The 4 Webbs survived the wettest winter in Seattle's recorded history. We finally hit our limit and have joined in the crazy, homeless-looking, screaming people who appear to be talking to themselves as they walk down the street. I discovered these are just Seattle residence who've hit their limit on rainy days.
A sunny day or two came along and we stopped the world to enjoy it. My neighbor wasn't sure if it was manly enough to ride Kendra's mountain bike because it is a gender-neutral, red one. I told him i'd ride Alaysha's bike a mile to the elementary school with Max in the basket if he would just go ride mountain bikes with me. He called my bluff so here's the result.
We had a great ride past a baseball field full of spectators and players. I smiled and waved and rang my little bell as we rode past. People smiled and waved back after a few double-takes from people who have never seen a grown man ride a pink bike with a dog in the basket. Max was relaxed and happy the whole time just sitting comfortably as the wind crammed all manner of smells up his nose.
"Love your neighbor" should look like something. We are doing more than just praying for our neighbors. We are spending time with them, caring for them, sharing with them, and discovering who they are. Our next door neighbor's daughter is a few years younger than Layla. Layla treats her like a little sister as they play dress up, dance to music, and color outside... in the sun... on the one sunny day we've had this year.
It's been a while since I've blogged so this is a lot of catching up. After Easter we went to Christy and Doyle's house for a family reunion of sorts. They get together every holiday and we get to be included in their fun. They even had an Easter egg hunt where Easton found the money egg with $25 in it! They had a blast finding and opening the plastic eggs filled with candies and coins. The family fun day made the Easter holiday weekend feel more normal.
I took the twins and Evelyn to the neighborhood park while the adults chatted. They went on a nature hunt without my prompting. They dug up worms and flipped over rocks looking for roly poly bugs. They came to me with their hands full dirt and creepy crawly things. At least they all had smiles to go along with the dirty hands.
Layla is still going strong with her weekly regimen of figure skating. I usually take her to the private lesson and Kendra takes her to the group lesson each week. She is working on improving her routine for the next competition, but that won't be for a few months. I'll be joining her and about 200 other ice skaters from her arena to watch Disney on Ice in a few weeks. i'll be wearing my skate dad shirt for that one!
Easton's latest kick is still Halo. He and the next door neighbor are continually playing with Halo building block toys and playing the video game. We still have the old XBox360 so he can't play the latest and greatest game, but i'm very happy that he is content playing the older games. His earned money beyond giving and saving all goes towards Halo Lego sets.
There is this dog, Max, who loves to cuddle with Kendra. We talk almost every day about how awesome he is as a family dog. Easton and Layla are keeping their end of the bargain by taking care of food, water, and the dooty duty. This makes life with Max even better for Kendra and I. The twins get some responsibility and Kendra gets a companion who goes with her everywhere.
Am I a good or bad parent for bribing the twins to do 30 minutes of P90X3 exercise? I'm still undecided. They sweat their butts off and the low impact, heart-pounding exercise is good cross-training for their other sports.
Layla does: figure skating, hiking, mountain biking, dancing (XBOX 360 style) and climbing trees in the park. That's a typical week for this girl. I wanted to introduce her to the great Washington biking scene and she loved it!
The roots were way more teeth-chattering with her bouncing around behind me than when I'm by myself, but it was worth it. we rode some of the most technical trails I've come across. She's a warrior.
And a princes... "Dad look at this little lady bug I found!"
No fear for this girl. We didn't ride our bikes across the dangerous wooden tracks, but she was excited to climb and run off the end.
Easton does: Ninja gymnastics, mountain bike riding, hiking, track & field, and climbing trees in the park. Our neighbor takes Easton when they take their son to the gym where the boys get to bounce and jump around on all manner of equipment. He loves it and we are glad for the boys to enjoy doing something more than playing video games.
Seattle has so much to offer when it comes to outdoor experiences. I heard people talk about it before moving here, but it's hard to describe without seeing it in person. An example of this is when we spontaneously decided to take the 4 Webbs and Max for an outdoor hike. Kendra spun through the options in her head and 15 minutes later we were deep in the forest exploring scenes from the set of Lord of the Rings.
It's hard to believe, but this picture below is unfiltered. The colors really are this vibrant and there is so much life that living things grow on living things.
And of course there is a park so we gladly take a few minutes to play on all the equipment.
By "we", I mean all 4 Webbs. This is a family outing so let's take advantage of the 4 person seesaw! I had hoped for a more professional picture, but this is the best we could do with a random stranger taking the picture of us in our outside, muddy clothes.
Let me get back the "love your neighbor" idea... My next door neighbor is really cool and their 4-pack of family members all get along swell with us. We have them over for dinner, take them cookies, and care for their kids in our house. I invited my neighbor to go mountain bike riding, but he hasn't been and doesn't have a bike. This is not a problem because I'm happy to take him and let him use Kendra's bike and gear.
I am so fulfilled by getting to ride my bike on the amazing trails of Seattle. I've been waiting for almost a year to ride because of the brutal Phoenix summer and freezing Seattle winter back-to-back. Now it's time to get my lungs, legs, and heart back in tip-top condition. I also took Layla out for a ride but i'll save that for the next post.
See you soon!
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