Karen has been having a wonderful time with her biking, both solo rides and tag-along rides with the girls. On Monday Karen did a 32 mile ride along highway 80 from Mayfield to Columbus-Belmont State Park in Columbus, KY. The park sits right on the east side of the Mississippi River and is the site of a Civil War battle. The girls, Lucy, and I drove to the park to meet Karen and had a picnic lunch overlooking the river. Another thing Karen has discovered with the bike is the Vittetoe Express. That is what she calls the biking contraption she put together that allows her and all three of the girls to ride in one long train together. She takes her bike and attaches the runabout, which is a bike with only one wheel and a long arm that attaches to her bike in place of the front wheel, and makes a two person tandem bike. Then she hooks up our bike trailer to the back of the runabout and pulls two girls in it. It looks like a long bike train going down the road and she says it gets lots of attention from passersby when they see the Vittetoe Express.

Over the weekend, we had a chance to take the girls fishing for their first time. Zak and Elizabeth know some people who own a small farm with a pond and they invited us over to let the girls try some fishing. We had a great time and quite a bit of success. Each of the girls caught at least one fish each and were super excited to reel in their catch! We caught a mix of bass and blue gill which we later had as part of our dinner. While at the farm, we also got a little tour of the farmers chicken coop where they raise hens for eggs. All in all it was a great experience for their first time fishing.

Coming to Kentucky we knew it was going to be hot, but coming from the dry Colorado climate we are not quite use to the sticky humid air. So needless to say swimming will be a regular activity for us here. We bought the girls a small blow-up pool to use here at the house which has been a perfect activity for when the girls get too bored. Over the weekend we also went to Lake Barkley Resort State Park where we had a picnic lunch and a few hours of swimming. I sat this one out, the sand blah!, but the girls had a great time playing in the water and sand. Public pools are pretty scarce around here and the closest one is about a 30 minute drive. We made the trip yesterday so we could see how it is and the girls had a great time regardless of the drive.

We are trying several different activities to fill our time and so we can see more of Kentucky. This weekend we are doing at least on night of camping. Lucy’s first time! Hopefully all goes well.

She can do so many things for us now–get Riona dressed in her pajamas, fill everyone’s water cup, empty the trashes and recycle bins, clean up her room, dust the shelves, put away the lower dishes. And so many things for herself–ride a two-wheeler, roller skate, in-line skate, ice skate, read the Magic Treehouse books, write letters to and about her boyfriends, read the instructions to and complete her homework… it’s almost too much to take in! Is she still a little girl? Am I still allowed to refer to her as a little girl? I think by the time she’s eight she might be as tall as me!

She decided on an all-girl tea party for her seventh birthday celebration, and when I told her that it would be three hours long, twice the length of most of the parties she attends, she replied, “Three hours is not long enough for me.” And after three hours of tea, sandwiches, cake, eight games, two crafts, and nine screaming girls, she put on a pouty face when it was over and asked, “What now?” Limitless energy! She is the last to go to sleep and the first to awaken.

Isabella, my oldest daughter, still relishes in being the center of attention, just like when she was the baby and was not only the first child, but the first grandchild. She will always be a social butterfly, always fight for her rights, and always know just how to manipulate every situation to her liking. Gee, I wonder where she gets it??

As sad as I was when she began first grade this year, I have come to accept this new age. Seven. Wow. Soon I will have a tween, a teen, a college student, a bride. And I know I will enjoy all of her ages, as screaming and wild as they may be. Happy birthday, little (big) girl!

Isabella riding her bike with no training wheels.

Isabella has started to learn to ride her bicycle without training wheels. For a while now her bike has only had one training wheel on it. Her bike was run over by one of our cars when it was left sitting behind the cars in the garage. Luckily the only damage done was one of the training wheels was bent beyond use. Isabella had lost interest in riding her bike since she could only lean to one side without falling over. Well yesterday she decided she wanted to get her bike out and try riding it again. She was so excited to let us know she could balance on two wheels without using the one remaining training wheel. We went out to watch her ride around a bit and noticed she would still lean on the training wheel sometimes. I asked her if she would like to have the training wheel off and she agreed. It only took her a few times to realize she couldn’t lean that way anymore without falling over. The hardest part for her was getting started. We adjusted the seat, to make up for the growth spurt since she last rode it, which seemed to help her a little bit more on the take offs. With a little more practice she will be a biking champ like her mom.

If you would like to see a few more pictures of Isabella on her bike, check out the Fun Times gallery on our SmugMug photo page.