First Bike Rides

Look at these lil' dumplings! Now we can tell them that they both fell asleep during their first bike rides. Owen (on the left) in Acadia National Park in Maine and Mitchell on the East Bay bike path here in Rhode Island.

This weekend we reached a major milestone as a family of four - we all went on a bike ride. It was the first time that we were able to do something together that Steve and I enjoyed doing pre-kids. We bought our bikes before we were even engaged and had much fun tooling about Chicago. I think it's fair to say that our bike rides these days will be safer, slower and sober. It's well worth it :)

Why? No!

My sons - Why? and No! 

All at once, it seems, and with vigor, Owen has entered into the dreaded, "Why?" phase. I actually thought this would have happened sooner and have no clue how long we will have to endure this torture. And by torture, I mean, answering hundreds of questions a day. At this point I'm not sure if this is a tactic of manipulation or mere curiosity but we literally had this conversation last night.

"I'm going to the store."
"Why?"
"Because we need milk."
"Why?"
"Because we don't have any."
"Why?"
"Because we drank it all."
"Why..."

With similar gusto, Mitchell shrieks, "No," usually while hurling Cheerios, waffles, blueberries, a bottle, etc. onto the floor. When Owen started saying the word "no" it was cute, sweet even, and only got more acerbic as time went on. Straight away Mitchell says "No" with the intensity of a toddler who has just been told he cannot have cookies for breakfast. Yeah, not so cute.

Slacker

Busted for slacking. My friend Marta writes a beautiful cooking blog. Yesterday, when I was reading her most recent entry, it dawned on me that's she's practically written a cookbook and traveled the globe since the last time I posted.

Here in Rhode Island, we've been preoccupied the Jekyll and Hyde antics of a spirited three year old and what seems like endless colds, ear infections and allergies. But pollen covered everything means that it's springtime and while the head may feel heavy, the heart is happy!

In between trips to the doctor's office we've been able to get outside to play and last week it was even warm enough to run through the sprinkler. These Linker boys are exhausting...it's a good thing that they're so darn cute. Angelic even. See what I mean?