It's all About the Air

With Spring finally arriving (sort of - what's up 30 degree mornings?!), it's got Ben in his 'outdoor project' mode. Saturday he spent most of the day leveling out the landscape around the shed with his skid loader, and by the time he was done, he had a LOT of extra dirt piled up. Of course we couldn't just let it sit in a big ol' pile of ugly dirt. What to do?

Duh.

Jake directing traffic on the course

There goes Will!

Charlie's Turn

Jake bringing up the rear

Show Off!

Not sure how long he'll be content without a motor....

Idon'tbelieveyou.

As most of you know, Will loves, loves, LOVES his dirt bike. He got his first shiny new dirt bike on his 7th birthday. I remember being a little nervous with the whole thing, especially when he hopped on it and literally took off 10 seconds after receiving it... but over time, as he gained more experience, I became more relaxed with the idea of him riding. He actually is a good, responsible little rider. or was. little that is.

First Day with the new dirt bike 2007

Since then, Will has continued to grow, while his dirt bike has not. Our first thought was to have Will start saving for a new one. He liked the idea, and began by putting all the money he had (which wasn't much) in a huge glass jar, and eagerly started jumping at the chance to do extra chores to make money. The money didn't pile up as quickly as Will had hoped, and as we got busier with school and sports, opportunities for money-making became less frequent. He got discouraged and started to think he was never going to earn enough for a bigger bike.

Will's been saving for almost a year now, and while he doesn't have near enough to pay for a bigger bike, we decided to 'help' him out with the rest after finding a nice used dirt bike for sale. I found the bike on-line, had my brother in WI pick it up, and my dad brought it back to his cabin about 2 hours from our house. What a great find! Since the kids didn't have school yesterday, we told them we were taking a last-minute trip to Grandma and Grandpa's, and oh-by-the-way we're stopping at Grandpa Larry's cabin too. Sounded good.

After visiting with my Dad for about a half hour, he asked the kids if they wanted to see his *new boat* in the shed. Of course they did! My Dad put on a good show talking about the features of his (NOT NEW) boat - and since Will was only half listening, he didn't catch on. He was too busy admiring the yellow dirtbike parked to the side of the NOT NEW boat. The conversation went something like this:

Will: "Wow, Grandpa Larry, you have a dirtbike? I didn't know you liked dirtbikes."
GL: "Oh sure, I ride it around here every once in a while - it's fun."
Will: " WOW. This bike is AWESOME. I wish I had one like this."
Ben: "Oh yeah? You like this one?"
Will: "Yes, this bike is so cool. I wish it was mine."
Ben: "Well guess what... That bike IS yours."
Will: *huge smile* "WHAT??? *serious face* Idon'tbelieveyou."
Ben: "Yup! Happy Birthday early. It's yours!"
Will: *huge smile* "WHOA. This bike is AWESOME!!! *serious face* Idon'tbelieveyou."
Ben: "For real! It really is!"
Will: *huge smile* "Cool. *unsure smile* Idon'tbelieveyou."

It went on like this for a bit. Elation, a big smile and then reality check where he can't believe it's really true. It was SO CUTE.

HAPPY EARLY 10TH BIRTHDAY WILL!

True BLood, Ew Blood!

Yes it's true - I am obsessed with Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire mystery books, and the HBO series True Blood (which I watched the entire series on DVD in one week - finished last night *sniff*) so, it's not too terribly far of a stretch that when I went to write about my son's dirt bike crash last night, resulting in every bendable part of his body covered in B L double O D - that I thought of vampires... right?  Ha.   And no, I did not consider licking his wounds. 

I have to admit though, that the most unnerving part of this whole story I'm about to tell is not the fact that Charlie crashed, was hurt, crying and bleeding.  Nope.  It was that he was delivered to our doorstep by a random man driving a VAN.  I repeat - a grown man (stranger danger) driving a van - did it even have windows?  OMG!     

We took the kids over to our new house yesterday so they could ride and test out yet another dirt bike, as our oldest son is outgrowing his.  We headed over in kind of a hurry, kids in shorts - but they were at least wearing boots, so I figured all was good.  They also wear helmets and chest gear and all that too fyi.  Anyway, a farmer was planting stuff in the field, so they had to stick to our long gravel driveway and another private drive (gravel) that extends back about a mile or so. Ben rode with them for a while and then headed back to the house while they drove back and forth a few more times.  We have a rule that if one of them breaks down, runs out of gas, gets stuck etc - they park and wait while the other boy drives back to fetch help.   Ben and I were standing on our deck discussing yard options when Ben mentions to me "Gee, they've been gone kind of a long time...  if something happened, the other would come get us, right?" Before I could answer, I spied Will walking through the house towards us... followed by a strange MAN and a crying and injured Charlie.  What the....?  I didn't really listen to the guy as I whisked Charlie away to the bathroom (thank goodness I grabbed first aid stuff on the way out!!!).   However, as we hustled through the house towards the bathroom, I caught a glimpse of the man slowly driving away in his van.  Agh!

**SPOILER ALERT: Before I continue, let me just say Charlie is FINE (settle Grandma).   After a healthy dose of antibiotic spray, a few glops of ointment and an entire box of band-aids, Charlie was pretty much good to go.**

Back to the story...

So, it turns out this guy is a website developer.  He was back on the lane taking pictures of the tractor in the field (which was planting popcorn, how cool is that) for this website www.kandkpopcorn.com (pretty cool, check it out).  While he was standing there minding his own business, our kid comes driving up like Evil Kinevil and dramatically dumps his bike in the gravel.  Then he sees the other kid up and take off on his own bike, leaving a screaming and bleeding Evil in the dust, limping alone down the road.  Of course when I heard this version of the story, I went from being creeped out to grateful.   Whew!  The guy admitted that he thought twice about it before offering Charlie a ride (in the dreaded van),  but since Charlie obviously needed medical attention - he couldn't just leave him there.   Sad really when you think about it.

So this brings me to my last point of the story. VANS.  No matter what the size, shape or color, vans have gotten a bad rap.  When thinking of the type of person who drives a van, I usually come to one of three conclusion, none of them good: 1.  the soccer/hockey/baseball/whatever mom who drives the vehicle out of pure practicality while wishing they were driving anything BUT a van (that's me) 2. Libyan terrorists (think Back to the Future) and finally 3. THE MURDERER/KIDNAPPER/CHILD MOLESTER.  Jeez.   This is why the following clip made both Ben and I burst out laughing when we saw it on TV.  Not only because this is our EXACT vehicle, but it hilariously tackles the van stigma.



 After rewinding, viewing and laughing about three more times, Ben looked at me and said "whoever came up with the marketing for that is a genius".   I couldn't agree more!  In fact, as I gaze out the window at my pimped-out Honda Odyssey, I see it in a whole new light.   Well, okay that might be a stretch - but at least I'm gazing ... instead of glaring.

RESPECT THE VAN.