The Young and the Restless

A good day.

I realize this is a ridiculous amount of pictures of kids on bikes. But today was a good day, a really good day. Some days I feel like a failure and wonder if I should even be allowed to be mom, but then days like these come along and it makes me ever so grateful that I am. The weather this Saturday was too good to waste, so after Jayden's basketball game we headed up to the Desert Trails bike park, something I've had on my list for a while. It started off on a bad foot, everyone had taken a spill or two within the first half hour. Jayden bit it hard going down one of the tracks for the first time and ended up with a whopping goose egg on his head (BECAUSE HE DIDN'T BRING HIS HELMET), a big bruise on his thigh and scrapes all up and down his legs and arms. With tears in his eyes he just wanted to go home. He decided to stay and just stick with the small track. After a while he squared his jaw and said he wanted to face his fears and attempt that same track again. I was so proud of him, that's not an easy thing to over come your fears. After some pointers from Jason he went again, and again, and again. And he loved it so much that Maddox and Ryder wanted to go to. I was a little nervous, considering how hard Jayden ate it, but I love giving them experiences to push themselves, step out of their comfort zones and prove they can do hard things. Plus, they had helmets. They took it slow (at first) and were so proud of themselves and kept at it until sun set. It was such a great confidence builder and life lesson for Jayden. Plus it made for some great material as an object lesson for Jason's spiritual thought in bishopric meeting the next day. And for FHE. We definitely got some good mileage out of this one. And I have to say, that Ryder is a beast on his bike. I have never seen a 4 year old this fearless. Most of his friends still use training wheels and here he is going on hills, ramps, teeter totters and down hill courses like a boss.  We ended the night with drinks at Circle K, pizza and hot showers. I love going to bed feeling happy and satisfied with life.