Pretty for a Picnic

It is another glorious day. And so we had our first outside picnic of the year! Then, while I did some more pruning of the front bushes, the kids did some "pedal dancing" on their tricycles. We also put out our windsock and our spring flag. Later we all headed into the cul-de-sac for more tike-trike fun. And I met a neighbor, who had fond memories of raising her own children in that cul-de-sac. Then another neighbor came by for some conversation. It really was the perfect outside day.

Sunshine Day

"I think I’ll go for a walk outside now, the summer sun’s calling my name-
I hear you now-
I just can’t stay inside all day, I gotta get out, get me some of those rays!
Everybody’s smiling (sunshine day)
Everybody’s laughing (sunshine day)
Everybody seems so happy today-
It’s a sunshine day."

--Brady Bunch, "Sunshine"

It is just gorgeous outside--birds chirping (even the first robins of spring!), bees humming, plants budding, flowers peeping, windchimes singing, children laughing, neighbors waving. We spent several hours outside after church and lunch, cleaning up the garden wall and riding tricycles around. We showed Mama our blooming snowdrops and our emerging crocuses; then altogether we found the tips of our day lilies poking through.

"Good day sunshine

Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine

I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about
I feel good, in a special way
I'm in love and it's a sunny day "

--Beatles, "Good Day Sunshine"

"Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,

and I say it's all right

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right
It's all right"

--Beatles, "Here Comes the Sun"

Mama got out the safety cones and all the big wheels, in addition to the tricycles, creating an obstacle course on the driveway for the kids, who raced up and down it. Bud also had all his drawing tools (in a baggie from church) out on my favorite rock to draw the outside, so I drew so snowdrops for him. Sis helped with some dirt digging. Mama rearranged parts of the garage and delivered tools and such to me for my rosebush pruning and rock wall cleaning.

"Sunshine on my shoulders

makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes

can make me cry

Sunshine on the water

looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always

makes me high.

If I had a day that I could give to you

I'd give to you a day just like today

If I had a song that I could sing for you

I'd sing a song to make you feel this way."

--John Denver, "Sunshine on My Shoulder"

I'm sure we'll have more frost, maybe even a few more snowstorms. It is only the first week of March after all. But as Sis noted, the ground is finally soft so that she can dig and we could remove our "Let it Snow" sign, which has been frozen in place for a few months now. So regardless of a few more weeks of winter (and local lore says not to plant anything until Mother's Day, which is often the last damaging frost of the region), we can feel "spring bustin' out all over" (to paraphrase from Carousel).

"Let the sunshine
Let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine
Let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Let the sunshine
Let the sunshine in
The sun shine in..."

--5th Dimension, "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In"

"I'm walking on sunshine , wooah

I'm walking on sunshine, woooah
I'm walking on sunshine, woooah
and don't it feel good!! "

--Katrina and the Waves, "Walking on Sunshine"

And our family's perennial favorite:

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away."

(for more sunshine songs, see here)

Triking in the 'Burbs: Of Mud, Marathons, and Markets

The kids have been out tricycling around the cul-de-sac for about an hour, playing all the while. First it was just races, then they liked to pretend they got stuck in the "mud puddles" of the sewer lids in the street. They took turns pulling each other out. And then they pretended to be the ice cream man and fruit lady, selling treats and produce to each other and me (and still getting stuck in the "mud"). I had chocolate and hot fudge sundaes and creamsicles, and strawberries and apples and grapes and blueberries. I grew up on a cul-de-sac, too, and it's really the best kind of suburban street.

Tricycles Built for Two

"East side, west side, all around the town . . ."

My twins went pedaling down the street, without falling down!

Yep, they've got wheels!  Three of them each.  After delaying the purchase of tricycles because of winter, we went to the store on Saturday and bought two classic red tricycles.  Mama put them together as soon as we got home, working on both at the same time so that one was not finished way before the other (because that would not promote sibling peace).  

After laying down some ground rules--helmets are required, no ramming each other/the house/the car/anything/anybody on purpose, riding only on the sidewalk and driveway, and trikes must be put away in the garage when we're done--they were off.  Sort of.  I had never noticed the slight grade on our sidewalk but it was enough to slow down the initial start, but soon they were off.  It was harder than it looked, I think, to steer and pedal at the same time.  Bud kept ending up in the grass.  Sis kept getting distracted to ring her shiny bell.  Several times, both seemed tippy and almost ended up tumping over sideways.  And then there was the time Bud rolled backwards off someone's driveway into the street.

Hence the helmets.  Truthfully, I was hesitant to require helmets.  It seems so overprotective and paranoid.  I mean, for heaven's sake, they're on tricycles!  Yes, yes, helmets for bikes, skateboards, skates, skiing, I get it because there is actually speed, balance, etc involved.  But a tricycle?  Mama had consulted the APA and other sites, most of which recommended helmets--some states even have helmet laws for trikes (New Mexico, I think it was).  But Connecticut doesn't--they don't even need them in preschool (though, that's not near the street).  

It only took a few minutes on the road, so to speak, to realize that helmets--hers purple with ladybugs, his dark blue with cars--were a good idea.  Between the constant threat of tumping over sideways, accidentally ramming each other, and those driveway slopes leading into the streets, I could see that they could easily fall off without being able to brace or protect themselves.   It's too bad we can't change the rule once they get the hang of steering and braking (they just don't grasp "put your feet down!"), because it still just seems a little much.  But considering that Sis is hysterical everytime she sees any blood from her body ("get it off!  make it go away!") and Bud won't let you clean or bandage anything without a fight, helmets are probably necessary.  

It was so touching, really, to see them pedaling off down the sidewalk together.  Two trikes, two helmeted-heads, two kiddos growing up and stretching their legs.  Funny, I've seen them on big wheels and on scooters, but this was definitely different.  Trikes just seem so grown up somehow (even when, I guess, we're a little late on the trike-thing and big wheels are more grown up).  Sure, it's not the milestone that driving away in a car will be, but it's something.  Especially because the view I had was from behind as they pedaled away.