Cloudland Canyon Hike, and a Bigger Oset Bike

At the beginning of April I shared about Daniel getting the boys their first Oset Trials Bike. It is actually the perfect size for Isaac, but he needs to work a bit more on his mastery.

Jack is on the upper end of being able to use it. Since it is an electric bike, it runs down quickly when he rides due to his size/weight and the fact that he pushes it harder than Isaac does.

Daniel has had his eye on the next size bike and was excited when one became available less than a month after the purchase of the first bike.

It is actually two sizes bigger, but Daniel thought Jack could handle it. So we piled the boys in the car and went to Cloudland Canyon for a day hike, but also to meet the seller (we kept this a surprise for the kids).

After a quick rim hike, the seller arrived and we had Jack demo the bike in an open area of the park. I think the seller was surprised that Jack could handle the bigger bike (the seller's son was 11 and Jack was only six at the time our the test ride).

Jack had a slow start, but proved he could stand on the bike, and maneuver it just fine.

After buying and loading the Oset into the back of our SUV, we drove around the park to the other rim and did a second hike.

Isaac was not thrilled to be high up on Daniel's back looking down into the canyon, so we had to cut our hikes short.

We didn't get to do any long hikes today, but we did come home with a bigger trials bike and now need to acquire another helmet since it looks like the boys will be riding together soon.

The only caveat for Jack is that we are requiring him to work to help pay a portion of the bike. Until he earns enough, he will continue to share the smaller Oset bike with Isaac.

Oset Trials Bike

Jack has a friend who has a dirt bike that he has graciously let Jack learn how to ride. When Jack was four, he gave it a try but immediately dropped it and decided he would wait until he was five.

Don't watch this video (grandparents!) if you don't want to see your grandson's first crash...

When he was five, he actually rode it but it still made him nervous. Over the last month, he has finally gotten comfortable on it. So much so, that he actually managed to throw himself off of it because he loves going fast. Don't worry, he was wearing a helmet and he was in a grassy field.

Daniel has a love for dirt bikes and that love is quickly transferring to our boys. He has been taking Jack to a TKO race in the woods each fall, and also showing them YouTube videos of dirt bikes and also trials bikes.

Jack getting a little too comfortable with going fast on the dirt bike.

Jack has been talking about getting a trials bike for awhile, and Isaac has been telling us that when he was three he would be big enough to ride a motorcycle. So last week, thanks to Craigslist, Daniel made those dreams come true.

He bought a 12" Trials Bike, which is really perfect for Isaac and Jack ride it too, even though he is about too big for it. Daniel likes this bike for the kids because he can control how fast the boys ride it. For Isaac he can turn the regulator way down for Isaac so that it is almost a crawl. This allowed Isaac to get comfortable balancing on the bike before Daniel turned it up to allow him to go fast enough to put his feet on the pegs. Surprisingly, he did it!

For Jack, Daniel adjusts it to go much faster. Jack can manage to stand on the pegs and whip around the park on it, no problem. He has already asked about trying to climb over logs and learn tricks. On thing at a time, little one!

Daniel did let him make a small pile of branches to ride across, we were surprised when Isaac headed for it. He has just turned three and is already determined to ride over an obstacle!

If you missed it, or want to see more videos, here are some other firsts Isaac has had recently:
First Time at the Pump Track on a Balance Bike
First Time Riding a Bike with No Training Wheels

Nature Day at Green Gorge with Both Boys

We changed things up a bit today. We woke up and it was 31 degrees but was supposed to get up to 70F by the afternoon. 

So we waited until after we picked up Isaac from preschool to do our nature hike and Isaac got to tag along. 

We chose Green Gorge because it’s a short hike and I knew Isaac could handle it. 

It also follows a creek the whole way, so I was pretty confident that Isaac would stay interested. 

Of course Jack wanted to run ahead the whole time and Isaac didn’t like being left behind, but he did the whole hike himself (even after sticking a foot in the water!).

The weather was perfect and now I know we can keep hiking this summer when Isaac is out of preschool. 

The focus of today's lesson was the plant life cycle. 

Jack’s favorite thing about seeds getting dispersed is that animals can eat seeds and poop them out later

Check back on Tuesdays to see where our nature studies have taken us...
Previous Nature Hikes with Jack: 

September: Green Gorge, Althaus Park, and Mabbit Springs

October: Reflection Riding Center (Monday Nature Day with friends) ⎮ Joyce Kilmer Wilderness Among Trees (hike we did as a family) ⎮ Greenway Farms Nature Day (family archery lesson and hike)
November: Glen Falls ⎮ Mushroom Rock (with Mommy and Daddy) ⎮ Raccoon Mountain

December: The Boulders ⎮ Toccoa River (family hike)⎮ Amnicalola Falls (family hike)

January: Green Gorge ⎮ Rainbow Lake
February: Stringers Ridge ⎮ Green Gorge ⎮ Mushroom Rock ⎮ Green Gorge ⎮ Mushroom Rock (family hike) ⎮ Possum Creek (family hike) ⎮Greenway Farms
March: Creative Writing Exercise on the Mushroom Rock ⎮ Vernal Equinox Hike at Green Gorge ⎮ Mabbit Springs ⎮ Nature Week: Ritchie Hollow, Greenway Farms, and Big Soddy Gulf ⎮ Rainbow Lake