When you are a one-car family, and your one car happens to be a sedan, babysitting can present an interesting challenge. We have those massive Britax carseats that quite literally can fit an adult and they don’t play well when you try to squeeze in another two carseats into the backseat. We recently had two of our favorite little friends over for our very first slumber party and keeping a gaggle of girls inside for the entirety of the visit was not an option. (more…)
On 05.11.10 | In Family Biking Adventures | By Angie
On 02.11.10 | In Family Biking Adventures | By Angie
In case you were wondering, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. The situation is slightly worse–my entire family has The Crud. What started with a cough from little Vivian has now become an entire family of four moping around, generally feeling sorry for ourselves. I finally took Viv to the doctor and it was, as I suspected, nothing more than a particularly persistent case of a respiratory virus that we can expect to be fighting for the next several weeks and there really isn’t much else to do but wait it out. The NP did put Viv on albuterol, which is serving as a type of baby speed. When remembering that Viv is already suffering from a case of being two, I hope you all feel as sorry for me as I do.
So there has been very little riding for me, aside from a short trip to a local eatery for a Mommy-Sofie date night last weekend. Poor Jesse has been stuck riding in spite of being sick and tired, as we only have the one car and his early teacher schedule pretty much eliminates the possibility of us car-pooling. I’ve suggested calling a cab, but apparently the benefit of being The Sorriest of Us All outweighs the benefit of hitching a car ride to work. Friendly competitive martyrdom aside, I really do admire his dedication. I don’t know how he does it, but his commitment to biking makes me want to figure it out.
On 01.09.10 | In Family Biking Adventures | By Angie
Florida is in a frenzy. All across the state, including right here in Orlando, there are predictions of snow. You’d think these little snowflakes were really the white horses of Armageddon the way people are panicking. Because it’s just a minor novelty that won’t require shoveling nor salting, I’m actually quite excited. It’s been incredibly cold all week and hubby wasn’t comfortable taking Viv by bike in this weather, so I’ve been driving all week (not that I wasn’t secretly a little relieved). We aren’t prepared for this kind of weather gear-wise, so it’s not really been pleasant for my husband to ride in freezing temps all week. You can imagine his dismay, then, when I kept begging for a bike ride today–the coldest day of the week.
On 12.14.09 | In Family Biking Adventures | By Angie
I think when people hear about our challenge to live on 4,000 miles, they immediately see it as hindering our way of life–I know I thought it would at first. It’s true that I have to think a lot more about where I go, but it’s really been interesting to see how often going by bike actually expands our possibilities. I know I’ve said this before, but it’s still such a surprise! (more…)
On 12.02.09 | In Family Biking Adventures | By Angie
Is the fact that I bought a live tree at all negated by the fact that I carried it home by bike?
The First Annual Christmas Tree Run
On 12.01.09 | In Family Biking Adventures | By Angie
This past Saturday, our dear friend Mme Paulita hosted a party to celebrate her birthday. Seeing that the party was French-themed (and knowing our friend), we had a feeling there would be a good amount of wine involved in the affair. Not to sound like a lush, but this brought up concerns about biking to the party. Though I certainly take driving under the influence very seriously, I would venture to say that biking under the influence might be even more dangerous. The ride was about 8 miles each way and included riding downtown, where we might encounter other “influenced” drivers. The other problem with riding is that you can’t just designate a driver (and there was no way I was riding home in the bucket). So even though I was completely bummed not to bike there (I mean, what’s more French than a bicycle??), we decided busing would be a more practical option. (more…)
On 11.24.09 | In Family Biking Adventures | By Angie
I can’t believe that not only did we survive camping by bike, but that I would totally do it again. I swear, I don’t even know me anymore!
We packed up the bikes Friday night in the hopes of getting out early on Saturday morning and therefore missing Saturday traffic. I carried all of the camping gear and Jesse was to carry the food, clothes, kids, and the dog. Of course, we were running behind schedule on Saturday morning–such is life with kids. Keri and Robert came over to the house to get some photos and video for some projects the Florida Bicycle Association is working on (wonder what the neighbors must think) and it was about 10:30 AM before we were ready to head out. Robert wisely suggested that we test out the bikes and, upon trying out my first turn, I promptly dropped my bike in my neighbor’s yard. My bike was loaded with about 150 lbs of gear and it was much harder to handle than I expected. I was already nervous about riding with such a large load, but dropping my bike put me even more on edge. There was no turning back at this point, so off we went! (more…)
On 11.17.09 | In Family Biking Adventures | By Angie
So you know how I like to jump in headfirst? Well, back before my Radish even got here I booked us a campsite to go camping–by bike. Yep.
We did a test pack tonight and I’m quite pleased to see that it looks like I will be able to carry all of our camping gear on my bike without the trailer! I’m really happy that I don’t have to worry about pulling the trailer and adding to the length of my bike. Jesse will carry the kids, the dog (yep), clothes, and the food. I’ll carry the 8-person tent, two adult camping chairs, the stove, air mattress, sleeping bags, and the kitchen gear. (more…)
On 11.15.09 | In Family Biking Adventures | By Angie
It’s official–I learned how to ride a bike this week! Yesterday, I finished up Part II of the “Confident Cycling” class. This was a pilot class for the Florida Bicycle Association; Part I was a three-hour lecture-style class and Part II was a six-hour road class. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the thought of adding on one more thing to my already crazy week (especially 30+ miles for the class on Saturday!), but I am really glad I went. (more…)
On 11.09.09 | In Family Biking Adventures | By Angie
Another lovely weekend by bike. Saturday a friend called and invited us out to Lake Eola (downtown) for the Fall Fiesta in the Park. My first thought hovered somewhere around the idea of “don’t you know we have to bike everywhere now?!?” However, one of the most important rules we made about this challenge was that we would never turn something down because of biking. If we didn’t want to go, fine – but not going because it was too many miles out of our total or too hard to bike to was not an option. Otherwise, what’s the point? Anyone can live on 4,000 miles if they stay inside all day! (more…)
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