Then we took the rest to neighbors (because we have no self control.)

"Walrus-Jacob"

Rick, I would be lost without you.
You are the most wonderful father & husband imaginable, and a downright great guy to boot.

I hope we have at least another 41 of your birthdays to celebrate.

Thank-You Mum!

Mum did all my laundry, took Rebekah to Seminary EVERY DAY, did a basket load of ironing, washed both sets of stairs, cleaned the patio doors & windows in Emily & Jacob's rooms, and played with the kids and took them to activities to keep them out of my way so I could -

* Read my book club book.

* Make 17 hooded baby towels (the one's I give to everyone when they have a baby.)

* Make the flannel board I have been wanting to make since last November.

* Go to the movies with Rick.

* Put 4 pictures in frames & hang them up.

* Clean out the garage.

* Weed, re-plant and start spring cleanup in the garden.

* Go to the temple with Rick.

* Put up bike holders to neatly store all the bikes
(this was actually Rick, but under my direction!)

* Get a bit more sleep.

* CLEAN MY OFFICE!

Thanks Mum, we'll miss you!

Big Boy Bike

Emily is a big chicken when it comes to riding a bike. My goal for her this summer is to get her off training wheels! To that end we went to the bike shop to get her a new, bigger bike. While we were waiting, Jacob hopped on one to try it out. I was planning on him still using his tricycle this summer, I hadn't even considered getting him a bike - (neither of the girls had one at three.)

Well, that kid is big and strong and he can TOTALLY ride the thing. So we bought it for him, and it has been love at first sight. He calls it his "fire bike" because of the flames on the body, and is thrilled with the matching helmet.

In less than a week he has learned to maneuver all over the place. He'll probably be off the training wheels before Emily! The only thing is - he's having a hard time learning to stop. The concept of back-pedaling seems to be eluding him. When he was learning to ski his instructor told me he suspected Jacob was slow to do a big wedge, mostly because he liked going fast and didn't want to stop. I think it might be the same case with the bike. Rick says I should just let him get out of control and crash and then he'll want to know how to stop, but I can't quite bring myself to do that yet.

Any tips on teaching him how to back pedal to stop??

Here are some shots of our big boy on his bike, the day we brought it home. Cool helmet.

There he goes.

Rick, telling him to back peddle.

Pigs, Bears & Billy Goats Gruff

To get a jump on "second quarter" one-on-one kid outings, I got tickets to take Jacob to his 1st Broadway show on April 5th.

We went to see a show called "Pigs, Bears & Billy Goats Gruff" at the New Victory Theater. It was being done by an Australian group (Patch Theater Company), which made it all the more appealing to me. The show is aimed at 4-7 year old's, and is short. They act out 4 fairy tales, The 3 little pigs, Goldilocks & the 3 bears, the 3 Billy Goats Gruff, and another one about 3 brothers and a big blue frog, which was familiar when it was told, but I can't think of the name of it.

We took the train in. Jacob is SO much fun to be with, and when we're out he's GREAT (it's only at home when I'm distracted and he's left to his own devices that he's a holy-terror.)

For some time now he has known all his alphabet letters and the sounds they make. Now he is starting to make the jump to understanding those sounds make words, and putting those sounds together. One of my favorite moments of the day was waiting for the train. He read a the letters from a sign "N-E-W-S-P-A-P-E-R-S" Then proudly stated "Crocodile!" OK, he's still a little away from actually reading! So cute!

When the show started, I was worried that he wouldn't follow it - they really didn't have costumes on, and I thought it would have been easier to see that the wolf was a wolf if he had a big nose & whiskers, and a pink pig head would have made it easier to know who was the little pig - but Jake seemed to follow along well and didn't squirm in his seat or ask to leave. He watched enthralled, for the entire hour long show. As we were leaving he asked "Can we come here again next week?"

We went to get lunch - an $8 hot dog that he took one bite of and proclaimed was "yucky." I should have just waited until we got home to feed him, oh well. It was a really fun day together. I want to take Emily to see Lion King on Broadway in the next month or so - so now I'm wondering if we should take Jacob too.


Getting ready to leave.

Proud of his new finger puppet theater we bought while out.

And his alien finger puppet. He also picked out one for Emily & one for Jane.

Jacob, you are one awesome kid. I love you like crazy cakes!

Sunbeam Spotlight

Jacob loves primary. He is such a sweet little Sunbeam. I've had the chance to substitute teach his class a few times, and loved every minute of it!

In Primary, they do a "spotlight" each week, where they give clues about each child and the other kids have to try and guess who it is. It was Jacob last week. He and Emily were so tickled that it was his turn (it takes a long time for them to rotate though all the kids.)

Here are the clues I had previously provided for Jacob -

1. hair color - blond

2. eye color - blue

3. favorite color - BLUE!

4. favorite food - pizza or shrimp

5. Favorite music, song, or musical group - Hannah Montana

6. favorite scripture story - Feeding the five thousand

7. hobbies, interests, or talents - loves sharks, swimming, trains, and playing with his sisters.

8. nick-name - Jake or "Big J"

Before they said his nickname, Roxcy (Colin's big sister) had the first guess as to who it might be. She guessed Jacob, then they asked Emily if she thought Roxcy was right. So cute. When they asked Jacob about #7 and did he like playing with his sisters he said "No, only Jane-Jane." (Jane's nicknames are Janie or Jane-Jane.)

I love the snapshot into his personality and life at age 3 that this list provides.
I am sure I will read it and cry in years to come.

Emily & Horton

I really try on a (somewhat) regular basis to have one on one time with my kids.
Well, not really Jane, since she is never really more than 2 feet from me ....
Sometimes it's a big deal, and sometimes we just go for an ice cream cone and a walk.

The last Friday in March I got a babysitter, picked up Emily a little early from school and headed into the city to see "Horton Hears a Who." Such a cute movie, I highly recommend it - we may go and see it again, and take Jacob with us.

A bonus was that Rick took off early too and met us. Two parents all to yourself - you can't beat that! Tip - if you want to see a movie in Manhattan - go at 4:15 we had the place to ourselves. We really enjoyed the movie, the new cool Dyson hand dryers, hanging out together, getting dinner and the train ride home.

As we were walking past Rockefeller Center, I remembered that Rebekah had gone there after school with friends to ice skate, so we stopped by to yell down and wave at her. Emily is so much fun to be with. She's such a talkative little thing, and always so positive and excited about everything.

I love you Em, thanks for hanging out with us!

Little Song

Emily's class has been doing a unit on poetry. The had an assignment to write their own poem.
I was delighted with what she came up with entirely on her own. So reflective of her sweet personality.

Little Song

I think the rain is like a
little song,
It hits my shoulder and
kisses my tongue.

by Emily.

Dolphin

Emily got her Dolphin badge on March 27th and we are so proud of her!

She worked really hard for this one. For the dolphin you have to do a decent dive and also 6 laps of the pool in freestyle, 6 laps backstroke, 6 laps elementary backstroke, and then 6 laps breaststroke (all with correct form and timing.) Seriously, I am pretty sure I can't manage 24 laps of the pool in one shot!

The previous test day she had everything perfect, except they said she was holding her head to the side too long when coming up for a breath in her free-style, and just missed out.

This day she did everything just right - way to go Emy.

Mystic Seaport

The second day in Mystic we started by swimming in the hotel pool (a must for any vacation to be successful for the kids) and then back to the aquarium, until lunch time. After that we went down to the seaport, which we haven't done before.

I bet it's a lot better in the summer time, and was probably a bit too old for Jacob & Jane but they still enjoyed looking at everything, the carriage ride we took, and running around.

Jacob tried to undo every rope, knot and rigging that he came across.

The only picture I managed to sneak of Rebekah (eating a muffin) the whole day!

The TINY living quarters - reminded me of our apartment in Brooklyn!

This was the last wooden commercial whaling boat - and very interesting to see, though of course we don't support whaling now!

After we had explored outside, we headed into the small, yet darling, children's museum. Rick and Rebekah parked themselves on a bench (& dozed) while the kids played & I enjoyed watching them. I have dreams of a huge playroom with different themed area's in it - my kids will be too old for it by the time we have a house big enough (maybe the grand kids??) but I would SO go for something Ocean themed like this little place.

A table that had lots of "ocean" puzzles; boats, fish, nautical signals, etc. Very cute. They also had lots of kids ocean story books, and a few games.

A pretend ship with a kid sized bunk (actually not that much smaller than the real one's), and portal windows. Jane liked it a lot!

A large wooden fishing boat that they could climb in and walk around. Then there were big baskets of painted cloth fish that they could "catch" with nets and lines. Also, brooms and mops to "swab the deck."

Emily, heading out to open sea.

Jane, peeking out of the boat window.

Our favorite was the galley. All my kids like to pretend cook, and really cook - so this was a hit.

I was so in love with the little pump to pump water (not really) into the sink.

But I was WAY more in love with this little cast iron stove. I would die for one of these in a play kitchen.

After all the sailing, fishing and cooking was over we headed outside to play on the playground. Lots of cute nautical play equipment there too - but the camera battery died, so you only get 2 pictures.

After we finished at the seaport, we went to "Mystical Toys" a cute toy shop in the area that my kids remembered from our last trip and then headed to "Mystic Pizza" for dinner (remember that movie from the '80's?)
Emily wanted to be back home for Sunday, so she could sing in the Easter children's choir. I was actually happy to be in our own house for Easter Sunday too - so 2 days there was fine. So, all tired and with full bellies, we popped them in the car, put on the DVD of "Enchanted" and headed for home. They were so sound asleep when we arrived back that they didn't even wake up when I slipped them into their pj's. Such fun!