February 2

Our former neighbor, Drew, is a Harley guy who recently finished a complete overhaul of his new bike. When he called me the other day and an asked if I'd be interested in coming out to take pictures of his bike at a bike show, I jumped at the chance. I don't know much about motorcycles, but I knew Caleb would love the experience. Plus, Drew's enthusiasm tends to pull in everyone around him. He's the kind of guy you can't say no to.

And then Caleb woke up at 1am, puking. 

And then he puked again at 2 am.

And 3:30.

And 5.

And 6:30.

The poor kid puked until he had nothing left to puke, and by the third go-round, Chris realized his best option was to snuggle in bed with Caleb so that he could catch the puke before we ran out of clean sheets.

*sigh*

The boys slept in while Daisy and I had breakfast and played. Daisy was working at her play kitchen when I brought up a load of laundry to fold. As soon as she saw my arms full of diapers and towels, Daisy jumped up and shouted, "I help!"

And my sweet girl climbed up on the banquette and began sorting the diapers into piles. She's very meticulous about her work, and always ensures that the diapers are in neat, straight stacks. I love this girl.

Thankfully, Caleb's illness seemed to have run its course, but Chris and I were still unsure whether the bike show was a good idea or not. After his nap, Caleb seemed much better, but when we asked him if he wanted to go see motorcycles, he said, "I choose to stay home and play."

Hmm. Not really an option, kid. But then I had a brilliant idea. Since the whole purpose of the trip was to take pictures, maybe Caleb would like to take pictures, too?

As soon as I suggested that Caleb bring his own camera, the boy was sold.

He's still working on framing shots appropriately, but he ended up with over 100 pictures on his camera! Here are a few Caleb originals:

Not bad, huh?

But we came to see Drew's bike, which was one of the featured bikes of the event. It started out as a 2008 105th Anniversary edition Harley - one of 5,000 made. But then Drew realized that meant there were 4,999 other bikes exactly like his, and the customization began.

Now, it looks like this: 

It's been completely overhauled to resemble a 1947 Harley Knucklehead. Drew is pretty pleased, and even for a non-bike-person, it's pretty impressive.

Drew's girlfriend, Melanie, even dressed up as a '40s pinup girl for the occasion.

So while I snapped photos of the bike and Melanie, Chris and the kids wandered around. 

They both found some checkered flags, which were big hits.

Apparently Daisy wasn't waving her flag vigorously enough for this photo, so Caleb stepped in to show us how it's done.

(Side note: he's wearing his rain boots in these photos because he currently only has one pair of normal shoes that fit, and he somehow lost one of those shoes. So until we find the missing shoe somewhere in our house, Caleb will be wearing rain boots.)

Drew and his bike, which he hasn't even yet taken out for a ride.

Apparently Daisy was watching Melanie's modeling, because she decided to strike a pose next to this shiny bike. Chris and I died laughing! She even had the bike-model posture down: shoulders back, hips thrown forward, one leg angled, hand on the bike... girl is a natural! Should I be worried?

Caleb liked this bike the best, but I think he only favored it over Drew's because it was at his level.

And Daisy was not a fan of Drew's beard. In fact, she was quite suspicious.

So. Bike show was a success, Caleb is done puking (hopefully), and we're praying the stomach bug passes over the rest of the family. (Though my stomach is feeling a little bit iffy right now...)