2016 Canadian Vacation: All I Wanna Do Is Bicycle

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Once upon a time vacations for Daniel and I meant spending as much time outside doing activities we love. We used to visit Hilton Head and spend our time biking all over the island. Laying on the beach and swimming wasn't really our thing.

Our vacations tend to involve experiences like backpacking in the Smokies, camping in Hawaii, climbing Mt. Washington in New Hampshire (when I was pregnant with Jack), white water rafting on the New River in West Virginia, white water kayaking on the frigid Nantahala River in North Carolina and biking the North Carolina portion of the Cherohala Skyway.

And then we had kids.

To be honest, in terms of our love for outdoor activities, babies threw us for a bit of a loop. Don't get me wrong, we still did (and do) more with our kids than the average family, but it was definitely less than what we were accustomed to.

The last few years we settled into beach vacations. Driving down to a condo on the Gulf. Relaxing by the water. Maybe taking our bikes for a spin. But it was a lot slower than what we were used to. Nice, but definitely different. 

This year we had a change of plans, heading north to visit my extended family. We decided to spend a week and rent our own cottage on a lake. It was important to us to be in close proximity to my family reunion, but being on the water was important.

As luck would have it, we rented a cottage right on the north end of Lake Simcoe, a 10-minute drive from my aunt and uncle AND right next to the Oro-Medonte Rail Trail.

On top of that, the week before we left for vacation, Jack spontaneously taught himself how to ride his bike. And just like that we were incredibly excited about the possibilities of our vacation. 

Right before Jack learned how to ride, Daniel had decided to buy a trail-a-bike. This contraption hooks onto the back of Daniel's bike converting it to a bicycle built for two. We also had a bike trailer for Isaac that Jack could ride in if he got tired.

So off we went to Canada, kayak and bikes in tow.

Our cottage had a half-mile gravel drive and Jack practiced riding on it daily. He crashed occasionally but would hop up, proudly show us road rash on his arms or knees and get back on his bike. He only cried a couple of times.

From our cottage, we could take the Oro-Medonte Rail Trail into the town of Orillia to eat dinner. Restaurants were between 2-3 miles from our cottage. 

The first night Jack proudly road his little bike, making it the entire way (about 5 miles round trip) to dinner. He would periodically have to stop – his hands would get sore from riding on gravel paths, but he did great and we were incredibly proud of him.

Our second night, we decided to let Jack ride on the trail-a-bike as we went further into town. This allowed us to go faster and much further. 

We had planned on an 8-mile round trip, but we took a wrong turn and ended up going 11 miles. Jack rode the ENTIRE way on the trail-a-bike.

By our final night of riding to dinner, Jack had taught himself how to balance on his bike, riding with his hands sticking straight out to the side! Whenever he got tired of sitting, instead of stopping, he would just stand on his pedals.

On the trail-a-bike he could stay on the bike and ride on bigger roads. He proudly told EVERYONE that he got to ride on the highway. Just FYI, it was not a highway, just a country road for a short distance to our trail.

We had such a blast riding bikes on this trip. Isaac is already showing keen interest in wheels and I know it won't be long until we can go on much longer rides with both of our boys. 

I'm pretty sure that we biked at least 20 miles as a family during the week. Daniel thinks it was closer to 30! We are thrilled to be back in the saddle, riding longer distances.

My next post will be about our paddling experience on Lake Simcoe.

Video of Jack riding on two different sized bikes

and Daniel showing off his little kid bike skills.

2016 Canadian Vacation: Lock Flock

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As I mentioned in yesterday's post, a big component of the location for our vacation this year included visiting my extended family – the Lock Flock. More specifically, we were planning to attend the Lock family reunion at my aunt and uncle's villa on Bass Lake outside of Orillia, Ontario.

There was a span of several years in the past when our family would get together in Kentucky or Ohio for a few days each August, but as our family has grown, and life circumstances have changed, we have let that go. 

Instead we tend to get together in a more geographic sense – the southern Locks connecting when possible during the year, and the northern Locks doing likewise. 

I am thankful that my nana always manages to come south at least once a year, and occasionally some southern Locks make the trip north or the northern Locks come down to the Nashville area around New Year's, but we rarely get together as a big group.  

My last trip to Canada was three years ago for a wedding. Weddings and funerals, that's about the only time you can get a significant number of us together these days...

The last time our ENTIRE family was together was at my grandpa's funeral almost four years ago. With over 2,000 miles between us (my sister lives in Tallahasse, Florida and we have a cousin who lives on Manitoulin Island, Ontario), it is nearly impossible for all of us to see each other. 

Another cousin is currently working in Lake Louise, Alberta (3,300 miles west of where our reunion took place), so getting together is challenging. 

Besides the number of miles, there are just a lot of us. My mom is one of five siblings, and with 16 children between them and 12 additional grandchildren, there are upwards of 48 people (I think) in this one family. How do you bring that many people, that are scattered here and yon, together under one roof? It's a bit of a logistics nightmare.

So this summer, we traveled north. Thirty of the 48 family members were able to connect during a 3-day period (though not everyone overlapped). We visited, swam, jumped off cliffs together, played cards and watched the Olympics.

I have missed this great big family of mine. I have to say that one of the things that brings me the greatest joy in life is seeing other people (especially family) experiencing joy from spending time with my children. I can't explain it, but it makes my heart about burst. 

On this trip I loved watching Jack spend time with my nana, my parents, all of his great aunts and uncles, and some of my cousins. I love to see him forming new bonds. I love that he requests to sit with certain people for meals, or his connection to my Uncle Mike and his desire to snorkel with him every chance he could. 

I loved seeing Isaac charm everyone and get to meet many of my family for the first time. I wish these get togethers happened more frequently and that I was able to see the cousins who couldn't make it, but I am so grateful for these moments and I am looking forward to future shindigs in years to come (even if it means every other year for us).

Another special part of this year's get together, was celebrating my parent's 40th anniversary and my aunt and uncle's 25th. 

Two years ago I wrote about the significance of 25 years of marriage in our family and it is always a blessing to me to see another couple reach this milestone. 

My Aunt Bethany and Uncle Chris are the 5th in our family to reach 25 years of marriage. The next to receive our special teapot will be my cousin, Chuck and his wife Kylie, ten years from now. As I wrote previously, "I know it is just a teapot, but it is something to strive for. It is a reminder that people before us have worked through difficulties and carried on in good times and in bad. I feel blessed to have this tradition in our family."

I am so grateful for this big family of mine. 

I am grateful for the memories we are creating together and the memories my boys will have to last a lifetime. 

I look forward to future trips to Canada and all of the things we have yet to experience.

2016 Canadian Vacation: Why We Drove 1000 Miles to Canada (or something like that)

Every so often Daniel will inform me that I need to write a blog post because he doesn't know what has been going on in his life. Ha! 

Last week I took a hiatus from blogging and somewhat from social media, Instagramming a daily collage of what we had going on but nothing too time intensive (#mohausfamilyvacation2016). Afterall, we were on vacation and I wanted to soak in the slowness of it all, enjoying the great outdoors and my family. 

We have been home for two days now, so I guess it is time to share about our recent travels (for the future us, and anyone else who follows along here).

I guess I'll start at the very beginning. For those of you who don't know, and for my kids who will learn these histories later, my mom is from Canada and about two-thirds of her family currently live in Canada. 

Growing up, I briefly lived in the United States (kindergarten through second grade), but prior to that time I lived in Papua New Guinea, and for grades 4-6 I lived in Canada (I skipped the third grade). 

The summer before seventh grade we moved to Arkansas to be closer to my dad's mom. My grandma was alone and parents felt called to be closer to her to help her with my grandfather who was dying at the time. They ended up staying in Arkansas all of this time... my grandma died earlier this year, almost 25 years after that decision to move south.

After we moved to Arkansas, we would spend a portion of every summer traveling up to Canada to spend about two weeks with extended family. It was the only "vacation" I ever knew. When Daniel and I were married we didn't understand each other's idea of vacation. 

To me, vacation meant driving a long way and cramming in as much visiting with my huge extended family as possible. To him, vacation meant a trip to the beach or Disney World where his family might spend the week doing their own activities. Neither is right or wrong, just different. During the course of our almost 14 years of marriage, we have had to learn to compromise on this.

As a child those 18-hour trips to Canada every summer are seared in my memory. I don't remember specifics about the trips, certainly not the long hours in the car or sleeping on the floor in cousin's rooms. But I do remember the sense of family, and hearing my mom's mythical stories from when she was a kid – floating down the river where she lived, skating across lakes, being tied to a tree by her brother and his friends, among many other crazy stories.

My own time in Canada (age 8.5-11.5) provided a period in my life where I did the most exploring and coming-to-age type of things. My best friend and I would climb out of her bedroom window (on the second floor) and drop off a low roof onto the ground in the middle of the night. Just because we could. We would wander around the neighborhood, enjoying the silence. Once we cross country skied down the street. Another time we climbed onto the roof of our elementary school. We swam in the St. Clair River and did the silly things that pre-teens do. These stories, and others, are what I think of the most when I think of my childhood.

The last time we made this drive to Canada was for my grandpa's funeral 3.5 years ago (Jack and I flew up for a cousin's wedding three years ago), but we haven't been back for more than a few days since 2013. I really wanted to attend an impromptu reunion last summer, but Isaac was practically a newborn and Daniel was working crazy hours, so I told Daniel that this would be the summer we would go back. I needed to reconnect and I felt like it was time.

I also decided we should drive through the town where I lived when I was in elementary school. The stop added extra time to a significantly long trip, but it was important to me, so Daniel acquiesced.

We crossed at the Blue Water bridge that links Port Huron, Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario. I had forgotten how blue-green the water was. I reminisced about my families weekly trips across this bridge to buy gas and groceries in the States. I remembered swimming in Lake Huron and the St. Clair River. 

We drove through Chemical Valley on our way to the small town of Corunna. It didn't smell anything like it did when I was a kid. Forty percent of the chemicals produced in Canada are made here and we lived right down the road. Not something to be proud of but definitely something burned in my memory. I remember trying to hold my breath whenever we drove down this 15-mile stretch of road.

I showed Daniel my elementary school, now shuttered. It seemed much smaller than I remembered. 

We went by the ferry that takes you to the island in the middle of the St. Clair River. A friend of mine had a grandmother who lived on the island and we would visit her in the summer. We would go to the tip of the island and float from one end to the other.

Daniel and I also went by the townhouses I used to live in and the spot across the street where I was hit by a car when I was 10. It was strange to see as an adult. The townhouses are now rundown. We also took a moment to drive a section of my paper route and I shared how I used to race on my bike, in the winter, to see how fast I could complete the route. I became quite adept at riding on ice and snow.

So many memories. My kids didn't care so much about my stories (Daniel shushed me through some of my stories, I guess he doesn't want Jack to get any ideas). It's been almost 25 years since I left. I've never been back.

I am Facebook friends with a few of the girl's that I went to elementary school with. They probably don't know it, but those years, the good and the bad, they are all wrapped up in my psyche. My memories from this place are the ones most dear, the ones I think of when I think of coming of age and my childhood.

I'm glad we made the stop, even if it made our long trip longer. So, that's it. In a nutshell... Why we drove to Canada. Why we made a stop in my old town. Why I figured taking two kids under the age of five, and a dog, and a bunch of gear 1000 miles north made perfect sense.

Daniel says that my family and these epic trips to Canada aren't normal. Actual vacation posts in the days to come.

Outside 365 | July 2016

I recently read a post about lazy parenting and I have to confess that this is a parenting philosophy that I lean toward. The idea is that my laziness will cause my kids to develop independence and skills sooner than if I just did everything for them. Or maybe I've just confessed to the internet that I am lazy. Either way, if you are a parent, the post is worth a read.

 

We have just wrapped up our 7th month of intentionally spending a portion of every day outdoors. As I write, Isaac is napping and Jack and I are enjoying a cool morning on our back deck. The month of July has provided some much needed rain in our area of the country, and we have taken advantage of the cloud cover and breezes that have blown our way. And sometimes we just go play in the rain.

We kicked of the month of July outside as a family celebrating our country's independence. We took a trip to Florida to see cousins where we were able to spend a day at the beach. We hung out at playgrounds and swam with friends. We saw a play at a local outdoor amphitheater. And we took family bike rides. Our most exciting news is that Jack taught himself how to ride a bike.

Lazy or not (I guess that is relative to each person), it was another good month in the books.

A Look Back at Project Outside 365:
January 2016 ⎮ February 2016 ⎮ March 2016 ⎮ April 2016 ⎮ May 2016 ⎮ June 2016

Look Mom, No Training Wheels!

Following on the heels of my last post –the one where I said They Grow Up Before We're Ready– Jack decided to start riding his bike sans training wheels last week.

When we first moved here we bought him two used bikes. One had training wheels and one didn't. So Daniel removed the pedals on the one without training wheels so he would have a version of a balance bike to ride around on. Over the last couple of years he has used both. The one with training wheels has been great on our back deck where he has mastered riding fast in circles.

We have also worked with him on basic road riding skills, taking neighborhood rides where he has tackled small hills and learned to stop at stop signs and pay attention to cars and pedestrians. Whenever he rides down a hill, Daniel always encourages him to try to find his balance – that sweet spot where the training wheels would lift off the ground and the speed would allow him to glide.

Fast forward to last Thursday night. Jack was excited about Daniel's new motorcycle (update on that later) and he decided he would pretend to race his motorcycle (aka his bike with no training wheels that now has pedals on it) in the garage.

So he would balance and push forward until he was going fast enough to pick up his feet and pedal. 

I should mention that he was doing this on gravel. With no helmet. 

Within a short period, he was getting in about 8 pedal strokes as he rode across our driveway – with only a few pointers from Daniel. 

Friday morning he wanted to show me his newly acquired skills. So while baby brother napped, Jack practiced his "motorcycle racing" from the garage into the driveway. When he had successfully made it across the flat part of the driveway a few times, I asked him to try to pedal further. He then got it in his head that he was going to go all the way up our steep, gravel driveway.

He surprised me by making it about halfway up. Repeatedly.

#proudmama #jackjack #ridingwithouttrainingwheels #lifewithapreschooler #mohausoutside365 #mohaus2016

A video posted by Cheree Moore (@mo_haus) on Jul 29, 2016 at 8:10am PDT

That evening we all went to the playground to see what Jack could do. He proceeded to ride on the dirt trails at the park, around the baseball diamond, and even attempted to ride over a low wooden curb.

Daniel tried to give him input, especially about the curb, and Jack would stubbornly tell his daddy that he could do it. He crashed on the curb. But then he tried again.

Stubbornness and determination run in our family. Maybe it's a firstborn thing?

I have no idea. But at 4.5 years old, Jack is blowing us away with figuring out how to ride with minimal help from us. Daniel and I are excited because this means that taking Jack mountain biking with us isn't that far away.

As for little brother, he is proudly showing off his walking skills and has an interest in wheels as well.