William Got His (New Bike With No Training Wheels, That Is)

We took the training wheels off Will's little bike a week ago and he rocked it. He was so rocking, in fact, that we went out this weekend and got him a sweet Trek 16" to ride around the neighborhood. I've never seen somebody take to a bike so fast! To test it out I tossed Oliver and Thomas in the bike trailer and rode with William all around the neighborhood. He loved the freedom and was great at riding in the street. He looks like he's been riding for months. It's the happiest I've ever seen him, and I couldn't be prouder. Great job Will!

Pippa and William try snowboarding

Mt. Bachelor had a demo day where the kids could get a free snowboarding lesson. I wasn't expecting them to be able to do much their first time (lord knows I couldn't and I was 19) but within minutes they were standing and riding down small declines like champs.

Pippa dancing to Thriller

Pippa just finished up an after-school dance class. Here is her performance of Michael Jackson's Thriller with special guest dancer William. Stay until the Vincent Price laugh at the very end, that's what I wake up to in the mornings standing at the foot of my bed.

Take Us Out To The Ball Game

Tonight I scored four tickets to watch the Bend Elks, the local baseball team, take on their hated rivals, the Walla Walla Sweets so I surprised the kids by taking them out to watch a little ball instead of doing the usual bedtime routine. It was me and the Elder Three, and we had a larf. First of all, it was free hat night for the first thousand people, so right off the bat we scored some sweet matching lids and were able to root root root for the home team in style. Then, after 2/3 into the first inning, it started to rain hard. The umps called a rain delay, and after 10 minutes standing under the leaky bleachers watching the kids get soaked in puddles, I said screw it, back in the car, we're getting some ice cream!

After Baskin Robbins, the clouds had parted and the sun had come back out, so rather than go back home I said screw it, back in the car, we're going back to the ball park! They had started back up, so we only missed an inning, and were able to watch a great couple of innings including a killer RBI double by the Elks that totally broke the spirit of the hated Sweets. Plus, each of the kids got a licorice rope each, which was classic ball park. There was a mascot there, a fella with a large baseball for a head named Homer who William dubbed "the sweet baseball", and he was nice enough to sign Pippa's hat, which seems odd to me, but all the kids seemed to get a kick out of it. Once the sun went down, despite much ball to still be played, I could see sleepy eyes starting to prevail so we cut on out. But a fun time had by all!

Before the game

Rain delay ice cream break

Back to the ball park for some licorice

Pippa's First Bike Crash and Consequently First Tooth Falling Out

About a month ago Pippa had her first crash and ended up knocking three front teeth loose. There was a lot of blood and tears, to be sure, but it soon turned into a very frank and probing discussion about the tooth fairy and whether she delivers just money or also toys.



While I thought the loosest tooth would come out that night, it ended up taking nearly six weeks before it was finally loose enough this weekend for me to pull it out (and even then, it took another knock, this time her teeth against the scooter handlebars). The tooth fairy did indeed deliver money and also left a small bag of fairy dust, which looks suspiciously like glitter, so that was a nice bonus.

Tulip Fest 2011

A couple of weekend ago we went over the mountains to see the last weekend of the Woodburn Tulip Festival. It was a little bit of a gloomy day but the flowers were looking great and the kids had a blast. Here are some photos of the kids and the flowers:

The Reese Kids Ride!

The training wheels are off! After just a couple of weeks of practice in the alley and some skinned knees, Pippa can now ride a bike all by herself- starting, stopping, balance, honking the horn, you name it, she can do it!

Here's a little "training montage" video of Pippa in action:



While we were out practicing William was rocking the trike:



Of course, sometimes even the best riders fall down and go boom: