I Want to Ride my Bicycle

We have had absolutely gorgeous weather lately for it being November in Minnesota. I'm trying to take advantage of it, but that doesn't always work out. Today I encouraged Anders to ride his bike to the Nature Center--and he went along with it, after a bit of coaxing. It was our first big bike ride (other than just going around the pond by our house) and the first one where I got to ride my bike with Nils in the trailer instead of having to walk along beside him.

He's still riding with training wheels, so I had to pedal particularly slow, but it was a lot of fun. I think he enjoyed it, too. I'm looking forward to the future when we can hit a bike trail as a family.

One of the frustrating parts of this past year has been trying to fit in exercise. The boys are big enough where they want to ride their own bikes/trikes instead of riding in a stroller, but they're also new enough at it that its slow and we stop a lot and we don't go very far. Which means I don't get much exercise out of the deal. Not that its all about me. But it is a bit--I do need the exercise for my physical and emotional health.

If there isn't time to fit in a walk or bike ride during the day (or some soccer play in the park with the boys), my main exercise outlet becomes turning on some good music and trying to "actively" clean the house. Or dance while I do dishes. It's quite a site, I know. But there's isn't room in the budget for a gym membership. It also becomes way too easy to make up excuses about not having money to exercise or time in the day. You've just got to find ways to make it happen. And I personally like the ways that don't cost anything so much more than buying a gym membership.

Next summer . . . there's hope for some good bike rides now. Hooray!