This Week in Pictures

I know the week isn't quite over yet (although it seems like it's been long enough already) but I have a few random photos to post and none of them seemed worthy of their own blog post. The good thing about this week is that we all seem to be back to full health. It's sad how quickly you go back to taking good health for granted once you are well again.

First, we spent a quiet Father's Day at church in the morning and then at home. We watched some golf, and cheered for Rocco, cuz' his name is so cool. If we had a little more Italian or Latin sounding last name, I'd seriously consider Rocco as a name if we had a son. Scot agreed that if we ever go into the Witness Protection Program we can pick a cool Italian last name and change our boy's name to Rocco. Among other things, Riley and I gave Scot this tee shirt because it does a good job of summing up his feelings toward his favorite food group.

Last week I bought a child bike seat off Craigslist so Riley and I can go for morning rides together. We've also been looking at used bike trailers, but since we've only got one kid (for now) I thought the seat would be more fun, since Riley and I could interact more if she's sitting above my back tire than we could if she was in a trailer a few feet behind me.

Using the child seat is conditional on two things. The first is Riley must be willing to leave her bike helmet on. We bought one for her about a month ago, but at first she hated it. If we even got near her with it she'd start flinging her arms, whining, and shaking her head. I noticed that as soon as she learned to sign and say hat she became much more willing to wear her sun hat. I thought the same might be true for the bike helmet, so I brought it in from the garage. But no luck. We left it inside with all her toys for a couple of days and let her get used to carrying it around, etc. On Saturday night I grabbed my bike helmet and wore it around the house for the entire evening...cooked dinner in it and everything. Scot and I repeatedly pointed out "Mommy's hat" and "Riley's hat." By the end of that evening she was willing to put hers on her head, but she wouldn't let us buckle it, and she wouldn't leave it on for more that 10 seconds or so. But we just kept working on it, and by Tuesday she was happily wandering around the house in her cute "chick" helmet.

Now if I could only meet the second condition: getting the seat installed on my bike. I'm half way there, but I'm a little confused about the second clamp. And it's just too darn hot to stay outside very long to figure it out.

This morning we ate scrambled eggs and chocolate donut holes: the breakfast of champions. Riley was definitely a fan of chocolate for breakfast.

UPDATE: I'm a see it and recreate it kind of person. When it comes to crafty things, I can usually make something that I've seen in a picture. But with a few exceptions, (Riley's birthday cupcakes) I don't think of things on my own. This was my problem with the bike seat. I was handed a seat, a rack, and a baggie full of nuts, bolts, and brackets. No instructions, no visual of what it looked like when it was put together. This was why I got stuck on the installation.

Fortunately for me, I'm married to a very mechanically-inclined husband. He looked at the rack and the brackets for about 20 seconds and then showed me how it all fit together. So now we are ready to ride! But not before tomorrow morning. Last night it was 104 here at 6:30 pm, and tonight probably won't be any cooler.