There are two very special reasons to celebrate today.
Do you know what they are?
Firstly...it's the first day of autumn! Hurray for the autumnal equinox~~ :)
You can sure bet I smelled it in the air -- a combination of rain and something smoldering, like yams in a fire~? I love that autumn smell!
Secondly...it's International Car Free Day!!
Being the awesome town that Corvallis is, there was a proper Car Free Festival held by the Riverfront that I have been eagerly awaiting for almost a month now. :)
I took the kids with me for all four hours of the entertainment and education, and would like to share the adventure with you here.
Enjoy!
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| We busted out "The Train" again~ With Ella's bike in back just in case! |
Oh, and our family motif was the day was "rainbows".
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| All three of us had rainbow legs of one kind or another! |
First, we biked on over to the nearest Neighborhood Group Bike Ride location where I met a couple of familiars and some new folks too. I think it was the weather, but it was not as big a turn-out as I'd expected... Oh well! Our day of bike-centered fun had begun!!
We all biked on downtown at a "leisurely" pace (I was definitely breaking a sweat hauling the two trailers + kids + Ella's bicycle), and this is what it looked like down by the riverfront:
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| A typical Corvallis autumn day~ |
Despite the majority of the day being gray and cloudy, there were some "sun breaks" that felt soooo good! And the fantastic line-up of music they had, kept the mood cheery and festive. :)
There were so many cool things to do too! Like...
Facepainting!
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| You can't see it but she got...you guessed it...a rainbow!! |
Bike/helmet decorating!
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| With super reflector stickers on her helmet, she's super safe now! |
Obstacle course!
And parade!!
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| There's Ella finally riding her bike ;) |
By the end of the festival, we were wet and chilly and hungry, so we biked on home to some hot cocoa on our warm cozy house. Mm-MM!
And when we rode out again for dinner, it was all blue skies and beautiful setting sun! Go figure!!
Since Dash will be gone this coming week (more on that later), we went out to Indian for a special treat. But I underestimated how sleepy and ready for bed the kids would be at 6:30 so it was a somewhat difficult outing and one that resulted in William snoozing in the trailer on the way home. Ha! But all things considered, he was pretty good and even properly communicated his potty needs at the restaurant.
Oh!
That reminds me: I'm happy to say that these past few days he has gone from the usual "1 or 2 accidents a day" to "Zero accidents a day!" Hurray!! Granted, it's just for mama and dada from what we can tell. But we are thrilled nonetheless. It's so nice not to need diapers anymore!! :)
Well, that's all for now.
How was your day?
Are you looking forward to the autumn season?
Did you participate in Car Free Day and not even know it? ;)
I hope you are all doing well and look forward to a great week.
Until next time, take care and Happy Car Free Day!!
Oh my god, what a wonderful post AGAIN!
ReplyDeleteThat seems like such a fun event! Alas, Martin and I did use the car to get to the 20-mile-away modeling/drawing marathon, but I'm still sticking to bicycling 3 out of the 4 days of school a week, that's pretty good! I keep having to reset my bike's odometer, but I'm pretty much at 1700+ miles so far. I should celebrate for the big 2K.
I just love that picture of you three getting ready for the bike ride out --something about William's face is just too hilarious! Sorta caught off guard or somethin'.
And yeessssss, I am soooo looking forward to fall weather, probably more than I ever have before! Not sure why, maybe it's nostalgia with age, but I feel like I can handle the cold weather appropriately and enjoyably! I want that excuse to bundle up and just warm up bicycling, rather than being a TOTAL sweatmess.