Helpful Trees Deserve High-Fives

A lot of speculation has gone into what we actually did over Spring Break. We had to forgo many of James' "non-boring" items since the weather was rainy and cold most of the week. (I know it's harsh, but I'm just not going to let my 9 year old go para-sailing in the rain).
While we did play MarioKart & Puenie Land, visit the library, hunt & jump for eggs at playgroup, sort baby/kid clothes, finish assembling the 72 hour kit, get walloped by Dad in Settlers, & decorate easter eggs, the definite highlight was riding to the park on bikes (I pushed Paul & Amy in the stroller).

It's usually kind of a long walk, but riding bikes makes it easier. We waited for the most likely rain-free day and headed out. We had to maneuver around the construction team putting in a new pipe and fix Maggie's slipping training wheels, but in all it was a pretty smooth ride--at least until we tried riding the trail around the park.

We'd never ridden the whole trail before. It's a little hilly, winding around the tennis court and baseball diamond. Maggie was a little nervous on the first hill, but very bravely started downhill. I thought she'd be able to maneuver it alright, since it wasn't as steep as the hill we'd gone down on the way to the park, but it became quickly apparent that she was not alright.

As she gained speed her front wheel began to wobble until she looked like a cartoon bike careening out of control. I couldn't chase after her because I was holding the stroller with Paul. Unable to turn with the path, she headed straight for the grassy slope where the bike finally toppled, and she fell face first into the grass. Luckily, her helmet kept her from eating too much grass. As she slowly got to her feet, crying, I could not stifle my laughter. She had looked so comical, and I knew if she could laugh too, we'd be able to keep going. It took a couple consoling minutes to wipe off the grass and tears, and then we were on our way again. I kept congratulating her for finding the grass to fall onto, but she insisted that she hadn't aimed for it--the bike had led her on its own. We thanked the grass for no scraped knees.

I was very proud of her for getting back on the bike, especially since the path continued downhill. This time she was able to go a little slower, and she safely wound down the hill. I thought we were past all the difficult parts, but suddenly she was out of control again...and ran into a tree. When she got up she only has a small white scrape on the back of her ankle. We thanked the tree and gave it a 'high-five' for stopping Maggie's bike. There is nothing quite as powerful as positive thinking. Maggie was practically swimming in it from me and the boys.

Back home, as I watched reruns of her fall in my mind, I couldn't help but smile to myself. The experience reminded me of a story my Aunt Iris had told me about Grandmother Thornton when they lived in Sunbeam. Somehow some of her kids had been in the car when the car began to roll on its own. Watching helplessly, Grandma had said, "My God, there go my children!" I wish I could remember more of the details--I definitely can't tell it like Aunt Iris--but I remember Iris laughing as she told me & I'm sure Grandma laughed as she retold it as well. Sometimes that's all we can do.