New set of wheels

(still digging out ~ this is May 25)

**I suppose that anyone who read the last post may think that we spend ridiculous amounts of money on outside toys for our kids.  That's not exactly the case.  We are blessed to have very generous family, friends, and co-workers of Ian's who have given us three strollers, two tricycles, two "cozy coupe" cars, and two bicycles.  We paid $5 at a yard sale for the third cozy coupe, and Santa brought the three scooters (but we heard that he found them on sale and paid $30 each for them).  Not a bad amount of money considering all the wheels on our front porch!**

The second bicycle arrived at our house the night before Ian's previous job abruptly ended.  (If you never read the story of that happening and then me being at a loss for words for how quickly Ian had another job, check out the bold links.  If that doesn't reveal a little of God's mighty hand at work then I don't know what will).  Things got really busy around here for a while and we finally got around to buying a set of training wheels the day after Scrubby Saturday.  The bike was freshly cleaned after all...

Caleb was on the scene to help them get installed properly.  And I do just love how Ian enjoys teaching our kids to use tools. 

Ian and Caleb carefully tightened each bolt until it was "just right."  Then it was time for Caleb to give his new ride a whirl.  But he couldn't quite get the concept of pushing back to break (the tricycles don't work that way) and he was happy to back to the comfort of his more sturdy trike.

Looks like the littlest is gonna be the first to master a two wheeler...

After we'd done all the riding we could, it was time to head to the backyard to catch our first fireflies of the season.  Oh to have had a video camera to capture their shrieks of joy when they finally would manage to outsmart one "yite-nin' bug."  All three kids excitedly chased fireflies for about 20 minutes, until it became dark enough that most had stopped flashing their lights.  At that point Caleb and Darcy still happily pursued the last stray bugs while "sophisticated Kylie" turned her attention to the "caterpillar grass" growing in the flower bed.

Her attitude seemed to say, "You aren't going to catch anymore bugs you silly little kids!"  She is after all, seven months older than her brother...