Warm weather brings family walks.

The weather  in Michigan has gone warm. Today we peaked into the 70's, but wait Monday is suspected to bring us back to the 30's. I've even heard rumors of snow. Snow or not I'm sure Tuesday will warm us right back up to spring. It is this time of year that the rakes and yard waste bags get pulled out and the outside work begins with high hopes of summer projects and many days enjoying the great outdoors. Along with the warm weather work comes our family walks and bike rides. Last year we would pack Jake and Alyssa into the bike trailer and go for a ride. That is until Jake wanted to start riding his bike. We tried to ride with him one time.

Have you ever watched an experienced bicyclist stand still with there feet still on the pedals without rolling? It looks really cool and makes you want to try it. If you've ever tried it you find yourself repeatedly using lightning fast reflexes to keep from cracking anything important on the concrete. Well, I began to wish I was fully capable of this feat that marvelous day, although I did get much better at it that day my feet touched the ground a lot. Jake had really just begun to ride a bicycle last year so it was no surprise that he moved slowly and sporadically down the sidewalk. Needless to say we took up walking with Alyssa in the stroller and Jake remaining on his bike.

The walks were nice and leisurely through the neighborhood allowing us time to look around at our surroundings.  Today we went for a walk and nearly had to run to keep up with the speed demon on the pedals ahead of us. There was no opportunity to observe the landscaping to get ideas for our own, no observing who had started yard work or not, not even a chance to really see how many people were out. We had to focus on where Jake was. One minute he's flying down the sidewalk with the ease of a veteran with his parents practically running with the stroller to keep up. Then, out of nowhere, he's braking hard and Alyssa's almost able to tap him on the back since mommy can't stop the momentum of the stroller fast enough. Every once in a while in his hurry he would get the bicycle up on the front wheel and one of the trainers. This would either slow him down for a second or bring him to the ground giving us a slight reprieve from the running.

Despite the stop and go and Jakes frequent water breaks, riding a bike is hard work you know, the walk/run was nice. It is time for the  family to spend together outside in the sun and fresh air. And as soon as Zachary is big enough to ride in the trailer I'm sure we'll be back on our bikes pushing Jake to keep up with us.