Bike Rides, Hikes and Giant Spiders

BIG NEWS! This past Sunday Ryan learned how to ride a bike without training wheels! We took his training wheels off at the beginning of the summer and he and Zach had been out practicing a handful of times before, but this time something clicked. It's been two days since his first ride and he is a regular biking pro! He loves to ride around the block with his buddy from down the street. It's amazing how fast kids can pick up new skills. I am so happy for him! 

Brady also had some success on Ryan's bike. He got a balance bike for his 3rd birthday. The biggest hurdle for Ryan was the balancing, so I figured with Brady's experience on the balance bike, a two wheeler wouldn't be much trouble at all for him. I was right! (I usually am.) Unfortunately, we only have the one bike so now we need to find one for Brady so he can practice and keep up with Ryan! 

We went on a little impromptu hike up American Fork Canyon last weekend. We really didn't make adequate preparations for going hiking in the heat of the day, in July, in a heat wave- but we managed to have fun anyway. I didn't think to pack a single drink or snack. I also neglected to throw the baby's hiking backpack in the car. Luckily, it's just a ten minute drive home and Zach has strong shoulders, so everyone survived.

At some point Brady must have sat down in the dust. I didn't see him do it, but his shorts speak for themselves.

Like I mentioned previously, we are having a little heat wave here in Utah. Super hot days lend to lazy summer afternoons with the blow up pool. I thought Camden would enjoy getting in. I was wrong. (That never happens!) However, he was happy to sit at the edge of the pool and fill and dump this watering can all over himself. Luckily, our neighborhood is full of kids who at eager to get in a wading pool and have some fun, so I didn't fill it up for nothing!

Sensing that Camden wasn't ever going to get all the way into the wading pool, I pulled out his little water table and he had fun playing in it for the majority of our time outside. It was later in the afternoon when I noticed something under the water of the water table. It was a giant spider. Can you see it? It must have crawled into the bottom bin at some point while we were away and by the time I saw it the bottom bin had some water along the edges, so the spider was trapped.

I waited to do anything with it (other than show some enthusiastic boys who tried to tell me it was a squid or a frog... it was that big) until Zach got home from work. It must have dried out a little bit because when I went out after dinner to check on it, it's legs were all spread out like nasty spider legs usually are. I wanted to get a picture so I placed a quarter beside it for scale (My heart stopped and I think I was legally dead for those 1.7 seconds it took me to put the quarter in the bin). Ryan, Brady and I were all bent over the bin looking at it when Brady leaned on the bin and it tipped for a brief second. The spider jumped, I screamed and Brady cried. It was quite a sight for the neighbors, I'm sure.

The spider was so huge I didn't know what to do. Insects reach a certain size and the thought of squishing it with my shoe seems a little too much to handle. Instead of squashing it like the disgusting, creepy life form it is, Zach came out and tossed the water and spider into the vacant lot beside our house. I hope this wins me some good karma in the spider world and it will find a new home away from my house. If not, and it comes back to my house, I WILL sell my house and move out of the state. Watch me.

Last night during family night it came time to say the opening prayer. We were all gathered in the front room preparing to pray when I noticed Camden doing this:

Oh my goodness! When did he learn to do that? It was the cutest little thing I have ever seen him do and he did it again for the closing prayer too! It's times like these that warm my little mother heart. They also make the non-stop fussy, cranky, teething toddler moments a little more bearable. I'm just glad I got a picture!