When you give a boy a bike

If you give a boy a bike, he will want to go fast.

You’ll buy him the best bike you can find, and then he will need a helmet, gloves and shoes too.

Then, he will probably spend hours begging you to take him to the track, even though you may want to sit on the couch and watch tv. He will insist. And his insistence will win.

And when a boy gets a jersey, he will need pants and socks to go with it. And a TEAM…..

And then life as you know it will end.

There will be no more lazy weekends watching tv. You will see more sunrises than you ever thought possible. Every spare minute of your time will be spent hauling coolers and tents and this crazy boy all over tarnation for hours to practice for a race.
THE RACE.

And your house will be a mess. And your car will be dirty. All because you gave a boy a bike.

Your weekends will be spent freezing or burning to death on a fold up chair. And his weekends will be spent gaining confidence and friends, and learning new skills and having fun and getting dirty.

And you will be there the day he makes his first transfer, first podium, first win. And he will make you SO proud. The other parents will congratulate you. But you feel weird saying thank you because it's not you on the track, it’s him. It's everything him. He did this.

And right before your eyes, your little boy will be transformed from the baby who spun around on his training wheels into an expert.

When you give a boy a bike , you give him more than just something to ride. You give him a sport, and a talent, and hope, and dreams, and friends, a new family, a place to learn about life, room to grow as a person where he can push his limits, and bravery, and courage and LIFE, and memories. And he will have ALL of these things, simply because you gave a boy a bike.

Because you gave a boy a bike, you too will develop new/lifelong friendships, developed solely from the same passion for the sport. You will root together. And spew PG-13 things out of your mouths together. Because you gave a boy a bike.

Then one day, many years from today….he will be in his room and a certain trophy will catch his eye. And he will pick it up and realize instantly that when you gave that boy a bike, you also gave him a childhood that he would never forget. And then he will hug you, and your eyes may leak – because you realize that everything YOU gave up along the way…..was worth it!

All because you gave a boy a bike

Colton's Birthday

Our buddy Colton turns three and we were lucky enough to celebrate with him at his Spiderman themed party! Colton is a little boy that rides strider bikes with Ben and over the season we have become good friends with his family.

Countless trips down the waterslide, numerous jumps on the trampoline, several throws of water balloons, endless pizza and wings and one amazing cake Aiden left the party describing it as the best party ever. I think you were right buddy!

Ice Cream and the Park

Hot Florida days call for a little bit of park time at a shaded park and some nice cold ice cream!

Homemade Cards

I was feeling under the weather with a bug for a day or so and Jake's parents were kind enough to take the boys for a couple hours and have dinner with them so I could get some rest since Jake was working. They came home with the sweetest handmade cards with written notes of get wells inside.
How could handmade cards from these crazy kids not make you smile?

Fourth of July

Recap of our 4th of July!

Wednesday night I took the easy way out. We all got into our pajamas, packed the kids a snack pack of popcorn, candy and a drink and we all enjoyed the fireworks in my office building. My office is located right across the street to where they were letting fireworks off and it's full of long windows. We had the perfect view and we didn't have to worry about bugs and traffic!

4th of July we took to the beach with the Johnson's for a few hours before the rain came in. We swam, boogie boarded, surfed and Ben and Uncle Chandon built some sandcastles.

In the evening we headed over to Amy and Frankie's house where we all swam in the pool for a few hours. The boys enjoyed doing cannon balls and getting thrown into the water by the bigger boys.

At the end of the night we were all exhausted and ready to head home and call it a night but first we needed to stop for a slurpee!

Lightning Strike

Sunday afternoon we were all at home. Jake and Ben went outside to move his truck. While I was inside and they were outside I heard the loudest crash. I ran outside to make sure they were okay. I had never heard a lightning strike so loud. When I walked outside I had the feeling that it had hit something. I was surprised that we didn't lose power. We came inside and walked back out a few minutes later and we could see ashes falling from the sky. As we looked in the vacant wooded lot next door we could see a fire. I called 911 and Jake went in there with some water to take it down.

The boys were scared but also ecstatic about having a firetruck show up at the house! Ben was in heaven! The firefighter was going to let him hold the hose but he was a little too shy.

Wekiva Falls

After a crazy and hectic week we needed a Sunday to slow down and enjoy some family time. We packed a lunch and ventured out for the day to Wekiva Falls to enjoy the outdoors and most importantly some cold water in this Florida heat.

It's safe to say that everyone had a blast. The falls is the perfect place to go with a bunch of boys as there is something for everyone there to enjoy. It has a beach like entrance with sand for shallow swimming water and building sandcastles. A waterfall in the middle for getting completely soaked and two waterslides for some fun and fast action. It also has a long creek that you can walk through to see the nature and check out the swimming fish. We took several walks down the creek while we were there.

We also ran into Jake's friend Heather and her family. The kids all played together and of course got the treat of some Kona Ice to cool off.

We are definitely looking forward to taking another trip there before the end of the summer.