In Training

Schwarzbeere's kids have been with us often this summer.  His oldest is already proficient on a bike.  He also has a bike but it's not here with us so when he's here he's unable to ride it.  But Blaubeere took care of that for us.  Her kids had outgrown their bikes and they had already replaced them, a while ago.  Then their old bikes sat around taking up space at her house until it occurred to her that Schwarzbeere's kids might be interested in them.  So we brought them over here.  The biggest one was already in good working order and of a size that is well suited for him, so we suggested to Schwarzbeere's oldest that he might be able to ride it.  He liked that idea.   

And so we let him try it out.  He was sold.  Now he just needed someone to ride with him.  That brings us to the Schwarzbeere's other two kids.  Blaubeere had offered a total of three bikes, two of which had been sitting around longer.  They were smaller and needed a bit of work before they would be rideable. Plus, although Schwarzbeere's two youngest had already expressed interest in riding them, they also both felt they needed training wheels to be able to ride them. Alas, they did not have training wheels attached.  I looked at the local stores that carried bike supplies but nobody had them.  So I ended up ordering them online.

And, at last, they came.  It was a while before I had time to work on them but finally the day came.  First step, assemble the training wheels.

That was a relatively simple process, despite poor instructions.  Again, just pictures, no explanations.  What you going to do?  

But it didn't take long before I had the first set done and ready to go on the bike.  I picked the bike the youngest would use because that bike didn't have any flat tires.  

Once the training wheels were on I adjusted the seat to fit her and it was ready to go.

She had been monitoring the whole process pretty closely up to this point so she was only too happy to give it a try.

Riding a bike with training wheels is pretty basic but there are still some basics to learn. But she picked it up pretty quick and pretty soon she was riding around the driveway like an old pro.  She was pretty happy.

The last bike was a different matter.  It was also smaller so I had to adjust the seat as high as it would go.  But that was enough.  It also had a flat.  So that needed to be fixed.  Fortunately, fixing it only required pumping it up.  It held air over night so we were good to go.  But then the front tire. . .   

Try as I might, I couldn't even get air to go into it.  You could hear the air escaping as fast as you pumped. Very frustrating.  I finally stopped and took the tire off.

I took the tube out and inspected it closely.  I also had Schwarzbeere check real close.  He found a hole right by the stem.  Guess that explained it.  So we got a new tube.  I got the new tube in and pumped it up.  I thought I had been careful getting it back together but I must not have been careful enough.  I had it pumped and set it by the bike, ready to go back on, when the tube exploded.  This must be getting to be old stuff, Brombeere didn't come out to see what the noise was this time.  So I had to get another tube.  While I was waiting, I put the training wheels together and got them on.

With the new tube in, it pumped up much better.  With the training wheels on it was ready to go.

The young man sat upon it and was happy.  The bike was generally a bit small but, still, it worked. And it was what we had so I was happy.  

So, after trying it out in the driveway, he was all set, ready to go.  A happy kid. Now we just needed a time when they were all here and the weather was cooperating enough for all of us to go on a ride.  We also need to get helmets for the youngest two.

A few days later we finally had everything, helmets, good weather, and time to take everyone on a ride!

Everyone was out and ready! This was the first ride for the two littlest and, unfortunately, it didn't go as envisioned.  But it was good, very good for a first ride. Instead of a short ride around the block we ended up in a near by parking lot, where it went much better. They got in some good practice. And we hope they will get better and be able to have longer, more fun rides!

A Learning Experience

Recently Erdbeere and her boys came for a visit. And, while they were here, they wanted to learn a little about the fine art of fishing.  So we had arranged for two of their uncles (Schwarzbeere & Himbeere), who are both accomplished fishermen, to come teach them the finer points of fishing.  Or at least give them an introduction to the sport. Schwarzbeere's kids were also with us at the time so we all went to a good spot for kids to fish and got to it.

Because none of the kids had any fishing gear, Schwarzbeere had gotten up early on the appointed day and run to the store to get some.  Then, once we got to the fishing spot, they had to spend some time getting the poles and stuff all ready.  

That was a hard part, some of the kids were impatient. And it does take a few minutes to get five poles set up with bobbers, sinkers, and hooks.

But finally it was done and we all walked the short distance to the water, which we all hoped held lots of little fishies for the kids to catch.

Most of the kids lined themselves up along the bank, spaced far enough apart that we hope they wouldn't snag each other as they learned how to cast their lines.

Some wanted to try fishing from the little pier out over the water.

During the time we were there, they all got pretty good at casting their lines.  Some actually got good at it. As they fished there were a couple of times, actually quite a few times, that lines got tangled around the ends of the pole.  It took them a while to learn how to keep their line from getting wrapped around the end of their own pole.  

We had a couple of chairs along which some took advantage of.

Even though there weren't a lot of weeds, there were several times that lines got tangled in the weeds and had to be untangled and then straightened back out.

In the process, there were a couple of times that bobbers got snapped off the ends of the line.  Sometimes they flipped away and landed on the ground.  Once one landed in the water and took a little teamwork to be retrieved.

And once there was a monster tangle.  In the end, that line got cut and restrung with bobber and sinker before they were back in business.

The kids lasted not quite two hours before they'd had enough.  And unfortunately, nobody caught any fish.  Schwarzbeere was the only one that even got a nibble, although Himbeere expressed some doubt about whether or not that had actually happened.  Both the uncles have seen people pull respectable fish out of this pond so we knew it could be done. But there was a culvert that connects this little pond with a nearby river so the fish can come and go as they please.  Apparently today they were out and about, and not in the pond. It turned out okay, though, because that saved us having to figure out what to do if anyone had wanted to keep what they caught; both the uncles are "catch and release" fishermen. The kids all said they had a good time, despite not catching anything. Yet, despite saying they all had fun, nobody expressed any interest in hurrying back for another round. Fancy that.

Before the Storm

The other day Schwarzbeere's kids were over and the morning had been a bit rough.  So Brombeere took two of them shopping and I took the oldest one for a  bike ride.  

I wanted to "stretch" him (read: wear him out a little) by taking him on one of the longer rides he'd ever gone on while with us.  But there was a rain storm coming.  

So I planned a ride that would be longer, but that would get us back before the rain got here.

As we were out and about, you could see the big thunder clouds building out to the west, growing bigger and darker as we rode along.  There were times when I thought we might get caught, especially since he specifically requested some places he wanted to go, because he thought they were fun places to ride.

As we were riding the last half mile we felt the rain drops begin to fall, big drops hitting us as we rode along.  But we got home and into the garage before the heavy stuff hit.  Of course, in his case it didn't do much good.  As I put my bike away he ran in and out of the garage, gradually getting wetter and wetter until he was wet enough that he had to change clothes when we went inside.  But he was tired and happy.  Mission accomplished.  The rest of the afternoon was better.