Riding the Range

Back in the day before children, when time and money were in more abundance,Travis and I used to like to bike. In fact, years back I actually bought a nice mountain bike and we started riding dirt trails. (Have I ever told you the story about the time I fell off my bike when we were at a complete standstill? Yep, leave it to me to "crash" not from hitting a rock, not from running into a branch in the trail... nope, just while at a stop, with my feet touching the ground I manage to somehow have a moment where I lose my center of gravity. A freak moment where I just fall over for no good reason. Classic Beth maneuver. What can I say? I'm just a dork and always have been.)

Well, naturally, just when I was starting to really get into it, (biking, not being a dork), what do you think happened? Yep, along came Brianna and it's not highly recommended that pregnant women go bouncing over dirt trails on their bike. So, several years and a dusty bike later, we decided to try to pick it up again and just recently acquired a bike trailer. It's nice because it will fit both kids comfortably and even has room for a few supplies. Way better than the cheap-o baby bike backseat thing we tried when we only had one kiddo. So, the other day we loaded everything up and headed out to find a good trail.

The new trailer. It worked out really well, even on a dirt path. We ended up driving all the way up the the top of the Idaho/Montana border and we were literally riding the mountain range, the continental divide.


The kids are really into staying hydrated. You know, nothing like a refreshing drink of cool water after a grueling 300 yards riding passively in a bike trailer and one or the other kid pitching some kind of fit every 20 feet. Oh well, such is bike riding with small children I guess. At least we tried right?

Bree's really into the novelty of the backpack water system.

Who needs biking anyways? It's much more fun to make silly faces once your parents give up and finally get out the blanket and snacks and let you play around in the woods for awhile.

That Noah, so sassy with his tongue sticking out. I just don't know where he gets it.....

Actually it was really nice to just sit and relax away from all the hustle and bustle and noise and craziness of life that it's so easy to get swept into and just have a fun with your kids, or in the case of the next few pix, just have a nice mother/son moment.

(Disclaimer: Okay, I know darn well that these are shots Travis wouldn't be that thrilled about me sharing with you because they turned out a bit blurry. But you see, we have a bit of a philosophical difference of opinion when it comes to pictures. He thinks that it's all about the technical quality and I say that it's the content that matters and that pictures can be cute and worth having even if, due to fast moving subjects or camera malfunction, they aren't in crystal clarity focus.)

How can anyone resist that smile?

Coming in for a big ol' sloppy kiss with Mom. Awww...

Oh, and of course, the best part of any biking trip.... nothing makes you feel more like the queen of the forest as does, after conquering the fine art of outdoor peeing, standing there regally in your underpants. I do it all the time myself. :P