Every Day with Eli: August 12

I had a garage sale this morning.

I tried to get rid of all of my baby clothes, but no one wanted them, so most of them are getting donated. I did sell over $100 worth of stuff and my basement is now free from a huge pile of castoffs, so I'm going to call it a win.

In the evening it was so lovely that we decided to go up to the track after dinner and let the kids ride bikes. It is a flat, empty surface that is great for kids like Daisy, who need to ditch their training wheels.

I brought my big camera because it was just too gorgeous out to leave it at home.

See?

Eli ran all the way around the 1/4 mile track at least once.

Chris took the training wheels off of Daisy's bike, much to her dismay.

Caleb, meanwhile, zipped around the track! We recently bought him a new secondhand bike, and it was such a tremendous upgrade. His last bike (also secondhand) was a Schwinn that Chris found at a garage sale. But it was heavy and awkward and Caleb preferred to ride his much-too-small Specialized bike over the appropriately-sized Schwinn. Finally I started searching for a better brand of bike for him, and the Trek was a winner.

While Chris took the wheels off her bike, Daisy sprinted.

Caleb is super fast on his bike.

He named the bike "Jet".

And Lily. Oh, Lily. This is the bike that all of the grandparents chipped in to buy for Caleb for his fourth birthday. He passed it on to Lily for her fourth birthday, and he and Daisy decorated it so that Lily would consider it a "girl bike".

It worked.

After one lap around the track, she rode in, beaming, and informed me that she had chosen a name for her bike.

Cherry.

I can't think of anything more appropriate. Goodness, I love this girl.

I don't know how Eli wound up here.

Daisy insisted on knee, elbow, and wrist pads. We forgot them at first, and had to turn around to get them.

She was very angry about riding without training wheels. It was a lot like swimming; we knew she was capable, but she was scared to try.

Happy Lily and her beloved Cherry.

I mean, really. Aren't you glad I brought my camera? I sure am.

This boy's curls kill me.

(His feet are so dirty and gross, but it was worth it for that smile.)

Caleb wanted to make sure I was watching him every time he rode past.

See that? Chris is barely holding on. (He's also running, for the first time in nearly a month following his hernia surgery.) Daisy was riding well enough that he could let go, as long as she didn't notice he had let go. Once she noticed, she freaked out.