Family Bike Ride

Yesterday we decided to head out for a family bike ride. Last year we bought a five bike bike rack. There was a clerk at the bike shop that chuckled at it when he saw it. I told him I would have bought a seven bike bike rack if it existed. I'm not sure he knew another family as big as ours.


Back to yesterday, I loaded up the trailer and the tandem inside the truck and then loaded the other five bikes on the rack. Now we are ready to leave. As I was walking to the truck with our new adorable puppy, Moose, Blaine asked "What are we going to do with Him. I so casually said, "He's coming with us!" You could kind of tell that Blaine has never been in a car with a pup before, because he wasn't sure what to expect. Moose travels well, he likes to snuggle into your leg while laying on the seat.

We ended up biking seven miles. We took these pictures before and during our ride.
We took this picture on the trail. It was such a cute picture when I looked back to check on Jackson and Moose. Moose was asleep and Jackson was petting him.
We ususlly can't go anywhere without a little competition. This time we were riding for gold. There was two "races" the first was the tandem teams and Casey and Dylan won the gold medal Mom, "J", and Moose won the silver. For the solo riders, Blaine won gold, Austin won silver and Zach won the bronze. We had a great time and biking is a great way to build a strong family bond.

We added to our Family today!

After four or more years of telling the boys they cannot have a puppy, Daddy finally gave the OK. I found out about Moose last week from a neighbor who's co-worker rescued Moose's mom a couple months ago. Moose's mom, Phoebe, is a Shiba Inu. When she was rescued she was due to have these five adorable pups. We aren't sure what the dad is but suspect Moose may have some Lab in him. I went last week to meet Moose and new he was meant for our family. Here are some pictures of Moose getting acclimated to our family and home.

Here is our first experience of home. We had just arrived home and it was pouring rain. We wanted Moose to potty outside before we took him inside.

Moose loves to lay on the cold tile.

Here is Casey just after he got home from school.

At the bus stop.

I kept the boys out of the loop so that I could surprise them at the bus stop. I captured Austin's reaction on video and a little of Zach's reaction.

Moose did really well last night. He cried for about 10 minutes before he settled in to sleep. I got up at 2am and took him out and then again at 5am. Luckily we haven't had an accident yet. Moose is well loved and we are thrilled to have him in our family.

Labor Day Weekend

Last weekend we took the opportunity to enjoy nature and the beautiful scenery at Ricketts Glen. For those of you who have highly recommended it to us... Thank You. Jennifer and I always go to the campsite at check in and then the husbands come after they get off work. This time we got a little bit of a late start and then the rain came. Our planning didn't work out so well this time, we set camp in the dark and the rain. It rained all night which was actually kind of romantic. By morning the rain was gone and scenery was beautiful. We had a great time and Blaine spent his first consecutive three days in the woods. He is always a good sport. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Before we left Dylan helped me make some cookies for our trip. He is always a very big helper.

This is everyone at the beginning of our hike. We figure it was about a five mile hike.

Zach and Casey

Jackson and Blaine

On the hike there were about 15 to 20 waterfalls. Here is a picture of one of them. All the kids and Dads had a good time climbing some of the waterfalls.

Blaine and Jackson

This next picture was taken on the trail. The tree's roots are coming out of the ground and are all intertwined with each other. I thought it was quite a spectacular view.

Jennifer and Randy

Casey braving the tree bridge.

This is me attempting a group picture on a 2 second timer.

Take One Take Two ( didn't even make the picture at all on this one)
Take Three

All the natives were very patient in my attempts to get a group picture.

Take Four

We plum wore out the kids, this is Dylan at the evening campfire. And even Zach couldn't make it to bed...
On Saturday evening we had a spiritual visitor. You may think it is the Madonna, or some say it could be the face of Jesus. Look closely He/She is looking to the left and downward. The forehead is pronounced with eyes, nose, mouth, and chin.
On Monday we rented a petal boat, row boat, kayak, and canoe. It really was a ton of fun. This is all of us switching around out on the lake.

I love this picture of Jennifer rowing my husband.

Well this is our weekend, I would highly recommend Ricketts Glen. It is a great place for family bonding.