Happy Easter

We hope everyone enjoyed this wonderful holiday.

This past week the girls searched for eggs on campus.

Today we tried a different trail. We had to convince the girls it was okay to enjoy a bike ride, and we found a couple of small hills even. The girls are still getting used to the larger bikes, shifting on hills, speed, and finding the muscles to pedal aren't very strong yet.

Spring weather bike rides

This weekend's weather was wonderful in Kansas City. We got out on Saturday with Bike Rides and birds. Videos of each girl riding bike are below.

Michaela has struggled without training wheels, but we think she is close. Sunday is supposed to be nicer, perhaps we'll get photos and stories up....the zoo is on our itinerary. Here is Malcolm's photo of a Northern Mockingbird from yesterday's birding excursion. The Northern Mockingbird is a species common in Kansas City and south but was rare in our previous locations.

 

Elroy-Sparta State Trail

Thursday's expected high was in the 80s (after another week of 90+ temperature), so we loaded the Jeep and headed to the Elroy-Sparta trail.  The bike trail tunnels are one of many items on our summer to-see and to-do list.

We enjoyed nice weather and a crushed limestone trail.  We started in Wilton, riding up to and walking through tunnel #2 and partially through tunnel #3.  Michaela and Danielle brought LED flashlights and LED lanterns. The third tunnel is 3/4 mile long and we only went far enough to get wet from dripping water overhead and where Danielle needed to get flashlights and lanterns to fend off darkness insecurities.

We rode 18 miles, a couple of miles longer than the a bike ride last month on the Great River Ridge Trail.  Neither of these compare in length to Christine's rides with friends however.  She bikes quite frequently, riding almost 30 miles today on the Root River Trail. Luckily for me, Michaela and Danielle still prefer shorter rides on the tag-alongs.

On our way home, dark storm clouds provided a stunning view of the bluffs and the Mississippi River.  We snapped this picture overlooking Lake Winona while looking west into the setting sun.