"B" is For Bike

This blog post is the previous post part two.  The day wasn't over yet after the dentist.  That evening, the kids had their annual Primary Parade.  They absolutely love this activity.  I think Kaleb would love it more if he would learn to ride his bike.  Kurtis came home a little bit early so he could put Kaleb's training wheels back on his bike.  Oh, I suppose I need to tell you this part first.  Last year, Kaleb randomly decided he wanted to learn to ride his bike sans training wheels, but every time he tried it, he would get freaked out and wouldn't even get on the bike.  So this year, he yelled at me that he never told me he wanted his training wheels off and that I needed to put them back on.  I'm not kidding.  He yelled those words at me, "I DID NOT TELL YOU TO TAKE MY TRAINING WHEELS OFF!"  Maybe he didn't.  Maybe it was a mutual agreement.  They weren't working very well and they kept flipping up and making him fall over and cry, so why not just take them off?  Either way, he agreed to it.
We got new training wheels that had a bar support, but Kaleb's bike doesn't have the right bar to hold the bar support in place (the bar support keeps the training wheels from flipping up,  I don't know if that's what they are really called, but that's what I'm  calling them.), so the bar support couldn't do its job, and it flipped up and freaked Kaleb out.  Sigh.  Kurtis decided to duct tape the bar support to the bike's bars.  It will all make sense when you see the picture.  I'm not always very good at this.
Any way, before Kurtis put the duct tape on, it was time for Kaleb to go meet at the Bishop's house to get ready for the parade, so he said, "I will just run in this parade!"  Sassy.  Zach and Riley were already gone and he didn't want to miss it.  Honestly, because he was walking we didn't see him in the parade at all.  I tried to get good shots of the kids, but man.  Once they were off, it was over.  The parade route went up our street and around the block and back to the commons for Popsicle.  They love it.  It's not all that spectacular for the parents to watch, but that's not what Primary is for.  It's for the kids.  And that makes it a great activity.
After the activity, Kurtis helped Kaleb to get back on his bike.  At first, he was nervous, but now he is taking off and getting used to going fast.  I can't wait to go biking with him when he looses those training wheels.

 And they're off!

 Oh, look!  I did get a picture of my kids! :)

 That's Zach on the right and his friend in the purple shirt, but I don't know who that is in the red shirt.

 He's such a cutie!

 This is the third year in a row we have had the Primary Parade.  The other two years, the Bishop and his wife road a tandem bike, but she hated doing it.  The Bishop would be in the front steering the bike and trying to wave to everyone at the same time which would freak out his wife because if he's waving to everyone, he's not steering the bike and she was worried they were going to hit somebody or fall over.  So they borrowed this from their son, and squirted people with a water gun and threw bubble gum at us as they went by.

 Getting Popsicles.

 Oh, Riley is correcting me.  They were not Popsicles.  They were Otter*pops.  Sorry.

 A little nervous at first.

 Look at the duct tape on his bike.  It's by the word RacerX.  That's hilarious.

 They let the balloons go.

 I love this picture.  It's such a great father/son moment.

 Riley!

 Zach wanted to cut his balloon off his bike in dramatic fashion, but it was cut short.

Ha ha!  I'm so punny.

 He did get it off, though.

 Bishop took my kids for a ride!

And then squirted me with the squirt gun!  Ha ha!

Somehow I Still Get the Chills

Today, Zachary and Kaleb had to get a cavity filled.  Zach borrowed my ipod and put on some headphones and was totally fine.  It was his first cavity, so he was a little bothered by the numbness when he was done, but Kaleb (this is his second cavity) was quite freaked out.  He didn't scream and kick or anything, but he was a lot on the uncooperative side.  He didn't want to get in the chair, and I had to tell him quite a few times to get up there.  The hygienist had to talk him through every step.  I love our dentist because of this.  They are so good with my kids and are so patient with them (because they think the dentist's office is a really cool playground).  She even numbed each of his stuffed animals that he brought for company.  Kaleb does not deal with pain very well at all.  Or any kind of discomfort for that matter.  He started to freak out a bit when he didn't like the taste in his mouth after they put the numbing stuff on his gums.  It was an ordeal that took way too long because he was so freaked out about it.  In the end, it really wasn't that bad - even he will admit.  He wanted me to take some pictures and I posted them on facebook because he told me to, but for those of you who aren't on facebook, here you go.

You can see how freaked out he is when you look in his eyes.  I don't like it.  I held his hand and kept telling him to squeeze my hand when he was uncomfortable, or scared.  I think it helped.  I tried to get him to put the headphones on and listen to music, but he wouldn't do it.

Apparently, when his tooth grew together, it didn't fuse all the way and there was a hole in the middle.  I asked if this was a baby tooth and we could just pull it out, but alas.  No such luck.  That thing they put around your tooth kept coming off his tooth, too.  So there were times while they were trying to hurry and work on his tooth that it was off and they had to keep asking him to open his mouth.  They kept putting it back on and then it would fly off and they'd put another one on.  My poor kid.

They gave him a warm wash cloth to put on his face when he was done.  That seemed to help, but this is him pretty much right after they finished.  Getting him to let them numb his tooth literally took longer than the whole procedure.  Poor kid.  We did the annoying parent thing and told him if he didn't want to get more fillings, he needed to take care of his teeth.  We're so mean. ;)  I really hope he doesn't develop a phobia of the dentist, though.  That wouldn't be good.

You're Guys Are Gonna Get Kicked In the Head

The other day, I picked Kaleb up from his best friend's house.  He announced to me while we were driving home that he wanted to make a training dummy.  A training dummy?  I didn't even know he knows what a training dummy is.  Amazing.  I asked him what will you make your training dummy out of?  "A box!  A bunch of boxes glued together!"  He replied happily.  He was so excited to make his training dummy, but it was also the night I was having Girls' Night at my house, and so I had to get dinner going and finish cleaning up the house.  I was kind of not in pleasant mood when he asked me again while I was pulling out all the pots and pans for our dinner.  I mean, isn't it obvious that I can't help him?  I'm trying to make dinner!  I told him as  much, and he responded (still happily), "Then I will make it myself!"  "That sounds like a really good idea."  He got three boxes and proceeded to make a snowman-like structure.  He had a little trouble with the hot glue gun, so I had to help him a little with it there, but he made the thing all by himself mostly!  I thought it was so adorable.  Her persevered and found a way to get himself what he wanted.  For him, that's rare, but I hope it becomes more of a habit for him.  Since then, he has commenced with breaking it apart by hitting it with his swords.  I'd rather he hit that thing than his brothers. :)

I love the proud look on his face.  He's so pleased with himself. :)

In Which a Dream is Fulfilled

When I was a little girl, my brothers got to do a lot of awesome things when they were scouts.  I was insanely jealous.  A lot of things they had to do in the cub scout manual, they let me do with them.  It was a lot of fun.  But there was one thing I was never allowed to do that I always really, really wanted.

Well, yesterday, I go to do it.  In your face my brothahs (I have five)!  I'm a Wolf Den leader now, suckas!  I got to go to Camp Kiesel this year and nobody could tell me I couldn't go because I'm a girl!

It was really, really fun, too.  I got to go canoing with the boys and hang out and enjoy the kids running the camp.  Yep.  Daniel, our fifteen-year-old guide took us around.  What?  You mean I could have worked at Camp Kiesel during the summer when I was a kid?  Why didn't anybody tell me this?  There was archery and BB gun shooting and an obstacle, course and they learned about leaving no trace behind when they go camping.  There was a craft and a nature hike and a trading post.  I loved it.  I got really, really dirty, but I loved it.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to shoot the bows and arrows this year.  There were 37 kids in our group, so the adults didn't really get to participate much.

I went to wash my hands after the closing ceremonies and I had to wash them twice they were dirtier than I realized.  I took over 250 pictures, but I will share with you just a few.

 The theme this year at Camp Kiesel is Knight Training.

 The counselor is trying to entertain the boys as we wait for camp to begin.

He was singing "Father Abraham had seven sons..."

 Then the princess got taken by a dragon!  And we all got sent to knight training to save her.

 First lesson:  Archery

 These are all the boys in the blue group!

 Four of our five boys and the other leaders.

 Getting ready to shoot!

 That's really cool.

 Daniel, helping Riley.

 Don't hold the arrow.  Just use your fingers.

 Aim high - why not?

 It's hard to find ways to be entertaining while lecturing sometimes. :)

 Next stop!

 Oh, look.  It's the princess.

 Leather working.

 They pressed a dragon into the leather for the boys.

 This is our Nature Hike guide.

 He showed the boys various plants along the way.

 He called this one "nature's toilette paper".  It's Elephant's Ear.

 Bridges are cool.

 Especially when waterfalls are involved.

 At the top of our hike.

 Waiting for the rest of our group.

 My favorite part.

 Lunch time!

 Gathering us together in our groups after lunch.

 Interesting.  Well, I guess he is always ready for dinner.

 Waiting for all the groups before closing ceremonies.

 The Blue Group's flag.

 A fallen comrade.

 We saved the princess and earned our knighthood!

 The staff had a cheer, too.  (Oh, yeah.  Our group had to come up with a cheer.  It went:  "Who are we?  Blue Dragons!  Who are we?  Blue Dragons!  Blue Dragons!  Blue Dragons rock!"  Or something like that.)

What a beautiful place!