The Ramble

It's a yearly community gathering that involves a number of events/activities/parties that everyone is in town is invited to.  Folks wander or ramble from site to site and it's a beautiful event that showcases why this is an amazing place to live.  It starts each year with Field  Days events (tug-o-war, long jump, three legged races, etc.) and includes a block party, the fabled 127 hill climb, an epic bike ride/parade, and a wrap up party.

In the past you may have seen me showcased in some photos of the epic bike ride?

No? O.K. then....Moving on.

This year I helped our kids school host a bike wash/fix-it station and helped kick off the epic bike ride. It was awesome but I know how we can make it awesomer next year.  Fo Sho!

Besides this, this year's wrap-up party was the tops.  James Kochalka Superstar killed it and sent more than a few parent's heads spinning when he kicked off his set with a song about his dick. 

I'm also using my new found knowledge to help us be a part of Burlington's first Open Streets event on September 21.  It's gonna rock your socks off.

Summer so far

Busy livin'.

Way back in June I took A__'s on a bike trip to the beach.  It was fun. We built fairy houses. There was a tiger.

We've been to many a baseball game.

I visited Philly without kids.

I've worked a metric shit tonne.

Spent a gloriously peaceful week on Family Vacation.

There now you're up to date.

Let's not kid ourselves.

Just because one would rather ride bikes than just about anything, and one happens to write about it from time to time on a blog (which in this case is sort of like talking to one's self), and one happens to take photos to chronicle their happenings, does not make one a bike blogger or an expert or epic or whatever.  However one should not let any of this keep one from riding their bike as much as they are able or as long or as short as one would like or from enjoying the hell out of any time spent on a bike.  Everytime you don't get on the bike because you don't think you have enough time for a serious ride you've let "them" win.

That said I have been beset upon from all sides in a conspiracy of vast proportions to keep me from riding my bike.  Their have been extraordinary amounts of work, and minor surgical procedures, and a child in my house that wasn't there last riding season (April - October in these parts), and other factors that I have let block me from my outlet of choice.  And in the depths of my funk I have let them win by not hopping on and tearing around the neighborhood because I fretted that it may be wasted time.  Well I'm not going to kid myself that I have all the time in the world to dedicate to this aspect of my life, but I'll be damned if I let my imagination's other people and their imaginary opinions of my hypothetical activities define my enjoyment of life.  

Hell Yes.

Craptastic!

Well I've had a shit filled week that has been compounded by the fact that I have been thwarted in my efforts to ride my bike. So I have the compounded frustration that comes from lack of exercise, increased expectations, and deflated hopes.  The shitstorm has left me after anticipating the ride on two days only to leave my bike sitting idol.  And damn it if it isn't the best weather we've had in six months to boot.

 End rant.

Some more winter photos..

to help encourage spring to join us.

first an artsy shot to set the mood

gettin ready for some urban ski adventures

practicing our winter survival skills (read fort makin)

cutting ice

sledding carnage

she's a real dead-eye

obligatory cute baby shot

s

I can hear the squeezebox now.

fin.

time well spent

"There is only one success…to be able to spend your life in your own way." - Christopher Morley

“The only thing you really have in your life is time. And if you invest that time in yourself to have great experiences that are going to enrich you, then you can’t possibly lose.”
—      Steve Jobs 

Winter Activities

In this corner of the world, we have been busy with things other than watching babies grow, putting on an extra sweater, and doing nothing/saying nothing with the older kids.  We have gotten out to enjoy snow, family, friends, ice, refreshingly cold temperatures, uncomfortably cold temperatures, and even a few dates with only one small pair of eyes watching.  Life has been good, but I'm still waiting for Spring.

learnin the sideways slide

falling ain't fun

night skiing is fun

sledding with the big man

candy eaten by homemade woodstoves in stinky lodges is the best

Blurry night skiing is the best.

Growing like a weed in the summer, during the dead of winter.

This little bean sure has been growing, and I know that you aren't supposed to feed the weed but I just can't help it.