My bike is now sporting an awesome one less minivan bumper sticker. Order one, or a mamabikeorama one (or both!) from Sarah Gilbert, an awesome biking mama in Portland.

I took my newly stickered bike to the U-Village shopping center today and prominently parked it by the play structure while we played outdoors and in (Kids Club has a train table) and did a bit of shopping. Then we headed to and parked by the world’s busiest Starbucks (OK, maybe it’s just the world’s second busiest Starbucks). A few families noticed the kid seats and then the sticker as we rode by and I only overheard favorable comments.

In the afternoon we headed to a playdate at the preschool-to-be of the four-year old. School run is another excellent “one less minivan” kind of trip. Another mom with two kids biked over a third will bike in the future, but bused today. I’ll have to give them OLM bumper stickers, too (I ordered a bunch to share the love).

I was happy to finally be rid of the trailer after lugging around balance bikes to Bike Mania on Friday and party supplies to the park on Sunday, but I weighed myself down just fine without it when I stopped at the Fremont PCC to buy a ten-pound box of laundry detergent. It seemed convenient to stop so close to school, but I hadn’t considered the fact that I was at the bottom of the mile-long hill back home. But thoughts of soon ferrying just one kid around for four hours a day three days a week helped buoy me up the hill.

April’s 4th birthday party by bike and car was great, but today’s 2nd birthday party was all bike and all awesome. It certainly helped doing an afternoon party so we didn’t bring as much food, most notably no coffee urn/cups/additives. We each dragged a trailer stuffed with plenty of stuff:

• Every sand toy we own
• Bubbles for everyone
• Balloon animal kit
• Face paint kit
• Puppy-ear craft project
• Lots of snacks
• Plates and napkins
• Ice chest full of water

What we didn’t have room for were the balance bikes. The boys snuck them out of the garage while we were loading up the trailers and got very upset when we had to stow them and go. I thought bringing them would be antisocial (because two-year olds are so social) and would have insisted on leaving them home even if there was room (I think).

My husband wedged the cooler into the single Burley trailer behind him and thought it weighed 100 pounds (I think he was exaggerating) and had to stop a few times to readjust it. I contemplated having the kids carry the cupcakes, but my awesome vegan baker neighbor, Vegan Cakes by JennyMac, brought them down to the park.

On the way home we accidentally turned up 4th instead of Latona like two days ago. Bike Mania day I only had one kid on the bike and made it up Latona. Today I had both kids and had to walk the entire block up 4th. I’m not going to miss lugging this trailer around now that Bike Mania and the puppy party are over!

We had a great time at Bikemania this year. Last year, both kids fell asleep in the double trailer on the way there and slept through much of the fun stuff. This year the little guy took a nice long nap at home before we headed over (tired him out at Wallingford Playfield where we ran into friends with a Madsen cargo bike). I attached the double trailer to my city bike so I could drag the two balance bikes to the event. We arrived nice and early and got to the bounce house before a big line formed. We watched the first round of BMX tricks, but then didn’t make it past the bike-decorating station to check out any of the carnival games.

The boys warmed up for the bike parade by riding their decorated bikes up and down the hill by the sidewalk. The little guy only wanted to run up and downhill with his bike. And then without the bike. And that’s when he tripped and bloodied his lip. At least he won’t hold the bike responsible. He didn’t want to take part in the parade after that, but the four-year old was eager to ride. He thought it was another criterium and zoomed around and around as fast as he could and flopped down exhausted after four laps. The parade was pushed back from 7 to 7:30 so some kids ended up going home, but there were still lots of little riders. It seemed to go on forever. I eventually loaded up the kids to go home and it was still going so we took a lap around the course for one last hurrah. A Cascade photographer took a lot of shots of the event, which I hope they’ll post soon.

They were just about to start the Cyclefest portion of the evening as we left–projecting the queen stage of the Tour de France on a big outdoor screen. We’re two stages behind in our TV watching (as always) so we had to hit the road quickly, before hearing any spoilers.

Kind of funny: three bikey families drove their cars to Dragon Park in Lynnwood for a kiddie bike playdate. One real bike, four balance bikes, and one plasma car comprised the play peloton. I had hoped they’d ride along the paths, but they decided the spray park was more fun. I joked that this was good practice for when it rains…and then it rained. The adults cowered in a picnic shelter while the kids rode around on the wet paths and grass.

Here’s a final look at the Kinderbike Mini’s original bell. One of the little guy’s many tumbles destroyed it. Good timing, too. His older brother decided he wanted the bigger bell so now I just have to find a new smaller bell and everyone will be happy.

The four-year old tried a pedal bike for the first time. His one and only question was, “Where do I click in my shoes?” I’m not sure where that came from–he rides with me on the city bike 95% of the time. The first ride didn’t go so well. No big crash, but he didn’t pedal enough for me to let go and see if he could stay upright.

Thank goodness for bungee cords. Beach day is so much more fun with buckets and that annoyingly large green truck.

There were a few other family bikes at the beach, the most exciting a Kona Ute with one rear toddler seat. The dad called it his “Fred Meyer Mobile” because he can fit four grocery bags on it. I oohed and aahed, but I felt a little sorry for his rag tag assortment of baskets: smallish wicker basket on the front, milk crate on the back, and a large metal basket on each side–hanging down such that they didn’t look capable of safely carrying grocery bags. But hey, I’d love to have that bike so I shouldn’t talk! And he probably knew a thing or two about bungee cords, too.

The day wasn’t picture perfect, but it was the nicest day we’ve had in a while so we stayed at the beach all day long. We stopped for dinner at The Loft so we could eat outdoors. And I always love a place where I can eat and keep an eye on my bike at the same time. Here’s a glimpse of my view on the ride home: sandy legs and King of the Mountain toes, in honor of the Tour de France. All three of us are sporting them.

After dinner the boys wanted to stop by Dutch Bike Co…again–we stopped in this morning for to-go coffee for me and dollar bananas for the boys. You’d think the place has a Lego table or on-site dog. They didn’t want anything once we got in the door, but I checked to see if they have DBC water bottles (they don’t). The boys have been fighting over my free Nuun bottle so I should probably carry a couple extras around. My current stash of water bottles is freebies advertising various brands so I might buy them new ones of my choosing.

Today’s bad weather couldn’t keep us away from the Recycled Cycles Brad Lewis Memorial Criterium. We arrived a little early for the kiddie race and saw some of the juniors. It made my husband nostalgic and me scared. The juniors raced for 35 minutes, but our kiddie heat was two laps for real bikes, one lap for balance bikes, and “Why don’t you have him start 20 yards back and just ride up to the start/finish line” for the really little guys.

I didn’t get to see the whole course–our little guy started with the rest of the field, but then someone made eye contact with him so he got shy and froze and dropped his bike. I talked him back up, but then it happened again. So he bided his time riding up and down a driveway slope while the other racers did their thing.

The top few finishers got medals or special ribbons and everyone else got little yellow ribbons printed with AWESOME. I was a bit embarrassed about dressing the kids in full rain gear; the real racers didn’t wear rain suits, nor did most of the other kids. But the crab fishing boat comment by the announcer is my favorite park of the video.

My husband transported both balance bikes in the single trailer so I only had to carry kids. And on the way home he led me up Latona, one block east of my usual half ride/half walk block and I made it up! Nice, too, that it’s one way the proper direction so I can ride in the street and not sidewalk. He thinks it’s less steep than 2nd, but I think I’ve tried it before and didn’t make it so I’ll have to try again without my domestique.

I did some fine tuning of our Seattle Center route this morning. Westlake/Broad and Westlake/Mercer are very car-heavy intersections so I stick to the sidewalk and I’ve determined these are the only options–to avoid the ill-placed curb ramp in the first case and the aggressive right turners in the second.

I’m trying to work more balance biking into our days. We’ve been “riding” four blocks to the nearby elementary school where the boys practice their skills. Unfortunately, they’re not content to just run around the open area and insist on going up and down curbs and hills. I’ve drawn the line at them tugging their little bikes up the play structure steps to ride down the slides.

They also spend a lot of time walking their bikes. I’m telling myself they got the idea from my having to walk my bike through the Ballard locks and not because they want to emulate my having to push the bike up a half block most days.

New biking milestone today: grocery shopping including eggs. Based on a tip from VeloBusDriver who carries his eggs in his backpack, I stowed my carton in my small messenger back and wore it rather than stick it in the rear basket. I had meant to bring a large wet bag (waterproof bag we cloth diaperers can’t live without), but forgot and just hoped for the best.

The first real problem was laying claim to the eggs. After a bit of discussion: “I want to carry the eggs!” “I’m going to carry the eggs.” “Me!” “No, me.” “Me!!” “Listen, this is our first time biking eggs so Mama will carry them this time. Maybe next time you will carry the eggs. Besides, you’ve already got your big dirty stick you’ve been carrying everywhere for three days now.” I carried the eggs.

The second problem was when we got home: “Let me just hold one egg.” OK, I got out an egg for him to hold for a moment. Then the baby needed to hold an egg, too. OK, great photo opp. Then the big kid needed to hold two eggs. I turned away for a sec and heard a *crunch*. Apparently two eggs is too many. So all twelve eggs made it home and eleven of twelve eggs made it into the house. We’ll see if we can do better next time.

It’s been almost three months since I declared my hatred for using the Broad Street tunnel to cross under Aurora en route to the Seattle Center from South Lake Union. Today was a try-out-a-new-route day. I had a route in mind and waiting at the stop light at the tip of South Lake Union Park, Brian of Cascade Bicycle Club pulled up next to me. We first met at the Sustainable Ballard Festival and I’ve run into him several times downtown. He was on his way to man a Cascade booth at a hospital event, but he was already wearing his official Cascade shirt so I figured I was allowed to pause his commute and ask his advice on routes. I couldn’t get him to agree with me that “Broad Street totally sucks” (very civil guy), but he and I both thought Denny was probably the way to go. I was mostly happy that he, too, was riding a couple blocks down Westlake on the sidewalk. Of course he was probably doing so on account of the construction on Dexter and I am always down there because I doubt I can make it up the Dexter hill.

Our route needs a little fine tuning, but this is basically what we did (with sucky old route in red):

I don’t like the northwest corner of Westlake and Broad because the curb ramp is a bit up Broad rather than right at the corner (my heavy rig doesn’t go down curbs). Once the construction one block over on 9th is finished up, I could get to 9th sooner, but I really like riding along the entire length of the park so next time I might experiment with crossing on the other side of the street. Then we headed a couple blocks down the sidewalk of Westlake and turned right at the pig. It’s always nice to have a landmark and not just a street name, and the Serious Pie chalkboard pig is one of my favorites. Also, I turned right on John rather than cutting through Denny Park, but it looks like a nice wide path so we’ll try that next trip. We chose 5th Avenue as our means to cut back north because it follows the monorail track (trains!).

The Children’s Museum was great today–the new Lego exhibit isn’t much to look at, but the kids and their friends stayed in there for hours. Afterwards we swung by the International Fountain, which we’ve had to avoid for almost a year (“Too loud, too fountainy!”) and it was nice to see it’s no longer too loud and fountainy, but I was stuck with two wet kids. However, it’s nicer to put wet kids on a bike than in a car so we happily rode home–down Denny, along the trainyard, and through the locks. We stopped in at Me ‘N Moms, the kiddie consignment store by the locks so the second half of our ride home could be dry. I wanted to stop in at Dutch Bike Co after reading this Seattle Weekly article about the cafe and I didn’t want to drip all over the floor.

I don’t think any bike setup is nap-friendlier than a trailer. Our oldie-but-goodie Burley doesn’t have a helmet reservoir so both kids ended up slumped over with their helmets askew. I’ll admit that their Little Nutties were a bit too big a couple weeks ago, but Jon of J.C. Lind Bike Co. generously gave me the extra paddding they should have come with (REI clearance helmets for ya) and they fit well now. I’ll have to experiment with side cushions next time we take a tired kid on a Burley ride…perhaps with full grocery bags to kill two birds with one stone ;)

Just what was so tiring, you ask? Day Out with Thomas the Train in the morning did in the little one and the Ballard SeafoodFest in the afternoon knocked out the big one. This picture in front of the huge salmon was the only time I carried both kids all day. I’m come to realize that riding with only the front kid feels fine, but with just the back kid feels a bit wobbly. But then, riding without either kid feels a bit wobbly so it’s probably just that I’m not used to a normally-weighted bike. Either way, much respect for parents with kids only on the back.