Inadvertent

3 Years, 15 Weeks.


It was like a scene from a movie.  Better yet, from the cycling race Le Tour de France.

Saturday I opted to give myself some time away from the family, as I had been with them the entire week while Tangie was in D.C.  So while she took them to church I decided to go on a bike ride, to enjoy the outdoors and just to get away.  Seriously, I was about to go bonkers after 6 whole days of being with the kids just by myself.  Much like I'm clearly about to go bonkers as I write this post.  But more about that later.

I had gone 10 miles, and planned to go another 5 then turn around for the ride back home, for a total of 30 miles.  Usually pretty easy to do on a road bike, alas I only have a mountain bike, and the wide tread makes for a serious workout, especially when you start hitting the hills of Clermont, which is where I was headed.  Anyway, after the 10 mile marker I joined up with a couple of guys on their bikes, and thought I would give myself a challenge of trying to keep up with them.

 

I'm going to make the assumption that they were "weekend warriors", as I am.   They were above middle age, and a little on the heavier side.  But that didn't deter them from having some expensive road bikes, and completely decked out in commercial bike gear from head to toe.  And they were a tad on the slow side, as I had slowed my pace behind them as we were going up a series of hills.

After the second hill, I decided to pass them.  Nothing worse than having to slow your rhythm, especially when you're going uphill.  There was a gap at the top where no bikers were coming up the other way, so I went for it.  As I passed the first guy, I said to him, "Passing on your left!" which obviously took him by surprise and startled him, because of what happened next.

As his head jerked up to look at me he started to wobble his front wheel.  Then his left foot slipped out of the pedal.  It looked like he tried to compensate by turning his front wheel to the right, but a little too much, causing him to jackknife, which stopped the bike altogether, causing him to flip over his handlebars, landing on his left forearm and helmet before rolling onto his back, his beautiful bike crashing beside him.  It was surreal, and as quickly as it happened, it looked like it was playing out in slow motion.

His partner and I quickly stopped and ran over to make sure he was okay.  They were talking together in an Eastern European/Russian language that I couldn't understand, so I asked if he was okay and if I needed to call for help.  I was a little nervous, since technically I had inadvertently caused him to crash, even though we never touched each other.  He sat up and said he was okay in his heavy accent, and looked more sheepish and embarrassed than hurt.  So I offered again, just to make sure, and they both said he was fine and waved me to go on ahead, so I did.  After I made my u-turn, I saw them again and they both waved and the guy that fell gave me a thumbs up so I guess he okay.  But still!

Complete solitude.

Okay, back to my rant.

I'm going to use this platform as my venting board and be real honest here.

It's getting harder and harder for me to write this blog each week.  And I'll tell you why.

As a stay at home parent, I have to spend every waking moment and every ounce of energy making sure that these are kids are safe, satisfied and content, which means fulfilling their needs and sometimes their wants/demands, giving them my undivided attention when they talk to me - sometimes all three at once, trying to answer all their questions, cooking and feeding and cleaning their meals, taking them with me wherever and whenever I need to run errands, breaking up quarrels and trying to figure out who hit who, consoling a crying kid who is inconsolable, picking up all these God forsaken toys, cleaning up after messes, putting things away, trying to keep up, etc. etc.  I could go on and on.

So why, after doing that day in and day out, do I want to sit down each Thursday night and spend another 2+ hours writing about it all?  And really, all I do is touch on the highlights, never mind everything else that I had just mentioned.

Don't get me wrong -- I am very thankful to be able to do what I do.  And I love my children very much.

It's just that I am soooo....tired.

Okay, I'm done.


Here was our week:

• Sabbath Tangie took the kids to church while I was out causing major cycling accidents.  We met at Winter Garden for lunch and then back home for naps.  We had supper with the Grodacks to marvel at and partake in their brand new and complete play set, afterwards me going to Lowe's with Duncan to help him with some bags of mulch he wanted to lay down on Sunday.

Supper with Mommy after arriving back from D.C.

Fro yo for dessert!

The Grodacks' new play set.

Clearly the kids enjoying it, and each other.

Corey's spread.  She made fish tacos!  But wait, you say, how is this possible?  Isn't she a vegetarian?
Okay, veggie fish tacos.  But still delicious!

Loading up his haul of teeny tiny wood.

• Sunday morning Tangie attended Corey's baby shower that she and Jennifer co-hosted at the Bergherm residence.  Afterwards the ladies treated themselves to pedicures.  Then she came home to pick up the kids who I had gotten ready to attend a birthday party for the Putts at the RDV sports complex in Maitland.  I opted out again because I just wanted some peace and quiet, to do what else?  Laundry.  I did manage to get out of the house for a couple of hours later that evening to go shopping for some beachwear for the kids.  Woo-hoo!

Brunch spread at Corey's baby shower.

Fancy schmancy with china and silver flatware!

I'm going to have to make Duncan and the guys do mud baths.

Meanwhile, the kids were coloring Mateo's wrapping paper.

Duck duck goose?

Maddy playing some sort of game.

Kohlden doing the races.

A not so successful photo at Costco.

• The rest of the week:

Enjoying the hammock.

Testing out some treadmills at the Sports Authority.

Hit up a play park.

"Look, girl dinosaurs belong over there..."

The girls get their faces painted during Family Night at Gator's Dockside.

Kohlden and Mommy opted out.

Messy boy.

Feeding the birds and ducks at Lake Starke.  Here they come!

Playful at Costco.  Twice in one week?  We had to do a return.

Pool time!

Twin Differences:

 

Napping Positions:

Garden Update:

Harvesting a Muscadine grape!

And apparently so did some raccoons overnight.

Borrowing William's live trap to get me some buggers.  Country fried 'coon anyone?

Randoms:

Girls and their matching shoes.

Having dinner at, you know, that one spot.

Text msg from friend Rob who was listening to sister-in-law preach in Loma Linda.

That IS a deal!  Wait a second...

A propane tank company went up in flames about 20 miles north of us on Tuesday night.
Luckily, everyone working there survived, but that didn't stop News Channel 9 from embellishing a little bit!

Oxymoron?  I guess you need to get your speed somehow!

Ever see a duck pirate?

Quotes:

• We were shopping when Madelyn noticed a fluorescent light bulb flickering in the ceiling, commenting, "That light is not well."

• Madelyn had a random bloody nose during her nap one afternoon.  As I was changing her sheets Kohlden noticed the blood and said, "Oh no!  The bed is bleeding!"

• I was giving the kids their baths, and had come back into the bathroom while the kids were playing with their bath toys:

          Kohl: "Daddy, Braelyn and Maddy put shampoo in my hair!"

          Me:  "Oh good.  They're helping me give you a bath!"

          Kohl:  [clearly exasperated]  "But I not a doll!"

• We were at Costco and the kids looked up and noticed that the play set display was not in it's usual place, in fact it was gone entirely:

          Kohl:  "Look!  No play park!"

          Braelyn:  [gasps]  "Calleigh took it!  "Calleigh took the play park!"

• We were listening to music and Braelyn was showing me how her music teacher would move her arms to conduct the students:

          Me:  "Okay, so what is that thing in your hand called?"

          Brae:  "Um...a magic wand?"

          Me:  "Nope! A baton."

          Brae:  "Oh right!  A baton!"

Big, delicious, vanilla batons.

Have a great weekend!