Being Outdoorsy

I like to think of myself as somewhat outdoorsy. In Arizona my friends and I did a lot of hiking and bike riding all over town. But now I have to face reality...those adventures were 15 years ago. How can it be that long ago? Over the past 10 years, I've dragged Chris hiking in New York and a few times in Virginia, plus river kayaking once in VA and a dozen times lake kayaking here in Minnesota. Of course, last year we did a lot of hikes along the North Shore during our vacation. I say I like camping, but the pop up tent I bought 6 years ago is still in its box. I bought it for Chris as a Christmas present...talk about a gift really for myself. Chris is not big on the outdoors. He hates the way sunscreen feels on his skin, mosquito bites get cartoonish huge on him, he is allergic to bees, and doesn't like when he gets wet sitting on grass or benches. He'd rather shovel a foot of snow then mow the grass. That's why I'm the yard master in the summer and he does it in the winter. But I drag him out in the summer anyways. One day I will get him out for a night of camping!

Penelope seems to have taken after me X 10. She'd live at the playground if we let her.

She uses this Little Tykes car at least an hour a day.
And you know she loves the swings!
"Mommy, you said this is a tennis outfit? Where's my racket?"
On Sunday it was drizzling on and off in the afternoon, but she was throwing a tantrum every 10 seconds stuck in the house. We went to the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden at Theodore Wirth Park. It is on the west side of Minneapolis, which is only a 15 minute drive. It is so peaceful (minus the screeches of Penelope as she saw ladybugs, butterflies and chipmunks). It was hard to believe we were close to the new Twins stadium and downtown. There are multiple trails. We only made it on one since Penelope wanted to be carried halfway. Wow, my triceps felt that! I plan to go a few more times this summer since there are different flowers in bloom every month.

Then the big event is we got a Burley from my friend Elisa!! Yay! Chris bought a bike last week so we just needed a princess mobile for Miss Penelope. Growing up my mom rode all over Sierra Vista with the three of us in a Bugger. I've got good memories of sitting back there coloring and listening to music on our portable tape recorder.

Here's Penelope all hooked up to my Schwinn.
Here we are before our 5 mile ride. Penelope had toys, snacks, teddy bear and books. I didn't have such a big smile halfway through. I need to get that bike tuned up. It kept jumping gears at the worst times. It has never done that before. Not sure if it was due to the weight of the burley. I have no idea how my mom rode miles with 3 kiddos in the back.
We rode along the Mississippi river to Minnehaha park. The falls are absolutely beautiful. One of the best parks in the city.
Penelope did walk quite a bit, but she never turns down a ride on Daddy's shoulders.
What is that saying about toddlers only having a 2 minute attention span? Penelope played at this bike rack for 20 minutes. She went in and out of the dividers, balanced on the beam, practiced jumping (squat way down and then take a step). Finally she left the bike rack when we pointed to dogs across the park.
Penelope and Chris checking out the falls. She has been taking that teddy bear everywhere with her. Of course, the one white stuffed animal we own is the one she chooses to be her lovey.

We switched the Burley on the way back. Penelope screamed her head off the entire time. We stopped a couple of times, but there really aren't places to play along the way so we just kept going with a screaming banshee in the back. We did the 5 miles back much faster than we should have...we will both be sore tomorrow!

I'm looking forward to many more bike rides this summer. I've already marked out different routes I want to do on my Minneapolis Bike Map! :)