A huge accomplishment in any kid's life...and they did it on the same day!

One of the items on our Summer Bucket List was for the boys to ride bikes without training wheels. We attempted it back in early July and it was a DISASTER for James. Jim got frustrated and mad because James wasn't trying, James cried and gave up really easily, and Jordie and me just giggled and gave it a quick shot before heading to the park to play instead. We were really there for James but thought we'd give it a shot with Jordie too just in case he went for it (which he didn't)! It wasn't until about 6 months ago when he saw his little brother get on his old bike that James even started to ride his bike at all. Because Jordie had been riding the glider bike and pedal bike interchangeably for the last 6 or so months we were pretty sure he was ready to give up the training wheels but didn't want to push it either until he expressed a desire to ride without them. But with James we knew that with a little bit of pushing and encouragement that he would probably be able to do it quite easily.

After that disaster day at the park with James our daycare lady Debbie suggested that we put him on a bigger glider bike (the one we had for Jordie was way too small) and see how he did with his balance as that seemed to be his hang up. He was so afraid to fall off the bike that he couldn't balance and just go with it. Debbie lent us the glider bike just before my holidays and he spent my 3 weeks off going between his two bikes while camping and at my parents house. By the end of my holidays he was clearly riding it with his legs up and balancing perfectly but when we would mention taking the training wheels off he would say he wasn't ready yet.

Fast forward to this weekend's camping trip and on Thursday and Friday he was riding along with his training wheels and I casually said to him that if he would take them off he would get to go as fast as Jaxon could and I could see it definitely piqued his interest, but not enough yet. The next day his training wheels had to be taken off to fix his chain and he just looked at us and said "I want to do this, I want to ride without them". One trip to the field at Haywire and he was off and going, with almost no help from anyone. Clearly his month on the glider bike had given him the confidence that he needed to know he could balance and wouldn't fall off. An hour later he was absolutely FLYING down the hills near our campsite and we all remarked how when he did fall it was going to hurt, but that he would learn! Not even an hour after our comment we hear this coming from Jaxon riding into our campsite "uh Jim, we have a problem....James fell." Jim and I went running just a few campsites away and he was laying on the side of the road twisted in his bike with two awesome older boys that had seen him fall and stopped to make sure he was okay. He was shaking and bleeding a little bit on his elbow and his knee but was otherwise okay. Sidenotes: I loved these big kids and thanked them for being good kids....and I hope I am raising my boys to be those kind of kids that will stop too!

Off to the trailer we went to clean him up, bandage him up (which anyone who knows James knows he HATES bandaids) and get him changed into some pants and a shirt. My heart broke when he said to me after he was dressed that he was scared to get back on his bike because he said it was going to hurt. I convinced him to go again, even just for a shorter (and much slower) ride with Papa and Diesel just to get his confidence back. Later that night he was back at it wholeheartedly...but certainly not as fast as he had been a few hours earlier. He is cautious but in a good way. :)

I thought my heart was literally going to burst out of my chest watching him. Here he is showing me the first time that he could do it:

Less than hour after James accomplished the no training wheels Jordie came up to me and said "I no want my training wheels on my bike" so his came off too! Here he is practicing with Daddy and Ash in our campsite:

Isn't his little giggle just the cutest thing ever?! 

About 15 minutes later Ash said he was ready for the road so off they went and he was gone too! That first night he felt a bit unsafe and when he would stop and think he was going to fall he would ask for help to hold his seat but then as soon as he got going you could clearly see that he didn't need any help at all. By the next morning they were happily off riding bikes in the rain while we cleaned up the campsite and both boys were sad when they were told their bikes had to be put away cause we were heading home!

More cautious after his fall but still having so much fun!

One last ride before bed on Saturday night

Sunday morning bike riding

That night was truly one of the proudest nights of my whole life as a parent. Jim and I kept praising them and telling them how proud we were of them both and how excited we were for them to now be able to just ride. James said that Dad and I need to get bikes now and we couldn't agree more! I can't wait for evening family walks and bike rides in the future. :)

Hi, what's your name?

3 different people in one week that he just randomly said hello to and asked them what their name was. For a kid that used to seem unfriendly and almost grumpy with everyone, he is sure becoming more and more outgoing and friendly by the day. He is starting to remind me of his big brother at around the age of 2 when he first realized that interacting with other people was fun and engaging. Now James sometimes interacts with strangers too much :)

Jordie is blossoming into a really cool little guy that loves people as much as the rest of us do. As an outgoing person, who married another relatively outgoing person, who then had a really outgoing first child...it's nice to see this one developing into more of our kind of kid. I thought in those first few years that he was going to just be a really different kid than us and that was okay too but I never suspected that he would end up being as outgoing as his brother is and would give us all a run for our money with his very strong little personality. I do believe that I am going to have my hands full with these two boys when they hit their teenaged years. They are already very opinionated and never hesitate to tell us what they are thinking about something. I guess I have no one to blame but myself on that one!

At the grocery store this little exchange happened a few weeks ago:

Jordie:                Hi, what's your name?
Grocery clerk:    My name is Sarah, what's your name?
Jordie:                My name's Dordie (he can't quite say Jordie yet)
Grocery clerk:    Oh hi (with big smiles of course)
Me:                    Okay...come on Jordie we have to get going cause Daddy is waiting to make supper

Walking away
Jordie:    she's my teacher at my school.
Me:         No, honey she's not your teacher.
Jordie:     Oh, she's my friend

Everyone should be as friendly as a curious toddler pulling a rolling grocery basket.

My big brave James

James had his last night of swimming lessons yesterday and he was so excited when he got there and he was the only kid. He loves his swimming instructor Alex and I really appreciate how good he's been with James and how far he's come in the two sets of lessons that Alex has taught him for. We were shocked when we went to the pool a few weeks ago and James was actually able to comfortably swim in the deep end and was confident in his abilities. It was awesome for Jim and I to see and we were so excited for him...and for us in the new freedom we have to swim as a family and do more fun stuff like jumps and dives now that he's more comfortable in the water.

So, back to his lessons last night. Alex came over to Jim and I and said "I just want to ask you guys if it's okay for him to go off the high diving board?" I looked at Jim and he just smiled and said "yeah of course he can" to which I added "if he'll do it....I don't think he will but if he wants to, then yes of course he can".

WELL....the first video is his first time...absolutely no hesitation, he only waited at the top for a second for Alex to count him down :) Gotta love my nervous mom giggle watching my kid jump off the high dive for the first time...at only 6 years old! I don't think I jumped off the high dive when I was his age but maybe I was brave when I was a kid too. I can't even imagine doing that now!

And here's the second one where you can hear him saying "I want to do a cannon ball!" This kid just kills me.

Jim and I were so proud of him that he just got up there and went for it. Every parent could learn something from their kids sometimes. He is such a brave little guy and we just love him so much for his adventurous spirit and his ready and willing to try anything attitude!

We are just too busy having fun to stay at home!

For the next 4 days we are camping up at Haywire and just commuting back for work today and tomorrow (21 minutes from trailer to front door!) and then enjoying our last family and friends camping weekend of the summer. Big thanks again to our friends Jim and Rachel for lending us their truck to get our trailer to and from the park, we really appreciate it!

Weather looks like it should cooperate this weekend and might only rain on Sunday if we're lucky. For now, I'll leave you with these few cute pictures from this morning's tea and hot chocolate at our picnic table :)

The things they say and understand just amaze me sometimes

Lately James is just blowing me away with some of the things that he is understanding and the concepts that I don't think are common for 6 year olds to grasp (hell even some adults have a tough time with the first example!)

Awhile back James was spending the day with Nana right before we left to go camping and I went to pick him up. When I got there there was a bag of Doritos on the counter with the following stickers on them:

I giggled and asked what it was about and my Mom explained to me that originally there was only the top sticker, and then they decided that really the chips should be shared with Jordie too. So Nana went to write Jordie's name beside James's and he said to her very calmly "Nana, you can't do that, that sentence won't be right then. You would have to change it to say, for when they are camping, not when he is camping" Yup, MIND BLOWN. How the heck he understood that concept is absolutely beyond me, but he totally did. I am a huge lover of grammar and spelling and I hope that my little James ends up being a word nerd like me. :)

On that camping trip we were all sitting around the campfire and I kept reminding James to stay away from the fire because he was buzzing around it so close and I am a nervous Nelly that worries with how klutzy he is that he will fall into it and get really hurt. Ash was sitting beside me and got James's attention and said to him "hey James, why does Mom tell you to stay away from the fire?" And his answer was "because I could fall in and it would hurt really bad and it would change my life forever." So, he is listening to me even though he doesn't appear to be. Sadly two young boys climbed an electrical tower the month before and one was electrocuted and severely burned and the other burned his hands badly when he saved his friends life by putting out flames on his body.  James had heard us talking about this tragic accident and he obviously heard me telling people how afraid I am of fire when it comes to my kids. Accidents can happens so quick and there is often serious life long side effects with that kind of injury.

Earlier this month James went on a walk with my cousin Brenda and her husband Rick. They said he was the most charming and funny little character and talked the whole time they were on their walk. They went down to the sea wall below my parents house and at one point they got him to run ahead to a landmark and then run back to them and Brenda would time him. I'm sure it was to get a few minutse of peace from his talking and of course they know that all little kids love a timed challenge of any kind. He ran back and Brenda said that he was gone for 2 minutes and 4 seconds and James looked at her and said "so you mean just over 120 seconds?" She said they had a good giggle and they were both shocked that he understood the concept of time so well.

He did it again when he asked Jim yesterday if he could play on the iPad for a few minutes and Jim said "sure buddy, just give me 3 minutes" and James said "okay Dad, I'm going to count until 180 and then it's my turn, right?" We said yup that's right and sent him downstairs because he was serious about doing the counting and I didn't want to hear it. I doubt he actually continued on that long because his attention span isn't quite that good yet but just a few minutes later he came back upstairs and said it was time for his turn :)

One more funny sidenote: My friend Kelly told me about this conversation thatwas overheard with James and her daughter Quynn at a birthday party we were at recently.
James: hi Quynn, how are you?
Quynn: good
James: how's your mom doing?
Quynn: she's good (the kid was probably wondering why the hell he was asking about her mom)
James: is she keeping busy these days?
hahahahahahaha....I just about died when Kelly told me that was the question that he asked Quynn. You can tell that 1) he spends a lot of time with adults 2) he is ALWAYS LISTENING to us!

Second sidenote: James and Jordan just love my friend Kelly. At the party she went to go and get Jordan some more juice and as soon as she walked away from him he looked at me and said "Mommy, she's so pretty" (which is true, she really is). And at her son's birthday party a few weeks ago James requested that she take a selfie with him while she was downstairs taking pictures of the kids playing. And I laughed when she posted the photos from the party and there was a selfie of her with each of my boys. They do like having their pictures taken...I wonder though why that is? :)

These boys are just so cute and I love how engaging they are with the adults in their world. I just hope that those adults don't mind just how engaging they can be sometimes! I caught James jokingly yelling at Brandt at the party that he is driving way too fast in the strata's parking lot (which is true, and he must have heard me and Jim talking about it). Luckily Brandt laughed with him and said "thanks for letting me know James!"

A proud mom moment

I took the boys to Sakinaw Lake on Thursday to see our family at their cabin and at the end of a very long and tiring day I had the nicest compliment given to me by a man at the ferry with us. Here's the story:

This nice man (somewhere probably late 40's, early 50's I'm guessing) was sitting just outside the little sitting area at Earl's Cove. My uncle dropped us off and we had a bit of a wait for the ferry so I did what I always do when I want to distract my kids....I feed them! I gave Jordie a pack of gummies and told him to take the wrapper to the garbage. On his way there he trips and bails hard. I run out of the sitting area and scoop him up all while James is asking him if he's okay and comparing his war wounds from his big fall on Monday. Then we laughed about it and I got my Jordie boy giggling again and James was hugging him and telling him he was going to be okay. I was probably the kind-of-inappropriate-mom that swore or said something I shouldn't have but it made him laugh so I was fine with it. I could see the guy smiling at me and laughing along with us.

We got up on the ferry and I fed them some more (because who isn't hungry after 4 hours in the water), and I attempted to wipe up Jordie's skinned knees and he screamed his handsome (and very tired) little face off...and then went back to eating and playing on the iPod (I had saved this distraction until the very end of the day so I could have the peace and quiet on the ferry!) Through the screaming all I could hear was James saying "it's okay buddy," he was just so good with him.

We make it through the quick ferry trip and we make our way down the stairs to the front of the ferry where we are going to walk off. At this point I can tell that Jordie is absolutely exhausted and I tell him that I need him to be a big guy and just do one last big walk for me up the hill to the van and then he could fall asleep on the way home. We also discovered that James's water bottle leaked in his backpack and I just laughed at him (because really, what's the point of being mad about it) and tell him "oh well, suck it up and carry it cause I'm not going to". We have a good laugh and then I feel this little tap on my shoulder and the nice guy from earlier says to me "I just have to tell you what a delight it is to have seen your boys tonight, they are such good little boys, and seeing you with them has just been a real delight. You are wonderful with them". I thanked him and felt my heart just soar. I was glad I had my sunglasses on because I could feel my eyes well up with tears. At this point in the day I myself was just exhausted and couldn't wait to get home and I was happy to hear that I had at least hidden my internal feelings of just being "done" and was able to show my boys (and this kind man) the sense of humor that I TRY to have with my boys on a day to day basis.

My boys drive me crazy sometimes, but I am really so proud of the little people that they are. They are polite and friendly and most of the time love each other like crazy and do anything they can to make sure that the other one is okay. I am a lucky mommy and I so appreciate when anyone lets me know that I'm doing a good job at the most important thing in the whole world. This kind man just made my night...and my whole week!

Here they are...just a few minutes before the man tapped me on my shoulder.

A month has gone by without a single blog...bet you know why!

I've been on holidays and literally have been so busy that by the end of the day I just veg out in front of the TV and don't even go on my computer (or if I do it's just to play Cookie Jam!). Or, we've been out of town, or camping, or staying at my parents, or at the ball field, or swimming lessons, or out late at friends houses....just so busy...but we've had so much fun too which has made the busyness worth it. I am really wondering if anyone else out there is this busy, or if this is a madness that only I'm dumb enough to bring on to myself!

I have TONS of photos to share of the awesome summer we've had so far, but for now, here is a favourite photo that I took during my holidays.

Jim and I escaped the boys for 8 whole hours and went to his cousin's wedding while the boys stayed with our friends Aaron & Kayla. Here is a favourite picture of us from that night!