July 1

In anticipation of the Fourth of July, Chris took the day off work today, and we packed the day full! I started with a photo session downtown at the baseball stadium at 8:30 am, which was only possible thanks to Chris' vacation day. Meanwhile, Chris took the kids to swim team practice, where they all ate cookie cake at 9:30 am. I don't really understand, but whatever.

I got home just as they did, and then we went to a new park that Caleb and Daisy visited with Grandmother on Wednesday. They have been begging to go back each day since then, so today was the day!

Even Eli loved the park, especially because Chris was there to climb and play and supervise, and so Eli got to play on the big playground, just like the big kids.

I was happy because I managed to coax my children away from the playground long enough to explore this bridge. It just led to a neighborhood, but it was fun nonetheless.

Afterward, we went out for breakfast for lunch, and my mom joined us!

Then home for naps, and Lily was delighted that Grandma came over to put her down for his nap.  Eli's nap was much too short, though, so Chris decided to get the bikes out for a ride. Our bike trailer (purchased from a garage sale three or four years ago) just died, though, so that wasn't an option. Instead, Chris decided to see if Daisy was big enough to ride the Tagalong. After all, Caleb was about the same age (and height!) when he first rode one.

Eli was thrilled to go on a bike ride!

Daisy was very nervous about the Tagalong, and almost backed out several times. She couldn't really touch the ground while riding on it, but she was able to climb up on her own and work the pedals through their whole range of motion, so we decided she was big enough.

Eventually, they were off, but Chris had to promise to just make slow laps up and down the street so that if Daisy was uncomfortable, they could stop.

Slowly but surely, she grew more confident!

And then they went off! Daisy's first ride on the Tagalong was a success. While they were gone, I researched new bike trailers. Thanks to Amazon Prime, a new one will arrive on Sunday!