Winter Walk

No, the following pictures were not taken during the past two sunny days we've had around here. I wish they were. But they were taken about two weeks ago. These past two sunny days we spent completely inside, with me taking care of three sick kiddos by myself. I am not sick myself, but that's almost made it worse. I'm antsy to get out and do errands and the sun was calling my name to go for a walk, but instead I've been wiping gobs of snot, listening to my poor hacking children, checking temperatures, getting juice, dealing with whiny/clingy children, having to get up with them ELEVEN times last night, not being able to catch up on housework and feeling completely exhausted. I just checked the weather and the forecast is cloudy and rainy for the next ten days. Oh yay. So even if they do get better soon, we still won't be able to enjoy any sunshine. And so, it will have to suffice to remember this walk we took two weeks ago and hope that it will hold me over until our next rare sunny winter day.

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(90% of the following was written the day we took the walk but I never quite finished it so I hadn't posted it yet)

With everyone feeling better today (yes, we were just getting over a different sickness then!), I decided to take the kids for a walk in the beautiful sunshine following lunch. I was also hoping to burn a few calories and get some good exercise in. But instead of putting Ben in the double stroller with Jake, I decided to let him ride his trike as he requested and put Jake in the single stroller. This is a definite sacrifice on my part because it takes the walk from an enjoying workout to a stop-and-go, slower-paced, slightly irritating stroll. But things went pretty well at first, with Ben at times even leading the way. I was impressed at his speed and endurance on that little trike.

He worked hard to keep up with big sister on her big bike.

Ben has a unique way of riding the trike by not using the pedals and instead shuffling his feet Flinestones-style. He is amazingly fast at it! And quite serious about it too! :)

But, of course, it was inevitable that he eventually he would slow down and start to lose interest in our walk.

Starting to fall behind...

He became hampered by a few stops to pick up leaves, trying to go in a different direction than the rest of us, and, much to Abby's irritation, wanting to ring her bell on her bike's handlebars every so often.

Abby trying to block Ben from ringing her bell yet again. :)

In the end, I had to make the walk quite a bit shorter than I would have liked and I said, "Come on, Ben! This way, Ben! Keep going, Ben!" more times than I can count, but we enjoyed our time together in the rare winter sunshine...and how could I not find this adorable and silly trike-rider worth the extra trouble? :)