Frühlingsspaß

Finally...Springtime came to Germany.  After what seemed like 6 months of cold, rainy weather (which actually was 6 months of cold, snowy weather), Spring finally sprung this afternoon.  

So, after the many months of cabin fever, we worked in the yard in the morning.  During the kid's rest time, I enjoyed a 2 hour ride on my road bike, only to come back (exhausted) to kiddoes that wanted to play more.

Emily wanted to ride her bike, and Quinn wanted to play soccer with his friend.

Emily is super proud that she can start (and stop) on her own.  In the video, you will see a prime example of the difference between Quinn and Emily (can you say puddle).

We ended up playing soccer for almost 2 hours, and I will be super sore tomorrow.

But, at least, Springtime is finally here!

Big Boy Bike

When I was 6 or 7, my father took me to a bike store to get my first 'Big Boy Bike'.  I still remember this bike, a Takara Outlaw BMX bike.  Chrome with blue pads that could be reversed to become blue and white checkered pads.

What made this particular event memorable was not necessarily the bike in and of itself.  The fact that it wasn't my birthday or Christmas was unique, but not necessarily the reason.  It was the sentence that my father said as we walked into the store that I still remember to this day; it is this sentence that brings back an overwhelmingly positive feeling:  

"You can have whatever bike you want."

WOW!  A true feeling of a kid in a candystore (well, bike store).  

I rode the hell out of that bike...

So, as Quinn was getting old and big enough to graduate to his first 'Big Boy Bike', I decided to pass this tradition to Quinn.  We had a blast in the store; he touched and rode all sorts of bikes, and while the shop put his bike together, we had a sandwich at Subway (conveniently in the bike shop), where he got unlimited refills of Fanta (a rarity in Germany).

 While Quinn will most likely remember all the Fanta he drank, perhaps he'll become a lifelong lover of bikes, like his father.

A few days later, we headed into our nearby forest, and we mountain biked together.  I had a blast, and I think Quinn did as well...hopefully we'll get to do many more times in the future!