...75 and Sunny...: A Trip Around the Block

One thing that has bugged me since moving to CA is how hard it is to have the kids get that daily exercise they were used to in CT. For those of you who remember our backyard there, it was wonderful for running, climbing trees, riding the zipline, or taking a hike through the fields. Needless to say, we don't have that here. Here they measure property in square feet, not acres. And we only have about 5000 sq. feet. It's tiny.

So, we have instituted an early morning bike ride around the neighborhood. Every day. I find that it is helping everyone (read the ten year old boy) to focus much better during school. So, yesterday, after 3 wonderful days of rain, we started out for our morning exercise and I took my camera along. Come see what a trip around the block looks like...

These flowers are blooming in our front yard. Aren't they neat. I'm not sure I would call them pretty, but they definitely have an interesting tropical feel. The 3 big kids all set off on their bikes, Nicholas in the lead, followed by the girls, and Gabriel bringing up the rear while alternating between running and skipping, something he has just recently figured out how to do. I am going as fast as my legs will carry me while pushing the stroller...in an effort to keep at least some of my children within sight.

As we turn the corner the bikers are all out of sight. Gabriel is that speck you see waaaayyyyy down the sidewalk. See him way down there? He's actually screaming his head off because the big kids aren't waiting for him. The mountains are actually very, very green right now. "Green," when speaking of the native flora here in CA has a very different meaning than it did in CT. If you see any green at all, then it is green. Got it?

So at this point in our jaunt, I have completely lost Gabriel, who knows he is supposed to wait for me at every corner, but apparently "forgot." I am beginning to mutter under my breath with that mix of anxiety and anger we moms are very familiar with. I really hope he's OK, but I'm gonna kill him when I find him. You are familiar with that feeling, no?

Hey, look!! SNOW on the mountains. How exciting!! Too bad all of my kids who would care are missing right now. I stop to take a picture and point it out to Kurt who looks and babbles some new found consonant sounds. Well, I guess that's good enough. I've never seen snow on those mountains.

Well, we go from snow to produce. Only in SoCal! By the way, I still haven't seen Gabriel, but I have been informed by a man rummaging through someone's recycling can that a little boy was running "in that direction." I thank him and continue on my trek, muttering as I go.

This is what a palm tree looks like when you are standing almost directly under it.

More fruit hanging over the sidewalk. The big kids have lapped me and I have sent them on a mission to find Gabriel, after explaining to them that I hadn't lost him, per se. It wasn't my fault. Really.

OK, last corner before home. I am waiting for one of my kids to cut this corner too close and wind up injured. It hasn't happened yet, though! I strain my eyes at this point to try and see our driveway. Surely, Gabriel has stopped there. Right? I mean, he would never start around the block again. Please?

Oh, good. I hear Nicholas yelling at him. So, he must be waiting at home. I am relieved. But I'm still going to kill him.

Someone has brought their Christmas tree to the curb. This reminds me of something Nicholas said this year when we started taking our Christmas decorations down: "I always hate that resigned feeling I get when it's time to put the Christmas things away."

Yep. Me too.

O.K., we've all made it back home. Gabriel is looking guilty. I am explaining to him that four is too young to go around the block by himself. He just keeps saying, "Yes, Mom." Poor kid. The kids take off their helmets and put their bikes away. History is next on the docket. Oh, but what's this?