Bike/Walk to School

The Bike/Walk to School program started up again last week. I volunteered to have a station on the bike path last year and it was very stressful because Lex wouldn’t walk without me. We ended up late a few days, or relying on Alan to get him to school, and generally stressed every Thursday. I think it’s a great program though. This spring they were short volunteers so I found myself stepping up again, just to keep the program going. The coordinator kindly gave me a spot that had nearby parking so we could drive there if necessary. Defeats the purpose of bike/walk to school, I know, but you do what you have to do.

Last week the weather was beautiful and we gave the bike thing a shot. Everyone had fun. We ended up being five minutes late to school, but we weren’t the only ones. Let’s hope tomorrow morning’s rain holds off for a few hours!

These are from last week:

riding

Poor Eve had to ride her tiny bike (it made me think of a stunt bike, or a clown bike!) because of a situation with her other bike that is too detailed and dull for me to write about. All is set now so hopefully tomorrow she'll be off and riding with her regular bike.

chalk

I brought sidewalk chalk along so the kids wouldn't get bored while I worked. Work = watching kids on the path, making sure no one gets hurt, helping them cross a little side street.

eve

Eve drew pretty pictures.

lex

Lex drew a welcome message and a hopscotch board. A very little one. :)

I suspect tomorrow won’t be as beautiful. Hopefully the adventure will go smoothly though.

Quechee Bridge

We stopped by the Quechee Bridge today to take a look. It’s amazing what Hurricane Irene did to it. The kids were suitably awestruck.

This is what it used to look like:

Quechee Covered Bridge

Quechee Covered Bridge, found through a Google search on Galen Frysinger's website: http://www.galenfrysinger.com/vermont_covered_bridge_45_14_a.htm

Here is today:

They have support beams and piping in the bridge now. Still trying to decided how to fix or replace it.

The water rushed through this real estate office on the banks of the river. Amazing how it just took the walls apart.

The falls, just upstream from the bridge.

Why are they flying this flag, we wondered.

Water is pretty powerful!

A crafty afternoon

It’s cold and raining outside today, so this afternoon we kept busy inside instead. We baked peanut butter cookies (YUM!), and made crafts from left over paper bags from Eve’s birthday party, and started a top-secret craft project that I’ve been working on (if you count “thinking about” as working) for about a year now. What’s slower than molasses in January? Me with craft projects!

eve

Eve made a "subway" for her new otter. I think that was the final idea. It went through many changes as she added to it.

lex p1

Lex made a "periscope mask" by attaching an empty butter box to a paper bag.

lex p2

He can see through the box, kind of.

cookies

I made some "sustaining food" to get us through these dark and crafty days.

painting

The start of our top-secret project. Eve loves painting. She'd do it all day if I let her. :)

lex p3

The mask gets some decorative details.

lex p4

All done. Until tomorrow anyway.

Ok, off to get the kids in bed. Alan bathed them tonight so I could do some work. Blogging counts as work, right? :)